I started week four of recovery feeling much more secure on my feet. I no longer needed crutches around the house or for short distances and I was finally allowed to drive. What a nerve racking but liberating experience it was on Monday, July 20th to drive myself to physical therapy!!!
We began to work on the range of motion of my hip joint to increase flexibility, included more Pilates-based exercises to strengthen the hip and surrounding muscles to stabilize the joint, and to stretch the opposing muscles that had become tight. My bridge curl (pictured below) had progressed nicely which helped to open up the front of my hip and strenthen my glutes and hamstrings. I continued doing some footwork in parallel on the heels and toes with a prance to stretch my calves.
My Physical Therapist tested the range of motion of my hip manually and had me practice sitting back towards my heels in a child’s pose at home. My range of motion was definitely improving with the bridge curls and the donkey kicks, and tummy time was no longer painful. I had made lots of progress in such a short time so I had to proceed with caution and be sure to follow my PT’s advice. I did a few extra reps and added pulses because I knew that would help me get stronger, but I listened very carefully to my body. There were days I definitely did too much and had to lay down on ice by 6pm.
We began doing side steps, outer thigh exercises with the flex band, and inner thigh squeezes with the ball. I was allowed to do squats and a few steps with my good leg leading the way. It seemed my whole life was consumed with rehab each day. I increased the resitance on the stationary bike to two for as long as possible each day so my 40 minutes was back and forth between one and two. Since I had increased my pace as well, I finally got a little cardio. I was able to see a couple of clients virtually with lots of verbal cues and some demonstating of things I was able to do. More to come soon on my progress so stay tuned!!!
