It was a beautiful, crisp Fall morning when Josephine, also known as “Jo”, walked into our Mobility-Doc Bethlehem location.
“I needed someone to help me with my hip and back pain. It was getting to the point where I couldn’t do my squats, I couldn’t do my leg presses, and I had a really hard time even riding my bike due to my hip and back pain.”
At the time, Jo was a 74-year-old track cyclist with several national championships under her belt. She had previously been able to leg press over 400 lbs and was still cycling faster than 35 mph! This pain put a real cramp in Jo’s active lifestyle.
Starting From Scratch
We started out with a detailed history intake, and asked questions about Jo’s injury history, what treatments she had already tried, and listened to what her current limitations and goals were.
“I fell off my bike two years ago and I’ve never been the same. I fell so hard that I had to have the fluid drained from my hip. The doctor was shocked by how much fluid came out. I was never referred to PT and none of the doctors actually touched my hip. There were a lot of visual assessments, x-rays, appointments, and medications recommended, but no hands-on treatment, until I came to Mobility-Doc.”
Jo had developed scar tissue and extreme functional limitations, in part due to her delay in receiving proper care. We discovered that Jo’s left hip lacked both internal and external rotation, and she had significant functional strength deficits in her gluteal and hip muscles.
“I knew my left hip was different from my right. I was born with a sharper angle on the left side from my hip to my knee. This never stopped me from competing in track cycling at the national level.”
The combination of her anatomic anomaly plus the trauma from her fall likely led to her hip dysfunction resulting in decreased range of motion and power of her left hip. Her scar tissue that had formed after the bike crash on top of her existing sharp hip angle caused her to lose function slowly over the last couple of years.
Someone to Listen for the First Time
She had gotten to the point where she had to adjust the gears on her bike to create constant tension. This made sense for where she was at functionally. The constant feedback from the chain tension allowed her to cycle without generating as much power. She had coped for long enough but was ready for true healing.
“The doctors at Mobility-Doc really took the time to listen to my concerns. They did a very thorough intake exam and found weaknesses I didn’t even realize I had. They sent me home with stretches and exercises to correct my imbalances, and also did hands-on therapy the very first day. No one else had ever spent the time to really understand my pain before Mobility-Doc.”
Jo left our clinic after her first visit with a comprehensive, personalized home program including mobility, stability, and strength work to correct the issues we had found. Her program included full descriptions of exercises plus video links of every exercise so she could refer back to it.
We also gave Jo the confidence to advance her exercises as she got better, but the safety net of always being here if she did need to return to the clinic. She was able to check in with us weekly via email and we adjusted as needed.
Success is Yours, Jo!
Jo is now back to cycling full time, with no pain. After her first month of PT, she was 90% better, and has continued her maintenance protocol to keep her pain away and resume her active lifestyle.
If you’re looking for a solution besides medication, and your doctor’s aren’t getting to the root of your pain, give us a call and experience the Mobility-Doc difference!
