First PT

I had my first physical therapy appointment this afternoon. My ankle had been aching noticeably all morning, so I was really hoping that the appointment would result in my being in less, not more, pain. The physical therapist, Rita, seemed very competent and friendly, and like the docs, she was confident that this wouldn't take very long to heal. She emphasized that it would be important for me to do some cross-training over the next few weeks, something like swimming that would get my ankle moving a little without being hard on it. She said that this will strengthen the damaged tendons without damaging them more, and that needs to happen a little before I can start running again.

She did some diagnostic things and concluded that my tendonitis seems to be both a classic case and highly localized -- both good things. The flexibility of my injured ankle is only a little bit compromised, and the only thing I really couldn't do was stand tiptoe on it. Then she put an anti-inflammatory (dexamethasone) skin patch on the sore part of my ankle for about 15 minutes, had me do some stretches, and iced. My ankle felt good afterward and didn't start aching again for another few hours.

My homework is to do the stretches she showed me twice a day, keep icing in the mornings and evenings when I don't have the boot on, and keep taking a couple daily doses of ibuprofen. If I'm doing better (or at least not worse) on Friday when I have my next appointment, then she'll have me start the cross-training over the weekend. I'm glad everyone seems to think that I will be able to run again soon! I am following to the letter every instruction I've been given.