[gator17]

As someone who has had over 24 orthopaedic surgeries (thank you Marine Corps,) let me dispel some myths regarding "useless" physical therapy. Many of you have gone through months of physical therapy only to exclaim "physical therapy never helped me and I had to have surgery anyway." We always hope that physical therapy will "fix" the injury, and many times it does, BUT physical therapy will also build up those muscles surrounding the injury so that when surgery does occur the muscles will support the injured ligament/muscle/tendon. This is turn will make your post-surgical physical therapy easier, and sometimes, faster. That doesn't mean post-surgical therapy won't hurt! Sometimes it's a killer, BUT if you hadn't done the pre-surgery therapy you would be in a world of hurt and an extended recovery time! DO THE THERAPY BEFORE AND AFTER - your body will thank you.