Saur Gets Electrocuted

Many of you probably remember that I had major surgery last November for two crushed disks in my neck. It helped tremendously, but I am still frequently sore (though not the degree that I had been). I discussed this with my regular GP, who contacted my former surgeon. Between the two of them, they recommended physical therapy.

Yesterday was only my second appointment at the new physical therapy office (the first appointment was a simple evaluation). I was called by an assistant that morning, who needed to reschedule me. I agreed to move my appointment up by two hours so that the owner could get to his son's school in time. I arrived at the new time, and was put to work bending and moving, focusing on the muscle groups that needed work.

The last 10-15 minutes were devoted to relaxing the muscles, using both light massage and e-stim. This is what everyone works toward: the carrot on the stick.

To the right is an example of an e-stim machine. "E" stands for Electrical. You get little gelled pads stuck on the muscles that hurt, and you are given a machine to turn up to the level that helps the most. It causes the muscles to contract very slightly, and they vibrate. Although it sounds creepy, it's often helpful.

At the end of the 10 minutes with the e-stim machine, the physical therapist asked his assistant to disconnect me. She came over, took the electrical box, and (thinking she was turning it down) cranked it up to maximum capacity! All I could do was scream in agony! It's rather hard to communicate clearly when you're being electrocuted.

Because she was not very bright, the assistant took a few precious moments to figure out exactly why I was screaming for help. Once she realized she had turned it the wrong way, her boss was there, turning it off.

Both said that they were very, keenly sorry. The idiotic assistant kept apologizing, explaining that she simply wasn't all that familiar with the equipment. "Then how about you don't touch it until you are?" I wanted to ask, but my need to get out of there was even stronger (I was nearly in tears). I forked over the $40 (isn't it funny what you do when you're in shock? I should've just walked out) and left as quickly as I could.

I am very sore and exhausted today, since I couldn't sleep well last night (due to the pain that resulted from it). Needless to say, I won't be back. I hear the local health clubs only charge $40-$60 per month. Not only will they be cheaper, I'll bet they won't electrocute me, either.