I started physical therapy (henceforth referred to as PT) yesterday! Well, I really started PT back in November to strengthen my leg up for surgery, but just went back yesterday for the first time since surgery. My therapists are Mike and Gabe, and they're really cool guys.
I started out in the (foot) whirlpool and that felt Sooooo good. The heat really loosened up my ankle and in the pool I did my "alphabet exercises." This basically means that I have to make each letter of the alphabet with my foot to loosen it up.
From there I got a brief scar massage and Mike felt around for any adhesions/tightness. This felt good and hurt like hell all at the same time. My range of motion is good up and down, but it's REALLY hard for me to go side-to-side.
Next I did some light calf/hamstring stretching...then we got serious with the resistance band. I had to use this to really stretch side to side. My foot did not like this idea at all and the muscles twitched like crazy.
The hardest exercises are the calf raises (using only 25% of my body weight on the left ankle) and balancing about 25% of my weight on my left leg. This hurt and wore me out. I have to back off a little bit because pain is not good and is my body's way of telling me STOP. I have to listen.
So, this was followed up w/ 15 min of ice...and the whole process took 1.5 hours! I'm supposed to do this 2x/day, everyday, as long as it's not too painful or inflamed. 3 hours a day of PT! I have this much time NOW but have no idea how I'm going to manage when I go back to work. Maybe this is why my doctor said I won't be going back FT at first...now I'm starting to think he's not so crazy after all!
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