Started my physical therapy this afternoon. It had originally been scheduled for next Friday, but since I was walking/driving again I had it moved up a week. The session went well- no real pain and it wasn't particularly taxing. They didn't have any issues with the stuff I had been doing on my own and I can continue to go to the gym between sessions.
The session started with the insurance/medical paperwork followed by an assessment of the current state of my ankle. My range of motion looked good but I had a bit more swelling than I should have and need to keep the leg elevated while at home.
The physical "workout" consisted of the following:
– 5 minute warmup on the exercise bike
– Standing "flamingo" style on just the injured ankle. This was much harder than I was expecting as I've lost a lot of strength in the stabalizer muscles on that ankle.
– Standing squat style motion with my back against an exercise ball. This didn't seem to tax the ankle at all, but my upper legs needed the workout.
– Calf stretches pusing againt a wall. This is one of the more common stretches from my swimming days.
After the workout they iced up the ankle and applied some electrode based therapy that is supposed to help break up scar tissue. My homework was to repeat the exercises 2 times a day on my own and have my next session on Monday.