NEED ADVICE...Spinal chord injury, led to muscle atrophy...

[GypsyLu]

Hello! To sum it up, I had a bad motorcycle accident on my bike back in Jan 2007. It broke my back (crushed L1, fractured L2), leaving me paralyzed from waist down for next nine months. was told I would never walk or ride again! Well, im here today walking and riding, but I've been back in the gym now for close to six months, and I'm doing very well, but my legs are still suffereing from atrophy from being in the wheelchair for nine months (then walker for 4 mons, quad-cane for few more months, then regular cane, then on my own, whew...). My upper half of my legs and my glutes are responding a lot better and faster than below my knees. I can tip toe barely, and i can jump but only a few at a time. I cant run, and I cant do the heel-toe motion when walking the best (mainly thats a problem with my right foot...I had whats called "drop-foot" for long time and still recovering from it). I can do squats with my boyfriend spotting me (in case I cant pish it back up well), and I'm getting stronger with leg press. But as far as any calf workouts go...for get it. I can do seated calf raises but even little weight wears me out and I hit failure fast! Im worried Im not doing the correct things in order to rebuild the strenght back in my calves and ankles. ALso, I cant do lunges b/c of my weak ankles when its the leg in the back position...my foot just wants to roll sidewyas, and that is not good! lol. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Im considering going back to physical therapy, maybe a sports specialist in therapy. Any input???? Thanks!!!!

[KBKB]

Given the circumstances, I think you've made remarkably good progress!

When you work your calf muscles, do you feel pain anywhere? Or do you simply wear out quickly?

My circumstances are different - I shattered my right heel and broke my left ankle nearly 20 years ago. The heel has given me more problems than the ankle. I won't bore you with the various problems I've experienced, but my right calf is significantly weaker than my left. I learned about trigger point therapy last year by reading The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook. Working on (massaging out) trigger points in various calf and lower leg muscles has provided relief from pain that I'm feeling in my foot. I've also seen an increase in calf size and strength since I've begun regular self-massage of the various lower leg muscles.

I think you would also probably benefit from some physical therapy - if nothing else, they can teach you exercises which will help you more quickly regain function in your lower leg. I received physical therapy for some shoulder issues that I was having about two years ago. It helped tremendously. I recall seeing other folks there who had some lower leg dysfunction. The physical therapists had them doing exercises in which various types of instability were introduced while doing the exercise.

[GypsyLu]

Thanks for the input! I don;t feel pain when working my calves, I just wear out and fatigue very quickly. Before the accident, I was constantly in the gym as well, which is a huge factor as to why Ive been able to recover like I have. But I used to love doing jump-squats within ,y leg workouts. I canlt really jump well, so I have to hold on to something sturdy in fron of me, and pretty much force the explosive motion of a jump. Anything is better than nothing, but after about 5 or 6 small jumps, it seems as if my calves and ankles don't want to work anymore, i'm lucky to get few sets of 5-8 jumps. But, i gotta start somewhere. I;m gonna look into what yo mentioned above, thank you so much for the info, its all greatly appreciated! And best of luck with your progress as well! It seems we have something in common....conquering our challenges!