Linda had been away on holiday and done some extended walking, this had initially been limited by her knee, then as she was compensating her foot, developing Plantar Fasciitis and Achillies tendonitis.
Linda was normally an active person walking and gardening around the house and an improving ballroom and Latin dancer which was her passion and did three times a week.I met Linda post her seeing the GP, Physio and looking at insoles and shoes to aid in just walking short distances. Her Plantar fasciitis in particular was acutely painful making standing and walking very difficult, initial assessment was only 20 steps before rest needed, a far cry from her normal activity and movement.
Linda’s treatment plan was in 3 phases following my 3, 6, 9 approach. The initial phase was reducing pain so Linda could stand and walk short distances. I use a six minute walk test that Linda was able to do after 3 weeks and stand for extended periods so could do normal household activities.
The second phase was focused on walking extended distances and stairs, as Linda lives in a house with lots of stairs. This also highlighted balance issues and carrying items was difficult so attention was put into stairs practice, using bespoke movements along with balance movements.
With walking and stairs improving week on week the treatment had to enter the 3rd phase of treatment getting Linda back to dancing regularly for lessons and also dances on a Saturday which was the option of dancing extensively what they practiced in the week. This posed a number of issues, firstly I am not a dancer so had to learn some of the movements so I was able to help. The key thing to note was been on toes and lateral sideways movement and spinning. All of these movements and foot positions stressed the fascia differently so we had to build up time and repetitions. After a few weeks significant progress with dance lessons and continued improvement in standing and walking and Linda has finished and is pain free. Linda has her active life back and is able to play basketball with her grandson and has recently enjoyed a holiday in Scotland.
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