Sep 13 2013
Pimp Walk
So I am out of my boot officially on Tuesday and I had my first PT session on Thursday. I wore an ankle Brace on Tuesday and Wednesday because I was worried about the bus ride, but I have been doing all right walking around lately.
It is hard walking. I have a serious hitch in my gait (hence the pimp walk). I can walk on my tip toes with my right foot. It’s so weird, when I try to step with my fore foot its like the mechanism to hold me up is missing. It is so hard to push off with my toes to walk with a proper gait. Any my ankle is still real thick and swollen. My achilles is real thick too.
My PT was pretty easy, mostly hip and trunk exercises and a little ankle stuff. I have a long recovery outlook, which my PT was happy to hear. I told her I expect close to a year for full recovery and 6 months till i’m doing anything somewhat strenuous. My PT warned me to not stretch it too much, which I totally understand. As you stretch you create micro-tears which will be filled as it heals. This is will lead to a tendon that is too long.
I do plan to be very discipline with my exercises, as I did with my shoulder and knee rehabs in the past (which both healed wonderfully so far). I do have a TENS unit which I will use to keep the blood flowing down there and luckily we have an indoor pool in my building so I will be doing a lot of stuff in there. Stationary bike is also our friend, so I will get a healthy dose of that.
3 responses so far
IKWYM about the foot strength. My foot strength has slowly improved and I think that is why I’m pretty much limp free these days. It’s not as strong as the other side yet but I do see it getting there eventually. Lots of walking will help–just be careful not to overdo it so you don’t inflame the achilles. It’s a fine line which I’m still having trouble discerning–icing and elevating right now
Congrats on giving the boot the boot!
That’s a lot of joint damage, hashish!! I usually encourage ATR patients to “go for it” and return to their high-risk sports after their ATRs recover, but you may be an exception! Have you considered dialing back the injury-risk-index a notch or two? Unless you’re 68 years old like me, you may find that you have WAY too much time in the future to regret a bunch of injuries that may not completely vanish after you recover. I’m just sayin’. . .
@kellygirl
Thanks for the encouragement, it is getting better. My ankle is swollen most days at night, so I have been trying to ice for a little bit but to be honest I’m not being consistent. I may try a compression sleeve to keep the swelling down.
@normofthenorth
I’m not sure I understand your comment, I am actually on a very conservative track right now. Most try to resume their “old life” after 6 months. I expect to be pain free about then, and be 100% at 1 year. I am 32 so I am more than half your age, so that may play a role in to my rehab time line.