My at home PT schedule

Well I'm about 4 days into my at home therapy exercises.  To recap, I have no ass muscles.  Oh don't get me wrong, I do Sir Mix A Lot proud but as far as anything resembling strength there...zilch.  Oh and my inner leg muscles and the front of my legs...basically dead inside as well.  *kicks pebble*

Last Friday I got my first two at home PT exercises to do.

Clamshells

This is the only pic I could find that shows the way my PT told me to do it.  She emphasized that my elbow needs to remain flat on the ground and if I roll back or lift it off the ground, the positioning takes away from the effectiveness of it.  I am supposed to try to isolate the butt cheek I'm lifting at the time without using my leg muscles to try to cheat me.  Believe me when I tell you that is WAY harder than it sounds.  So I lift the knee, hold it for 3 seconds then lower and that's one rep.  I have to do 15 reps per side, three rounds, twice a day.  For those keeping count, that's 90 clamshells on each leg per day.

Gastrocnemius Stretch (aka Calf Stretch)

I used to do these every morning and evening as I brushed my teeth and I haven't been able to do them for 4 months.  I cannot tell you how bad I miss them because I know the relief I would get being able to do that.  When she assigned this stretch to me, I was terrified.  I can stretch the right foot this way but the left foot has like half dorsi-flexion meaning when I try to pull my toes upward, whatever the heck is going on in my ankle yanks like this scene (seriously, don't watch this if you are squeamish) from Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors.  The thought of doing this 6x a day at a minute each made me so nervous.  So I have to gently put my left foot on the board and lightly put the heel down until I feel the "yank" and back off slightly.  3x per side at a one minute hold twice per day.  If When I'm able to do this the way I can do my right side, I will absolutely break down and cry.

Yesterday, she gave me two new ones to add to the mix.

Arch Raises

This is a stability exercise.  I am to sit in a chair and slightly scrunch my toes to raise the arch but making sure to keep the ball of my feet on the ground.  I have to hold it for 10 seconds.  So I do 15 of these per leg in each set, hold for 10 seconds and do 3 rounds.  So yeah, that's 90 of those as well per day.  I have to watch it though because my arch has been cramping on me and I've had to graston my arch to try to dig out the adhesion and it does feel better after I do that.  She mentioned she could dry needle it for me but it's like "woman, I need to be able to walk, yo!"  So I might go that route if digging at it warrants me nothing.  But in the meantime this should strengthen my arch to help provide stability as I walk.

Ankle Eversion

I have to do this sitting with either a towel, a sock on or I used a paper plate so the surface would slide easier.  The ankle is turning outward as far as possible while keeping the foot on the floor.  I think I do this one 15x for 3 sets twice a day.  She said it will engage my inner leg muscles which are seriously lacking and these too will help build stability as I walk.  I can already feel both of these in the front of my ankle and that is an area that has always needed strengthening despite the fact my left ankle can lock out mobility wise.

I won't lie, this process is tedious and the Mr (who is doing PT with me voluntarily) and I already groan when it's time to do it.  We do it in the morning and then again after our workouts when the muscles are warmed up.  I also make sure I use the vibration board before I do it to loosen stuff up and again when I'm done to help aid lactic acid removal, heal the injury and recover quicker from workouts.  I do feel like that helps to a degree so I'm glad we got it.  I'm hoping that like regular muscles that we will eventually be able to drop back to maybe 3-4x per week once the butt and legs are strong.  I mean if I have to do this for life, I guess I will but like anything, you know how it is when you feel better, you feel "normal" and stop doing those exercises that got you to "better" in the first place.  I know that isn't an option if I want to get and stay well.

It's the beginning of a new path in my healing and despite feeling like a voodoo doll after every session and the hard work I'm going to have to put in, I have to believe this is going to be better in the long run.  I just have to be patient despite not having much left after the long journey I've already been on.

What physical therapy exercise have you ever done?  Do you continue to do them?


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