Day 114: Personal Electric Shock Therapy

My quad is showing more life at PT each session, but it's most effective when we have it hooked up to an electrical stimulation unit. Or, as I like to call it, shock therapy.

Many people don't enjoy this technique, saying it feels weird or like they have bugs crawling under their skin. I actually really enjoy it - it's like a muscle massage and pain control technique all in one. And as a bonus, it helps the quad muscle (or whichever muscle you're working on) remember what it's supposed to do.

In order to help speed things along, my PT gave me a portable unit to use at home. One of the two sticky conductive pads goes on the inside part of the quad muscle right above the knee, and the other goes on the upper quad muscle. You turn the machine on slowly, and up the current until your muscle is almost contracting on its own, and then do the muscle exercises.

Like I said, a lot of people dislike the feeling. I guess I'm odd (gee, you haven't figured that out already?) by liking it as much as I do. Here's hoping it helps the process speed up. Anything I can do to continue ditching the crutches is a good thing.