FAKTR

My left knee has been bugging me a lot lately.  Tender, sore, swollen... probably mainly from use (i.e. running) as I recently upped my run volume.  And - this may be the understatement of the year - I am not a biomechanically perfect runner.  Anyways, lucky for me and my knees, I have an amazing chiropractor who, no matter what mess I seem to make of myself, has always been able to put me back together.

Jim Verners (Verners Chiropractic) is a true master of his profession.  He's also an ART (active release techniques) guru, having studied under Dr. Leahy himself.  Jim is continually updating his skills and learning innovative new procedures.  So when I presented to him last week, his prognosis was that with 3 or so treatments of FAKTR my knee would be better than new.

FAKTR is Functional And Kinetic Treatment with Rehab - sounds harmless, doesn't it?  The idea behind it is to heal soft tissue and fascial disorders through the use of instruments.  He used the Graston technique on me, which involves treating me while under load - as in he has me do movements while applying treatment with his surgical-steel grade instrument and hands.

The benign-looking FAKTR instrument.

I had a lot of scar tissue between my IT band and vastus lateralis of my quadriceps, probably due to my patellar misalignment.  So Jim had me stand on a Thera-Band stability trainer, and do one-legged squats while he ran his what I now call torture device over the scar tissue.  Torture device because this treatment does not come pleasantly to the patient!  But I have complete trust in Jim.  After the first treatment, the swelling and soreness was completely gone.  An hour and a half run with no additional soreness afterwards, unprecedented!  I've had two treatments so far, and now need to work the foam roller for 10 days before the third treatment, at which point we'll reassess to see if I need more.

A bit of aftermath... but it's all worth it!