Physical Therapy is Pretty Hard

The first couple physical therapy (PT) visits were like a deep tissue massage. I was mostly just worked on. I didn't do much, I just kind of sat there while M manipulated my ankle. I would walk out sore, but that's to be expected. However, the manipulation part is pretty small now, and I end up having to do a number of exercises now, which are not easy.

For example, while standing on one leg, my bad leg, on a 2 inch thick foam mat, I need to bend over and reach across my body to touch something, like a counter. It's super hard! I spend a quarter of the exercise just wobbling back and forth trying to get my balance. That being said, it's the kind of exercise I think that would be good to do in normal life just to keep your balance. I think it will help my poor slacklining.

The last visit my torturer (physical therapist) M came up with a new exercise. Putting a band around my bad ankle, below the actual ankle, that was attached to a couch or anchor of some sort behind me. Then with my feet about one foot apart side to side and my good foot a foot ahead of my back foot, in other words a narrow staggered stance, I would try to squat down. The band will then pull on my talus bone, which is sticking a little and doesn't have the range of motion needed, yet. Wow it hurts! Not in a damaging way, but I squat like four inches and it feels like my ankle is getting stabbed.

In short, I now understand why people might quit going to PT. It's hard and once you get to a certain level, it's like, 'I don't want to be tortured.' That's not me. I have a strange relationship with pain so a big part of me hopes if I keep going to PT, eventually I'll be better than I was last year. Meaning, I will be stronger, more well rounded, more durable because I will have addressed the small muscles and ligaments in my body necessary to do crazy stuff.