 |
 |
Susan-- It's common for PWP's to walk like that, especially if your Mom took to bed for a week and wasn't exercising. In my experience, whenever I neglect those stretching exercises, my hamstrings and lower leg muscles tighten and shorten. This causes toe-walking because the foot can't stre tch fa renough up to get the heel firmly in place. If you want to help her improve, get her to lean her hands against a wall, put one leg, knee bent, in front and the other behind and lean into the wall to stretch the hamstring in the back leg for a count of 20. Repeat with other leg. Another is to stretch your foot out on a low stool in front of your chair and press on your knee for 20 seconds. Alterna te legs for a total of 5 reps. Last one. Stand on a step w ith your heels hanging off the front and gently bounce or lower your heels as far as you can. Be sure to have adequate support/guard rail.Feel that in the back of your leg? It's working! If she can't/won't exercise on her own, you can manipulate her legs one at a time on your lap--too hard to describe here; you'd have to get a P.T. to show you. My husband does it for me as an extra treat sometimes and it feels divine. NPF and APDA both publish excellent range of motion exercise books. Call for a copy of one and get Mom started on a fight-back program. Good luck and hang in there. Kathy Kunz, sporting a new address: [log in to unmask] I can't believe how fast that RoadRunner is--zap! and my messages appear.