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Yesterday I went to my physical therapy appointment.
For my ankle, I got a home-treatment program which includes two stretches that are very similar to the ones I've been doing, but I'm supposed to do them for a whole minute instead of just 30 seconds. And there are two modified calf raises. What you do is get on a step and then raise yourself on your good ankle and lower yourself on your injured ankle. 15 times. 4 times a day.
It's actually not simple for most people to raise with one leg and lower with the other--it hurts your brain. But ballroom dance makes it easier for me because I've had loads of training in changing weight from one foot to the other at specific times. Waltz, for example: you're supposed to stay low during the first step, rise up on the second step, then lower again on the third step. Thank-you waltz!
That's with my knees straight. Then I'm supposed to do the same thing with my knees bent. In that position I suddenly become an incompetent beginner like everybody else! Apparently, I never extend my ankle with a bent knee while dancing.
Today my right calf aches. I don't know if it is from doing a couple of sets each of those calf lowerings or if it's from the very hard massage I got.
My physical therapist also had time to test my shoulder, and I'll be going back weekly for that.
I asked about preventative strategies. She said drink plenty of water, get plenty of the kinds of fat that are in fish oil, and get plenty of antioxidants like Vitamin C and Vitamin E. And don't turn around while in the driver's seat of your car and mess with things in the back seat.
"That's bad for you? But I love doing that!" In fact, this sort of movement is one of the few things I do that still causes pain. Which is the whole point of getting physical therapy! But it also hurts to raise my arm to the side, and either way the pain indicates an injury that is not healing by itself, so getting treatment is of course a good idea. (At least it worked perfectly last time, so I'm assuming it will be good again this time.)
For the heel problem, I'm supposed to hold off on jogging and long walks until it doesn't hurt. I had worked out that it's things I do that involve landing heel first that I regret the next day, but it's not landing on the heel that's the problem. It's pushing off afterwards that's the problem. This has given me ideas for a different way to limp. (Normally I'm not limping anymore, just when I first get up after sitting or sleeping a while.)
**
In other news it has been fabulously warm here. We had the air conditioning on once.
And then after work today I got to feel the cold front come in. Right after the gal I was walking with was saying how she was wishing it were a little cooler! So I got to be there when she got her wish!
When I got off the bus it was still grey and windy, and as I walked home, a few large drops of rain came down. I started to wonder if there would be a sudden downpour, but I made it home before that. And I got to drag Robin out into it (he's been disappointed in the warm weather) and we admired the fabulous pre-dusk lighting. With occasional lightning.
Quote of the Day
"The approaching storm
Swept in with blustering winds
Clearing out my mind.
"(Haiku written in my car before I left school.)"
-Ginny Lindzey
For my ankle, I got a home-treatment program which includes two stretches that are very similar to the ones I've been doing, but I'm supposed to do them for a whole minute instead of just 30 seconds. And there are two modified calf raises. What you do is get on a step and then raise yourself on your good ankle and lower yourself on your injured ankle. 15 times. 4 times a day.
It's actually not simple for most people to raise with one leg and lower with the other--it hurts your brain. But ballroom dance makes it easier for me because I've had loads of training in changing weight from one foot to the other at specific times. Waltz, for example: you're supposed to stay low during the first step, rise up on the second step, then lower again on the third step. Thank-you waltz!
That's with my knees straight. Then I'm supposed to do the same thing with my knees bent. In that position I suddenly become an incompetent beginner like everybody else! Apparently, I never extend my ankle with a bent knee while dancing.
Today my right calf aches. I don't know if it is from doing a couple of sets each of those calf lowerings or if it's from the very hard massage I got.
My physical therapist also had time to test my shoulder, and I'll be going back weekly for that.
I asked about preventative strategies. She said drink plenty of water, get plenty of the kinds of fat that are in fish oil, and get plenty of antioxidants like Vitamin C and Vitamin E. And don't turn around while in the driver's seat of your car and mess with things in the back seat.
"That's bad for you? But I love doing that!" In fact, this sort of movement is one of the few things I do that still causes pain. Which is the whole point of getting physical therapy! But it also hurts to raise my arm to the side, and either way the pain indicates an injury that is not healing by itself, so getting treatment is of course a good idea. (At least it worked perfectly last time, so I'm assuming it will be good again this time.)
For the heel problem, I'm supposed to hold off on jogging and long walks until it doesn't hurt. I had worked out that it's things I do that involve landing heel first that I regret the next day, but it's not landing on the heel that's the problem. It's pushing off afterwards that's the problem. This has given me ideas for a different way to limp. (Normally I'm not limping anymore, just when I first get up after sitting or sleeping a while.)
**
In other news it has been fabulously warm here. We had the air conditioning on once.
And then after work today I got to feel the cold front come in. Right after the gal I was walking with was saying how she was wishing it were a little cooler! So I got to be there when she got her wish!
When I got off the bus it was still grey and windy, and as I walked home, a few large drops of rain came down. I started to wonder if there would be a sudden downpour, but I made it home before that. And I got to drag Robin out into it (he's been disappointed in the warm weather) and we admired the fabulous pre-dusk lighting. With occasional lightning.
Quote of the Day
"The approaching storm
Swept in with blustering winds
Clearing out my mind.
"(Haiku written in my car before I left school.)"
-Ginny Lindzey