5 Month “Aniversary”
Its been 5 months since my life changed. And, though I’m walking without a limp and can do almost everything I did before the rupture I learned to respect my body and not push myself to dangerous situations. Maybe some of you will say I’m a pansy (or some other term), but I really don’t want to go through this again.
I am still recovering from the aftereffects of the fall last week, and have a skin infection on the injured leg, but I’m dealing with it with antibiotics.
Milestones?
Well, I noticed I am going down the stairs normally, putting toes down first, with no pain or discomfort. This is both with heels as well as in my flat slippers.
Heel lifts are also progressing well, though I haven’t tried the single heel lift yet (being overweight makes me cautious). 
Deep squats are fine, and I have no balance problem doing them.
I also started doing my Aikido turns/moves again, and the foot is behaving well. Not practicing falls or jumps though… those would be best to do in a dojo under good supervision.
As for Physical Therapy, I am waiting for a new set of sessions to be approved, but wonder if I should move on to a new type of exercises. S40love, Beanie, Bobbie, Stuart, what do your guys think?
Well, that’s about it for now!
Happy Healing, everyone!
Manny
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Started doing the eccentric exercise lifting with both heels and coming down on the injured leg… have to admit it is booooooooooooring. Came down quick, though, didn’t feel the strength surge to hold the “coming down” part, so will try again tomorrow to do it slowly.
single leg eccentric calf lowers. Lunges are really good for glutes, hammys and quads. Glute bridges. Lots of single leg balancing with bent and straight leg, try throwing and catching a ball while balancing and also closing your eyes. Seated calf raises are good and safe and you can increase weight on the injured leg using anything you have lying around the house. At this point if you can do double leg heel raises then you’re probably ready to try walking on your toes or balancing on your toes on your injured leg. There’s so much I could go on forever, but I hope that gives you some ideas. All the best Manny, stay well!
Hey Manny, congrats on 5 months and all your progress! I hope your infection and pain from the fall get better quickly. Stepping down onto toes again is excellent … I still feel joy when I walk up and down stairs normally, maybe I’m a bit weird, but hey, gotta love the small things
Not sure what exercises you’re doing at this point but I’d say (like a broken record
single leg eccentric calf lowers. Lunges are really good for glutes, hammys and quads. Glute bridges. Lots of single leg balancing with bent and straight leg, try throwing and catching a ball while balancing and also closing your eyes. Seated calf raises are good and safe and you can increase weight on the injured leg using anything you have lying around the house. At this point if you can do double leg heel raises then you’re probably ready to try walking on your toes or balancing on your toes on your injured leg. There’s so much I could go on forever, but I hope that gives you some ideas. All the best Manny, stay well!
hi Manny
great to see you are still ploughing through! the skin infection will soon be gone and we can, i’m sure, wait fir the further update of manny taking steven seagal in a movie sequel
you just gave me the idea to start tying to negotiate going downstairs with toes first. just realised i use the ankle!
suerte
Manny - I think you are doing so well that I doubt you need much more in the way of PT sessions but that would be up to you to call. You should have enough information and skill by now to progress on your own and I think your caution regarding your weight is most sensible. I continue to tell people the best exercise is walking and I think now you can go down stairs properly you can also use the going up as exercise. At 5 months I started building my house and I was up and down ladders all day. It was tiring and sometimes I had to stop but my calf muscle came back and I got stronger. Possibly you could also benefit from using a mini tramp. Jogging on one is less stressful. Balancing helps build strength in the whole body. You can jump up and then stop yourself from bouncing (bend the knees). I would also continue with eccentric heel rises and can go up on on both legs then come down slowly on your bad. Whatever you do with your bad leg you should repeat with your good on the alternate rise. Keep it up Manny and I would not call you a pansy.
Thanks, Beanie, Stuart and Pozaicer! You are certainly great at making me feel good about my progress!
Started doing the eccentric exercise lifting with both heels and coming down on the injured leg… have to admit it is booooooooooooring. Came down quick, though, didn’t feel the strength surge to hold the “coming down” part, so will try again tomorrow to do it slowly.
This is actually important for my dancing, since I normally do turns from both legs, not just the uninjured one.
Take care and happy healing, everyone!
Manny
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Manny - if you lack the strength to control going down on your bad leg then you can take weight off using the other leg. Go down on both and increase the weight on your bad leg as you improve. I know how boring they are and how difficult it is to motivate yourself to do them regularly. I used to do them every time I boiled the kettle while I was waiting. Remember it is important to do straight leg and bent. They work different muscle groups. The bent works the soleus (outside) and the at will give your calf good definition and increase its size more.
5 months… Looking back, it goes real fast doesn’t it?
Who is calling you a pansy??? By no means you are a pansy, there is nothing wrong with being cautious.
Everyone has strenghts and weaknesses, it’s what make us unique.
Sorry to hear about your infection… Hope it heals soon.
Going down the stairs normally is a great milestone!
One trick to try when you are ready to try single heel lifts: try leaning against a table with your arms, standing with both feet first, then lift both heels, and progressively (daily) decrease the weight on your non-injured leg, and increase the weight on your injured leg. Then, as you get more comfortable with the days, remove one hand from the table, then both.
Jumps would be better to practice in the water, or using a trampoline first, because it’s too hard on your feet.
Let us know what exercises they will have you doing next at PT. I am curious because I quit PT long time ago, and been in need of some new ones… My leg routine has been pretty much what I said before.