New Ideas

So this week, my regular PT, Mark, is in Honduras in a missionary capacity.  In his absence, Chris is filling in. I find it interesting to observe differences in a PTs approach.  First, some history. While no longer a runner, I discovered that Chris is more into lifting (yep, he works out. 1 point)  It also came about that in his previous position (he recently moved to the area-- this weekend), he wore FiveFingers.  A minimalist (2 points).  Now, don't get me wrong, Mark has been more than capable, but as I said in an earlier post, I have become quite the snob when it comes to choosing physicians.  So Chris asked about my history.  How much did I used to run... Have I ever sprained my ankle...He also added some new, tremendously difficult/exhausting exercises.  (more about those later)  When he had me on the table, he noticed that my ankle was locking up in the dorsiflexion position, suggesting that with ankle sprains (multiple in my case), the ankle can become jammed.  So he un-jammed that.  Then he asked about my scar, and if it ever caused discomfort. Yes, in fact, it does, especially when my ankle swells at the end of the day and becomes rather lumpy.  So he worked on that and suggested Vitamin E lotion (or oil is ok since I already have that) rubbed into the scar area to break up the tissue and help the redness to go away.  Interesting. I just think it is good to have different perspectives, and I liked how he looked outside the box.

So, some new exercises.
1. Standing on right foot (surgery foot), on a piece of blue foam, slowly twist the upper torso to the right, back to center, and to the left.  I managed 5 times each position.

2. Standing on same piece of foam, on right foot, stretch torso out in front, raising left leg parallel to floor.  Slowly move back to original position.  Then to the right and to the left.  I managed 5 times in each position.

I will certainly practice these at home, without the lovely blue foam- mostly because I don't have it.

3. He added some toes curls as well.  Not sure if I can explain them, but here goes.  Sitting (notice I have very few sitting-on-my-ass- exercises anymore), pull right knee up, with foot flat on floor.  Put a finger under the 1st metatarsal and hold down while curling toes.  This is much like the scrunching of the toes on the towel stretch.  This is to work to build strength in the arch and provide a better foundation when running.  If you had a chance to read one of the latest postings on Dr. Nick's blog, you'll see the correlation.  If not, here's the link: http://www.drnicksrunningblog.com/category/running-shoes-2/

Lots of food for thought.