It is Back!

 Over the last week, I had developed an intense backache. Actually, a relapse of an old problem! Despite powering through my usual exercises and visiting a therapist, the pain refused to budge. I couldn’t sit. I barely could move. Seeing my misery, a benevolent colleague suggested her own therapist. “He’ll come home and do the session”. She also assured with her words, “He’s been a lifesaver for me.” By evening, contact numbers were exchanged, and we set an appointment for 6:30 the next morning.

The therapist arrived right on time and immediately set to work diagnosing the damage. He started by putting my back through a series of strenuous stretches, noting aloud that several muscle groups were dangerously stiff.

As he pinned my shoulder to hold my upper body still while twisting my spine, I interjected, “Easy there; I have a frozen shoulder.”

Undeterred, he moved down, bending my knees and applying firm pressure. “I’ve had two surgeries on the right knee,” I warned him. “And the left one currently has an ACL tear.”

He gave a slow shake of his head and doggedly went back to business.

Next, he had me sit on my haunches to twist my ankles so I could stretch my glutes. “Ah, I fell down the stairs earlier this year,” I offered. “The ankle hasn’t really healed yet.”

When he asked me to do crunches by extending one leg and folding the other, I brought up my neck spondylitis.

He paused, looked at me, and asked, “Is there anything that doesn’t trouble you, Sir?”

I didn’t miss a beat. “My stomach. Never gives me trouble. My head is fine too, except for the migraines.”

“I meant joints, Sir.”

I’m still thinking. I haven't found a satisfactory answer yet.