Get back on the road quicker with Airrosti?

After spraining my ankle I’ve been to the ER and an orthopedic specialist. Both told me I was out of commission for six weeks, maybe longer. Desperate for a better answer I tried one more place – Airrosti. I’d never heard of them before, but my Ironman friend kept pushing me to try it. Years before it had gotten her back on the road, it might work for me. Be forewarned, it is painful she said. I called them up to ask about the process. Kristen, the lady on the other end of the phone, told me she had seen people walk in on crutches and a removable cast like mine, and walk out without them. I told her I’d heard it was painful, and she replied that it can be intense.

I had my first session last week with Dr Arnold. To say it is painful is definitely an understatement! It was an hour of pure torture, full of sweats, cursing and me practically jumping off of the table. At the end of the therapy, I got off the table and walked with him into another room, barefoot, without pain or a limp. To say I was stunned would be an understatement. I just couldn’t believe how much the swelling had gone down or that I was walking unaided. Heck, just the day before I was still using crutches and here I was walking unaided. I began to think I just might be able to race in 10 days!

I spent the next three days doing my exercises, icing my ankle and keeping it elevated. I did everything I could and/or was supposed to do, but I don’t think it was enough. As the weekend progressed the swelling came back, my ankle stiffened, and with it the pain. Getting out of bed in the morning took several minutes as I overcame the throbbing of blood rushing back to my foot, and stretching my tendons back into location. I knew this morning that it wasn’t practical for me to think about racing ½ marathon next weekend. I can’t even run one mile right now. Then again, it is time to visit Airrosti again!

I changed doctors for this visit. Mostly I did it because this location was much closer to home. I also thought that this female doctor might be a bit gentler, not because she would be weaker but because of her maternal instincts. What a mistake that was! If anything she was more intense. For those of you not familiar with the Airrosti procedure, it seems like they search out the most painful locations, and then press like hell. Then they move their finger a little and press again. Sometimes they start at one end of a tendon/muscle, press like hell, and then slide the pain up to the other end. I’m pretty sure I grabbed the bench so hard I left indentions for my finger tips. When it was all done my entire body was exhausted from the tension and the areas where she had focused were very sore, but I got up again and walked to the other room.

So is Airrosti a savior or pure torture? I’ve completed two sessions, have one or two more to go this week, but I still don’t know if I will be able to race this weekend. While I would love to do this race, I have taken a step back and am looking at the bigger picture. I’ve got three big races this year, and I don’t want to run this weekend and risk those races. I want to be able to blog about my first half Ironman at the end of April. Stay tuned!