So I went to physio today and Lauren came straight out as soon as she saw me sit down. We went into the cubicle and got ready before she made me do my knee bends.
As I previously said, the first week I got to 60 degrees and last week, I made it to 100 degrees which was amazing progress. When I first arrived today, I went straight to 105 but after a quadriceps massage to relieve my tightness, I got to 130. She told me that for normal people, this is about as far as they can go but my other leg goes to approximately 155 so I need to be able to get it the same. Even so, I'm making good progress.
My knee has realigned itself. There is a small bit of bone which appears to be in the wrong place but it doesn't hurt and isn't affecting my movement so she said not to worry about it too much. I also asked her about the swelling and pain I had in the week but she told me it was normal, despite me not having it for ages previous to this.
She then examined my calf muscle only to discover that it was knotted, so I had to lie on my front with a pillow under my bad knee, as I can't put pressure on it. She then put oil on my calf and started to give me a massage. Not only was it knotted, but it had the biggest knot that she said she had ever felt in her life. The pain was excruciating and I told her I wanted to kick her! She thought it was funny. We get along so well and that's great for me as it means that I can put more trust in her.
Then, I had to try and walk on my crutches without my leg brace. She put my crutches up another notch (which she says is a good sign) and showed me how to walk in an over-exaggerated way to train my muscles how to walk properly again. She told me that my injured leg at the moment is like a baby learning to take its first steps. I had to walk a few steps out in the open and then back to the bed again. She sat on the floor whilst I did this to watch the exact movement of my leg, which went purple during the exercise. She said it was normal and that she could see how wobbly my leg was, but that we will get there in time.
She has told me to do about that many steps in the way she showed me today, once a day every day - taking breaks or sitting down between steps if I need to as it causes me a lot of pain. My main problem is my weight bearing now but she promised that I would be able to walk again properly one day, so that is great news.
I told her that I was really unhappy with the little progress that I've made but she looked shocked and said that she is more than happy with the progress I've made, and that I'm doing wonderfully with just three weeks of physio. She's told me that I'm too hard on myself and that I'm pushing myself too much. She's recommended that I take it more easy than I have been as it will eventually lead to a more permanent recovery.
Clare
(twitter / instagram)
xxx
0 comments :
Post a Comment