#looked up PT stretches for it bc the muscles all down into my foot were getting stiff as hell

[lesenbyan]

slowly but surely I think I recover from my sprained ankle

[whump-galaxy]

This is my experience with physical therapy, which was for my ankles. Please feel free to add on if you’ve had another form of physical therapy!

So, in my experience, physical therapy starts basically once you’ve gotten your cast off.

Your limb feels very weak and shaky, and may be very bruised still. They will ask you to wiggle your toes and try to slowly work up your range of motion.

Exercise will generally start small with things like:

-flexing and stretching with your foot

-using a loose resistance band or towel to help stretch your foot back (like this \/ but while laying down)

-alphabet exercises or toe circles

Depending on the injury/surgery, you may not be able to put full weight on your foot afterwards.

For me, it took about 6-8 weeks to fully use my foot again.

Every other week I was able to use my foot 25% more, starting on my tiptoe, then to the ball of my foot, arch, then full foot.

I think after these 8 weeks is when I officially went to a physical therapy clinic (if not earlier).

There, a physical therapist would talk about what we were strengthening, how, and why I was in physical therapy.

We’d start with the same stretches, and the physical therapist would gauge how strong one leg was in comparison to the other, and give a corresponding resistance band to match.

We’d also use stationary bikes, leg presses, wooden balance boards, rubber balance boards, wooden steps, and a low to the ground balance beam.

Basically it’d be an hour of 5-10 minute exercises each, trying to work out a different area of the affected limb. They’ll also focus on how it influences the rest of your body, such as your knee, hip, spine, etc. Walking on one leg throws off the rest of your body.

Close to the end, the therapist might use ultrasound, ice, or massages to help the afflicted area.

Unfortunately, they’re looking for lactic acid pockets when massaging, so pain is an indication they’re massaging the right area. However, if you’re like me and have fibromyalgia, they’re really just massaging into already bruised feeling muscles and going harder when you wince or hiss. It’s not their fault, none of us knew at the time, it’s just funny to look back on.

The physical therapists themselves, while generally nice, are there to get you going again. Which means they’re not always gentle with their exercises. They don’t mean to re-injure you, but they can push you relatively hard.

Case in point, that balance beam was used in one of my exercises. Walk across to the other end while being pelted with foam dodgeballs. I had to catch one/deflect others, all while maintaining balance and continuing a conversation.

I often said that to be a physical therapist, you have to be a little bit of a sadist. And most of my physical therapists would agree with a laugh when I said it.

Anyways,

It is a very slow process, especially when you’re used to being an athlete. It can become maddening to be stuck in bed/a chair.

Crutches and other mobility aids, while an absolute lifesaver, can cause their own issues. I was too eager to let my crutches go (bc they were causing other pain) and put my foot down that I ended up falling over and hurting myself again.

Physical therapy is physically and mentally strenuous, and I’ve definitely missed a few things from my own journey. I’m sure other people have had easier and much, much more difficult times with PT.

Anyways, that’s what I’ve got for now. If you have anything to add, please do!!

Would anyone want a list on what physical therapy is like?