73 Drop Foot
The good news in being back in the States was that I had access to proper medication, not to speak of loading up on nutrients, and I was not in constant pain, so life was a comparative breeze compared to the month I spent on my back in Peru.
The bad news was that I arrived back to the States with drop foot, a deceptively simple name for a potentially complex problem.
All the muscles and veins, plus my Achilles tendon, were all pretty messed up in the accident, and after the lengthy period of inactivity my right foot hung limp and I had no muscle control to speak of. Wiggling a couple of toes was about the limit of my range of motion.
So at my doctor's instruction, I began doing self-therapy with a bicycle inner tube. I looped a length of inner tube around my foot, and exerted pressure with each hand to budge the top part of my foot around the toes. At the same time I attempted to flex my leg muscles to regain some semblance of muscle coordination.
The exercise hurt, but it was literally a "no pain, no gain" situation.
I resolved to do this every day, with the goal to be able to bend my ankles by my next doctor visit.
It felt good to actually feel my muscles moving again.
The bad news was that I arrived back to the States with drop foot, a deceptively simple name for a potentially complex problem.
All the muscles and veins, plus my Achilles tendon, were all pretty messed up in the accident, and after the lengthy period of inactivity my right foot hung limp and I had no muscle control to speak of. Wiggling a couple of toes was about the limit of my range of motion.
So at my doctor's instruction, I began doing self-therapy with a bicycle inner tube. I looped a length of inner tube around my foot, and exerted pressure with each hand to budge the top part of my foot around the toes. At the same time I attempted to flex my leg muscles to regain some semblance of muscle coordination.
The exercise hurt, but it was literally a "no pain, no gain" situation.
I resolved to do this every day, with the goal to be able to bend my ankles by my next doctor visit.
It felt good to actually feel my muscles moving again.
Labels: broken leg; drop foot; muscle coordination; inner tube; therapy;
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