I'm so sorry for the bad physical therapy experiences. My son is a PT and has helped me with different exercises and tells me to make sure I walk! I also use paraffin thermotherapy on my hands several times a day! If I had to have physical therapy with another patient, I wouldn't go back. I guess a lot of offices are doing that. All about the money!

Back in July Total Knee Replacement ..6 weeks 3x per week p/t..
Happy I did it...

Hello, sorry to hear of your pain. I am not an thletic person and I do not like physical therapy or most physical therapists. That said, I have benefittedd from physical therapy !
1. Find a physical therapist who is not a superjock. Most of them are former athletes . It is hard for them to relate to folks who are not working out daily, in pain, and have other things that they are interested in. One who understands that you are not 18, that you are in pain, and can scale back exercises to where you are comfortable and then build back up. I had one therapist who told me that pain was not real, that it was all in my head. It is some new research and a fascinating theory but it was not helpful to me at all.
2. Try to find a practice which can provide aqua therapy. I found one which did therapy in a local YWCA small heated pool at 90 degrees and it was heaven. The buoyancy of the water helped me feel relaxed and gave me confidence to try to push myself without fear of hurting myself. No falling! The warmth relaxed my muscles. The weight of the water is a good resistance to push against.
3. Think about how you best learn. I need direct, specific instruction when it comes to body movement stuff and with need pictures and lots of repetition to explain it to me. Ask for what you need. Then I mount the pictures on heavy paper and laminate it. I bring it to the pool everyday and do my exercises. I have no ego about this. I am an idiot when it comes to exercise and I admit it.
4. Each practice sets up their practice differently. Some have an open concept where there are 4-8 clients in a big room and you are b
hearded around like cows with your directions yelled at you from across the room while they keep the flow going. Some people are ok with that. Some places do 45 min. sessions, some do 30 min. It can depend on you insurance. I like practices where the therapist works with me one on one. Think about that.
The benefits of the aqua therapy have been great. Increased strength and decreased back pain. Increasing strength around and injury seems t o take away some of the load around the injury. And the program that I was doing was so enjoyable that I have continued doing it 4 days a week.
FInd a PT situation which will meet your needs and I think that you may fins some benefits. Best wishes.

Keep going to TP as long as you can, I believe the benefits last much longer than we realize.