Travis suggested that two appointments this week would definitely benefit me. So, I dutifully made an appointment for Friday, which was tricky because I had to go in the middle of the day. I teach school for those who are curious, and leaving in the middle of the day is not so straight forward.
Anyway, I managed all that and arrived at the PT office. Boy did Travis mean business today. We started out immediately on strengthening the posterior tibialis. I had to stand toes only in the pigeon toed postion on a step. From there I raised both feet, then lowered on the left foot only. 10 reps, 3 sets. Whew! That was hard! I am happy to report that the tendon did not seem to mind this exercise.However, I discovered that my left hamstring was really burning during this exercise. This is an old problem where my hamstring does the work of my glutes or inhibits my glutes from firing or something. I am not sure of the cause, but I know that my hamstrings are a little too helpful when ever I am running or doing exercises.
This revelation led into some investigation of how the hamstrings and glutes were firing. Travis had me do some exercises, and yes indeed the left hamstrings were much more engaged than the right ones. He said he could add an exercise to help engage the glutes more. Here I diverge: when I went for PT in 2001, one of the main focuses was on getting my glutes to fire. The right leg was successful, while the left leg was annoyingly non-compliant. It is a very big disappointment to me, and when I think of trying to treat that again, it really makes me sad. It such a let-down when it didn’t work all those years ago. I don’t know if I can there again. I know I have to, but I’d like a little success before hitting that obstacle.
Then, we moved onto core strengthening. I have done side-body planks before, but all I had to do was lift my body, hold it four seconds, and release down to the floor. Travis decided to up the ante on this one. His exercise was lift the body into the side plank and hold. While holding, lift the top leg five times. Wow, talk about challenging. I found that my right side was significantly stronger as when I got to five, I actually lost count and could have kept going. On the left side, though, the exercise was more challenging and getting to five was really tough. I like this exercise, and I think I am going to practice it outside of the clinic. Five leg lifts per side, 3 sets.
After that, he had me do some bridges while holding one leg out for a few seconds, then release down to the floor and go again with the opposite leg held out. Ten of those, 3 times.
Next, I had to balance on a board while Travis threw a fairly light medicine ball at me. Fifteen throws, 3 sets. By the third set, I could feel it in my left ankle. The right foot felt good.
Finally, I had to stand on the flat side of a half cylinder made of foam (i.e. the semi-circular part was on the floor, creating an uneven surface). Then, I stood with my back to the resistance band. I took the two ends and held them in both hands. The exercise was to punch forward with both hands at the same time while balancing on the foam. Ten of these, 3 sets. After that I turned around and grabbed the resistance bands and pulled back (doing a rowing motion), while still standing on the foam. Ten rows, 3 sets.
I must admit that I only made it through two sets of the last exercises. My posterior tibialis was seriously done. It felt more worked than inflamed.
After I returned to school, I noticed that my tendon did not like to walk long distances, which made the walk home not very inviting. I ended up getting a ride from my absolutely wonderful husband. Then, I iced.
Over the weekend, I am going to continue to do the blue band exercises and alternate the sweeping foot and the pigeon-toed exercises. I am also adding the plank. I really need a whole workout regimen at the gym as currently, I am really just floundering along without any real direction.
Tags: physical therapy