I showed up to the new physical therapist not too sure what to think or do with myself. I always have somewhat of a haughty speech prepared. You know, I have this foot problem. It’s always been a problem. I know SO much about it. -Insert diarrhea of the mouth here.-
Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking/analyzing my approach to transitioning to minimalist. Specifically, I’ve been pondering how I present myself to others when talking about the strengths and benefits of going barefoot. And I decided that I sounded like a crazed advertisement on the Home Shopping Network or something.
Well, that’s not the look I’m going for. As a matter of fact, that’s quite the opposite.
So, when I sat down with Brian Crosier, the PT at Madison Physical Therapy, I decided to be a little more tactful. I let him ask questions, and I did throw in the extras like the club feet and a little bit of history. Of course, I also plugged my blog.
He then did the usual tests. This time, the numbers:
Ankle Dorsiflexion (ability to bend in ankle) in knee extension (knee out straight): L 4 R 7
Ankle Dorsiflexion (ability to bend in ankle) in knee flexion (knee bent): L 6 R 9
And I quote, “These numbers suggest you have both talocrural joint stiffness, and soft tissue restrictions limiting your ankle dorsiflexion range of motion. This will result in your posterior tibialis needing to engage early in your stride, one of the several things that will lead to increased loading of that tissue.” Cool!
Knee to wall test (consequently, Travis did this test with me in one of my final appointments with him- not sure what those numbers were. I’ll look it up and edit)
Left: 8.5cm (cheating by allowing my talus or arch area to drop and make up for the stiffness), without talus dropping (Brian pointed out the cheating and directed me to not let the arch drop resulting in a smaller number than the right foot!), 7cm.
Right: 8cm
Goal: 10+cm on each foot
He then told me to do two exercises. TWO exercises? Is that it? I mean, I’ve got healing to do. Isn’t there more?
“No,” he replied. He then said very matter of factly, that it was obvious that I like to overdo it. I mean, I was walking right back into PT. Touche.
So, I have a specific exercise for the posterior tibialis and an active hamstring stretch. 🙂