I Take it Back

Today was may last day of Physical Therapy for my nerve-damaged hand.  Although I still do not have full use of it yet, there have been vast improvements.  For one, the pain has been greatly reduced in both severity and duration.  When I began therapy, there was a constant pins and needles pain in my hand.  As the therapy went on, the pain actually reduced in duration, but increased in severity.  The doctor said this was a good thing because it meant the nerves were becoming more active.  Now I hardly even notice any pain.

It is hard to describe the improvement in qualitative terms.  The best I can do is say that when I began therapy, I could not even pick up  full water bottle with my left hand.  Now I can pick up an item as small as a pen, but not as thin as a piece of paper. Quantitatively, I can say that the strength in my hand has gone from a 20 pound grip, to a 70 pound grip.  

As I look back, I am beginning to realize that I may have given Physical Therapy a bad rap.  A few weeks ago I likened my Physical Therapy for my hand to torture.  Despite that, I continued to voluntarily go to the office three times a week to be hooked of to an electro shock machine for 15 minutes on that very thin thin between discomfort and pain.  When it is all said and done, it actually worked.