11 week calf raise!
Exactly 11 weeks post op and I did my first full weight calf raise! Well, I didn’t go all the way up, but my heel definitely came off the ground. So 11 weeks and 160lbs strength. The agressive physio is definitely giving me much faster gains than I was getting before with my tentative self-physio. A pleasant surprise, and I don’t feel like I’m on a plateau, more like a steady climb. My limp is almost gone. Flexibility is still bad, but gaining quickly. I’m at +3cm now (toes 3 cm from the wall when knees touching).
That’s all for now.
doug53 Said,
June 28, 2009 @ 9:47 am
Congratulations, Peter, that’s great news!
Being someone who was recently where you are now, I thought I would pass along a few unsolicited thoughts.
As I think you already suspect, the flexibility will probably be there very soon. Your strength is obviously coming along quickly, too.
What I did for strength, for what it’s worth, was to really work the calf hard every other day, but do lots of easier calf work every day, (like two leg calf lifts, jogging, etc.). The calf will likely be tired on those off days, but that means you’re working it well.
When my calf lift was good enough for me to walk truly normally, I often caught myself going back to the weak-calf walk. To make myself work the calf while walking, I made a point of walking fast.
I recently read that the strength comes back slowest at the plantarflexed end of the range of motion, so you might want to focus on that a little more. I did that by having most of my weight on my good foot, putting just a little weight on my bad toes with that heel up as high it will go (with the toes still on the ground), and gradually shift weight to the bad foot. When the calf starts to give out, shift the weight more slowly, and fight the drop as hard as you can, especially at first, in that plantarflexed range. Another option for a little later is just to walk around way up on your toes.
I hope you find this useful. Keep up the good work, you’re on your way now!
Doug
peterh Said,
June 28, 2009 @ 1:53 pm
Thanks for the encouragement Doug. I’ll definitely be taking your advice. I know what you mean about going back to the “weak calf” walk. I found myself doing that this morning, since I was sore from my workout last night. I still feel like the very limit of the plantarflexed region is tough because it feels like the tendon is getting crunched, since it’s so fat. Other than that I feel like I have fairly equal strength throughout the ROM. I’m not quite up for jogging yet, but maybe soon? I still need to gain more flexibility first.
Peter
Edgar Said,
June 29, 2009 @ 1:02 am
Hello Peter,
I am on my 11 week as well of my last surgery (I had a rerupture). Are you doing strong stretches already?
When I attempt to do stretches, I feel some pain on my heel.
Do you have that same feeling while stretching?
Edgar
peterh Said,
June 29, 2009 @ 12:50 pm
Hi Edgar,
I am doing fairly agressive stretching. Some dull pain is normal, just no sharp pain. Most of my pain is just above the surgery site, where the tendon meets the muscle.