Adding PT

So I started doing some physical therapy on my foot/ankle here at home in the past week.

I dug out my therapy band that I still had from the previous PT session. I also had ordered a wobble board so I could work on ankle rotations. Altho it started out a bit rough, things are progressing nicely.

I've been doing range-of-motion exercises since the foot came out of the cast but had lost some of that range after having my foot down and in the boot all day on the 1st. That'll teach me to party. But I'm pleased to say that I've gotten all of that back now and then some.

I'm doing resistance strengthening for the ankle with the therapy band - 20 reps in all four directions three times a day. At first I really felt it in the back of my calf but that has since loosened up. I'm doing my range of motion (circles and writing the alphabet with my toes) also three times a day.

On the wobble board I am doing circles both directions and also heel and toe raises, which I also do on the floor. At first, the ankle did not want to allow the toe raises on the board. Just plain locked up when the toes were barely lifted. But on the floor, I had no problems. But over time, this problem has disappeared. The heel raises are modified so as not to put any weight or pressure on the still-healing joint but I am wanting to get the toe ready for when we do start weight-bearing (in just over a week!!!).

The only real issue I am having with flexibility is rotating to the inside. Pretty much can't roll that part of the circle. Time will fix that as long as I keep doing my exercises.

As far as the toe, I am manually flexing the movable joint, stretching the tendon which wants to pull the toe down since we fused the joint at such an extreme angle, strengthening the toe with resistance, and doing toe lifts which really don't lift the toe but is strengthening the tendon on the top of the foot. And lots of massage. It's looking pretty good.

And in preparation for walking next week, I've been doing less sitting in the recliner with my foot in the air. I'm trying to acclimatize the foot to being down a bit at a time and then putting it back up and icing it to keep the swelling out. That, too, is going well. I'm having fewer days where the foot balloons up and when it does swell it goes away pretty rapidly when elevated. I think I'm on the right track there.

I also started some core strengthening exercises as I had developed a bad back ache which would wake me in the middle of the night. I also had back pain after I started work after the first surgery. Standing half bent over while grooming a dog takes a lot of core strength and I had none and paid for it. So I am doing leg lifts, crunches, and back bridges before I get out of bed in the morning and before sleeping at night. It's helped as I don't wake with back pain in the middle of the night. I also got a stability ball and sit on it while at the computer. Hopefully my back won't hurt as much when I go back to work in two weeks.