After the first month of surgery recovery being a drag, I was pretty hopeful for the second month of physical therapy. It's been great and I'm practically back to normal! I've been going to PT two or three times a week for five weeks. I went in there my first time or two miserable and hobbling on a cane in my ugly velcro shoe, with negative or poor radial measurements on ankle/toe bending. As I head into my final visit tomorrow, hustling in sneakers and without limping, I am thrilled to say that I have normal ankle radius and a huge amount of progress there with the toe. Therapy pretty much entails a massage session which has progressed from gentle to deep friction (read: pain, then lots of pain, but then much relief!) and a variety of exercises: seated foot rotations on a round wobble board, balancing for 2 min both directions on a standard wobble board, "lunge" walking by pressing off on ball of foot, using the leg press machine for flat-foot and also arched foot presses, "towel-gathering," yoga poses, and of course, the exercise bike to warm it all up and keep the circulation flowing.
The best part about PT is seeing (and feeling!) the progress... my toe joint needs massage/manual rotations and the exercises at least twice a day, plus the PT exercises, and I've been informed that I need to stay on it for probably a year to manage the pain and "train" the scar tissue to heal in the right direction to retain flexibility and reduce stiffness. If I don't do it, the toe will freeze and this will all have been for nothing. I've been showing my husband how the entire foot/ankle needs a deep massage, not just the joint... hey there have to be benefits to all of this somehow! ; ) Also using my "yoga toes" which are helping with the swelling and stiffness - these things are awesome.
The good news: I AM BACK AT YOGA! My doc-approved return to the gym has closed my medical leave and I'm doing surprisingly well in yoga. The help of a rolled towel behind my foot on moves like down dog or as a rest for those moves when top of foot is flat on the floor allow me to keep up more closely with the poses instead of "taking a knee" to compensate. I'm really surprised at how easy this is, and how it will be a great ongoing therapy tool as my formal PT draws to a close.
After long walks, yoga, or PT sessions, ice is still my best pal. I've been using a comfrey salve to massage the scar tissue to keep it soft and healing nicely, though I've read lavender oil is the real trick. Arnica gel has helped with swelling too, and is really cooling, as is Topricin muscle cream (which I can't seem to find anywhere).
So my foot is still pretty swollen and I can't find shoes, which sucks. I've been trucking around in size 9.5W Adidas sneakers for a month nonstop and I'm pretty sick of them - and they're so big they're not that comfortable anywhere else BUT the swollen joint, and they make dressing up kind of hard. The quest for cute, wide, solid-soled non-sneakers continues!
Now... when will I do the other foot?
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Week Six, Physical Therapy Begins
Happy New Year!
As I head into the sixth week since the surgery, I had my first PT appointment today. I'll be going in 3x/week for four weeks. I wish I took a foot photo before I got new tape today - the incision has closed up, there are no more stitches or scabs, and I'm working on the scar with Neosporin and massage.
I've never gone to Physical Therapy before, so wasn't sure what to expect. We started off with lots of forms and questions, then measurements of both feet - degrees of rotation I could bend various toes and ankles comparatively. Great idea - it shows exactly how far I have to go; I really can't bend my right foot very far right now, nor can I move that toe much (if at all - after a few attempts at "gripping" it just stops altogether!). So after measurements and a 5-min ultrasonic treatment (a wand with goo rubbed over the joint area to stimulate the tissue and joints), there was some soft-tissue massage... after I was warmed up, the toe-tugging and rotating began. Wow. I was in need of many distractions as it was "not awesome," as I told the therapist. She said she'd take it easy on me on my first day. Then I was brought to a chair and while sitting, was asked to raise my heels up, toes flat. I got busted for cheating and rolling out to the outside of my foot and have some serious work to do there. Next was the toe box on the phone book stretch to loosen up my calf and ankle. Finally I sat with both feet on a towel on the floor, "grabbing" for wrinkles to pick the towel up. Even my good foot wasn't very grabby, but my right foot was barely moving - the other four toes were, but the big one barely budged. Long way to go there too. We ended with a 10-min ice pack and some printed instructions on how I can do all of these exercises at home, five times a day, plus the contrast bathing, and using the ultrasonic bone stimulator that I have from a stress fracture earlier this year. I think I will be spending all day doing PT on myself! So I'm on a MWF/MWF/TTH/MWF schedule the rest of the month.
Oh - she also did this trippy tape thing on my foot - it looks like a jellyfish! The top is the normal thick tape placed over the joint, then trimmed into long fringe and spread around the length of the foot toward the ankle. The theory is it lifts the area to help flush out the swelling.
OK I'm off to do a home-session of PT. Adios!
As I head into the sixth week since the surgery, I had my first PT appointment today. I'll be going in 3x/week for four weeks. I wish I took a foot photo before I got new tape today - the incision has closed up, there are no more stitches or scabs, and I'm working on the scar with Neosporin and massage.
I've never gone to Physical Therapy before, so wasn't sure what to expect. We started off with lots of forms and questions, then measurements of both feet - degrees of rotation I could bend various toes and ankles comparatively. Great idea - it shows exactly how far I have to go; I really can't bend my right foot very far right now, nor can I move that toe much (if at all - after a few attempts at "gripping" it just stops altogether!). So after measurements and a 5-min ultrasonic treatment (a wand with goo rubbed over the joint area to stimulate the tissue and joints), there was some soft-tissue massage... after I was warmed up, the toe-tugging and rotating began. Wow. I was in need of many distractions as it was "not awesome," as I told the therapist. She said she'd take it easy on me on my first day. Then I was brought to a chair and while sitting, was asked to raise my heels up, toes flat. I got busted for cheating and rolling out to the outside of my foot and have some serious work to do there. Next was the toe box on the phone book stretch to loosen up my calf and ankle. Finally I sat with both feet on a towel on the floor, "grabbing" for wrinkles to pick the towel up. Even my good foot wasn't very grabby, but my right foot was barely moving - the other four toes were, but the big one barely budged. Long way to go there too. We ended with a 10-min ice pack and some printed instructions on how I can do all of these exercises at home, five times a day, plus the contrast bathing, and using the ultrasonic bone stimulator that I have from a stress fracture earlier this year. I think I will be spending all day doing PT on myself! So I'm on a MWF/MWF/TTH/MWF schedule the rest of the month.
Oh - she also did this trippy tape thing on my foot - it looks like a jellyfish! The top is the normal thick tape placed over the joint, then trimmed into long fringe and spread around the length of the foot toward the ankle. The theory is it lifts the area to help flush out the swelling.
OK I'm off to do a home-session of PT. Adios!
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