Posts Tagged ‘Ponseti Method’
10/5/10 – Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back :-(
I went to my chiropractor, Dr. Larry, and it was a needed appointment. He adjusted everything, but my shoulder! Hooray, on the shoulder at least!
My L-5 was out, my neck was all kinds of misaligned, and my hips and ankles need to be popped. He also worked on both wrists, which felt so incredible.
However, I was really looking forward to my massage b/c my left ankle has been seriously working its way into an inflamed tizzy since Sunday. But, my massage therapist had to cancel. Major bummer!!! Major, major bummer!!!! I was counting on the massage to keep the inflammation from getting worse, but here I am no massage, and an increasingly inflamed left ankle.
Now, what the hell is going on this time?! Seriously! I just got released from the physical therapist, can my body just cut me some slack and not have injuries?!!!
I feel like my ankle has a crush on Travis and cannot stand the fact that we’ve graduated and won’t be seeing him anymore.
Well, ankle, get over it. It takes a village to get through things, but isn’t all that ready to be over?
As I sit with my Anatomy Coloring Book in one hand and my fingers following the trail of pain in my left ankle/side of my calf, I am truly wondering what is wrong. I cannot tell what this is. It looks like the Flexor Digitorum Longus and the Soleus are the culprits this time, but I’m not a friggin’ doctor.
Yes, this is frustration. FRUSTRATION! and sadness.
I have worked so hard, especially this week with getting to the gym three days in a row. That is probably part of what contributed. I can so identify with folks who go to the gym and workout, only to have their bodies rebel and pay them back with days of pain. Now, granted, one cannot go from couch potato to Mr. Universe in one gym visit, but I’ve been working on this slowly. And although I identify with folks who get pain and quit, I am not going to quit. My feet will function. I did not get the awesome doctor I had at birth who put me in casts rather than cutting my tendons just so I can quit now.
Ok, so here’s the plan:
1. email Travis for his opinion.
2. massage the area – really get in there and move things around
3. ice
4. no running
5. still going to the gym, but no elliptical – a nice bike ride perhaps
6. while at the gym, taking it easy on balance and heavy lifting – meaning Physical Therapy work and some modified personal training work
7. riding my bike to work rather than walking – that worked before, maybe it will work again.
Alright – BREAK!
Ponseti Method
Posted by admin in My History on March 27th, 2010
In my earlier post about myself, I mentioned that I was born clubfooted. Both of my feet turned in to where the bottom of each my feet touched the ankle. It is my understanding that in the mid-70’s when I was born, surgery to release the foot was the most popular method to “fix” this problem. However, the surgery leaves the patient with shortened tendons, less mobility, stiffness later in life, and overall pain when walking forever.
I was incredibly lucky that my parents decided to bring me into this world at Baptist Hospital, which was not in our very small rural hometown. The doctors at Baptist used a method to correct my feet using casts to hold my feet in place for the first six months of life. Then, I wore really weird looking braces (the shoes for these braces looked like they were on the wrong feet) for the first year of walking. After that, I had flat feet, but they worked fine.
As I was researching subtalar neutral, I found the name of the man who invented the cast and brace method of treating club feet, Dr. Ignacio Ponseti. He invented this method in the 1950’s, and it is now being taken to countries around the world. They have found that clubfoot can be treated in older children as well.
Having been a successful recipient of this method, I feel very indebted to Dr. Ponseti and the Ponseti Method. Although I gripe about my feet not functioning correctly, I cannot imagine what my blog would say had I been treated with surgery or, even worse, not been treated at all.
So, I dedicate this blog to a man I have never met, but without whom I would not have the potential to run. To Dr. Ignacio Ponseti (1914-2009), thanks for helping me run barefoot!