Comments on: PT Session 24 - Vertical Leaps

By: starshep

starshep — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 02:38:55 +0000

Norm,
Recovering from this injury is certainly not risk free. Yet how can anyone who has not gone through this before judge what is too great a risk for them? Anything you do outside of sit in a wheel chair involves risk. Yet if we don’t take a leap of faith in our assigned professionals, a life in a wheelchair (or at the very least walking with a slow limp) might be what we have to look forward to. Still you do make a good point about “professionals” who go nuts. I’m sure we’ve all seen a few where we wonder what clown college they may have gone to for their training. Part of the reason I wanted to give a detailed account of my therapy sessions is so that others could see what I am doing and the steps that preceeded my getting there. Maybe I’m more fortunate than others but before I attempt something my therapist is the one asking me if I’m sure I want to do it.

By: normofthenorth

normofthenorth — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 20:44:42 +0000

This “trust your PT” thing is another tricky tightrope thing. I was reinjured and set back for a month ~12 weeks after my ATR #1 by following my PT’s instructions. And when another Achilles blog asked all their reruptured patients what caused their rerupture, “Physio” was high on the list, maybe right behind slips, trips, and falls for #1. We’ve had a few people here who’ve reruptured by doing crazy too-soon exercises prescribed by their PTs.

Many PTs WON’T go nuts and tell you to do something dangerous, but quite a few will. Check out the sequence of exercises and moves in well-tested protocols with low rerupture rates, like bit.ly/UWOProtocol (which got excellent results with and without surgery). If your PT tells you to do something that is ahead of that schedule, I’d certainly ask “Are you SURE?” And I’d also probably “just say no”. Wish I had 10 yrs ago.

All OSs and PTs have access to all the studies and protocols and literature that we have access to, and more. But more of us have time and motivation to actually read the stuff. And many of them think they know better than to follow somebody else’s recipe, just because they’re that kind of people. Find a health professional who’s very creative and imaginative, and you’ll be at risk attributing God-like wisdom to them. I’m just sayin’. . .

By: starshep

starshep — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 19:38:35 +0000

Eva:
It’s a combination of mental and physical. You have to trust that the therapist will not tell you to do anything until your tendon, muscles and balance are ready. Then it’s a matter of clearing your mind and doing it.

Kimjaz:
Don’t get too excited. I only went a few inches off the ground. Not very practical unless I want to avoid a cockroach that’s about to crash into my shoe, or crawl up my leg

By: kimjax

kimjax — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 19:09:08 +0000

I want to leap, too, Starshep! You give me hope!

By: eva10

eva10 — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:54:14 +0000

That’s great Starshep!! The thought of vertical leaps makes my stomach turn right now, but it’s definitely encouraging to see all the great progress a lot of the members are making! From the sounds of it, it’s more of a mental game rather than anything really potentially going wrong physically that’s the hard part to wrap your mind around.