eyechilles’s AchillesBlog

So I’m about to start week eleven tomorrow but thought I would post an update about my progress. I’m spending more and more time in two shoes which is nice and liberating but I’m also moving at a snails pace. Even though I can walk much faster with my foot turned out, I am trying hard to take small strides with the normal gait but its still very difficult because my dorsiflexion is still at five degrees and I really need about ten degrees. My two-year-old loves to create an obstacle course for me at home so I still wear the boot sometimes at home and at work.

With physical therapy, I have been doing the red theraband and some more stretching exercises. I got an exercise bike last week and its also been very helpful. I am hoping to start working on more balance exercises soon but they want me to wait until week 12 to have more strength and to be standing more on my bad leg. Mornings are still rough because my gait is really bad until I get a few decent stretches done.

I wanted to ask if anyone here has experience with a night splint for plantar fascitis. I think my mornings are rough because my foot becomes plantar flexed in bed all night (especially since I sleep on my side), and I am wondering if wearing the splint to keep it in neutral all night would help. I suppose I could go back to wearing the boot at night but am really hoping to avoid that again.

Happy healing everyone. I think one of the best aspects of this site is that you can read and interact with people at all different stages of healing and learn so much and get perspective. Its really helped me a lot. To those reading this post that are still NWB…hang in there because life get much better pretty soon and slowly starts to return to normal! Over the weekend I finally helped set up a swing set for my kids, cleaned the house, did some yardwork, etc and I don’t think I have ever been as excited to be able to do it!