Quite some time ago, my physiotherapist was all excited about a new-fangled tool she had found that would be just perfect for me.
She had been to a workshop for these things and thought of me immediately; she bought a pair for her clinic so she could present them to her clients as the need arose. But she couldn't wait to try them with me because we had often talked about my reluctance to use my cane since both hips were now so bad that I felt like I actually needed two canes.
Last week, on Tuesday while I was there, she finally had the chance to introduce me to the Activator Walking Poles and she sent me home with a pair to try them for a week.
On Wednesday, I showed the poles to my good friend, RLR, who also happens to have mobility issues and she was astounded at the potential benefit that she might derive from them. When she saw her physiotherapist the next day and discussed the matter, she got an immediate thumbs up for using the poles in her therapy as well. By Friday, she was actively trying to find retailers in the region who carried them.
This morning, I woke with extremely sore hands again, and my right hip was screaming in pain. I think that steroid shot has run its course after only eight weeks (you will recall that I had enjoyed 12 weeks' relief from the injection in my left hip).
My physiotherapist is insistent that I must walk, so in spite of the pain, I suggested to John that we head out for a walk -- the first time we've attempted walking in many months.
So, out the door we went, I using a loaner pair of Activator Walking Poles -- and they are every bit as beneficial as they purport to be.
Because of my experience with walking with a cane, I had no problem adapting to the use of the poles -- you'd have thought I'd been using them for months. And I'm pleased to report that I was able to walk -- without pain -- for ten minutes (the return home was testy because I went too far for a first outing but I'll learn my limits, eventually).
The interesting thing about that outing is that while my hands were and are extremely sore today, they did not hurt while I was on this walk, using these activator poles. (Usually, when my hands are like this, I have great difficult gripping the steering wheel or holding anything in my hands.)
There was also no pain in my hips until about the six minute mark (which is one minute longer than the total time I should have been out for a first attempt, in any event). With time and training, I should be able to walk that 20 minutes that my physiotherapist would like to see me do (she would love it if I could manage 30 minutes but that's a little ambitious because of my bursitis). When I go out again on Monday (that R&R day has to be in there), I will make sure I limit my time to five minutes so that I don't sabotage my own therapy efforts.
When John and I went on our errands this morning, one of our stops included an outlet in Carleton Place that just happened to have one pair of the poles which they were trying to clear from inventory -- I picked them up at a $20.00 discount!
My physiotherapist will be delighted when I land on her doorstep on Tuesday, returning her poles, and tell her that I already have my own pair and that I'm actually going out walking again.
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