I still wonder that. I hope you don't mind all these emails. it's hard to talk to people IRL because they - I don't know - just usually tell me to move on with it. except for my therapist, who has wondered about the CP also. this sounds strange, but what I HATE the most is that when I walk, I fight myself. I guess this is stiffness? My lower legs front (shins?) don't want to move and I have to push them. It's this battle of who will win, me or my legs, and I'm telling you, I feel absolutely ridiculous because I'm talking about walking a city block or two at a slow pace. but I'm in this fight; does that make any sense? the harder I push, the worse it gets. I'm hoping the stretching will help. it's seemed to help so far. I had a scary experience last week where I took two short walks two days in a row (Mon and Tues) and on Wed when I woke up, I felt like someone beat me with a baseball bat. I was stiff from my lower back down to my ankles, and eventually the stiffness traveled upward to my neck and I got a bad headache. *everything* hurt. stretching seemed to help with that, but I had a hard time with climbing stairs, taing a shower, moving from a sitting to a standing position and back again, and just about everything. sometimes when my hands get tired I feel like I'm fighting them too to get the typing done, but I have much better arm/hand use than leg. I just don't like feeling that I'm in a fight when I walk. Is that stupid? MK -----Original Message----- From: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 9:14 PM Subject: Re: I'm new here - muscle stiffness Mary, you might just have a weird case of C.P., because Premature birth, balance, co-ordination and stiffness problems are symptoms of C.P., and mild C.P. can sometimes fool doctors. Each case of C.P. is as individual as the individual. -----Original Message----- From: Cerebral Palsy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mary Katherine Powers Sent: Friday, September 01, 2006 8:19 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: I'm new here - muscle stiffness Hello, I hope you don't mind my being on this list. I'm new. I do not have CP, but I have issues with chronic muscle stiffness that cause pain and make movement difficult. I'm doing physical therapy for it. I was hoping to get some suggestions on dealing with muscle stiffness that might help. what I can do is limited, so the stretches have to be really gentle. I've tried doing stretches too hard and had a lot of trouble moving after that. I've been told to take it easy and build up slowly. I have chronic pain in my legs, back, neck, shoulders, arms, and occasionally fingers. I'm overweight and I've been told that although that does not help, it's not the cause of the problem. I was told I was out of shape because people much more overweight than I am have more mobility. I agree with this, but my muscles have always been stiff. It's just the way I am. I can walk but it is difficult. I'm hoping the PT will make it easier. Also, I was a preemie (11 weeks early) and I have the typical balance, coordination, etc. problems. my vision is not great and I have no depth perception. that really is not the problem though, it's the muscle stiffness that gets to me. any suggestions on dealing with muscle stiffness would be appreciated. when I tried googling it, all kinds of information on all kinds of different conditions, like Parkinson's, came up, none of which I have. another strange thing, and I was wondering if anyone could comment, is that I've had no luck going to "regular" PTs who were recommended by my doctors. they are at places like "sports and spinal" and some other group, and they tend to be very cursory, don't understand what I'm talking about, and then circle a couple stretches on a piece of paper and tell me to do them, and usually I can't do the stretches they want. It's weird. I went to someone today at a place called Pain and Rehabilitation Medicine and I spent $250.00 for an appoinment that lasted about an hour. It was like night and day - he was excellent. he does not take insurance and still he has a waiting list about 2 months long. Any experiences like that, where the "regular" PT places recommended by doctors just don't work? I find that odd, like they should know a bit more about what they are doing. thanks, Mary Katherine ________________________________________________________________________ Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email and IM. All on demand. 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