Sunday, January 18, 2015

Cross-Country Skiing Stroke Rehab

Dean Reinke
Deans’ Stroke Musing
Sunday, December 30, 2012

We have about 3 inches of snow here. Walked across the parking lot to the woods with my skis and one pole. Its about 30 F here, so quite warm, no need for long underwear. The ground isn't frozen yet so I had good traction with my pole. I'm using my waxless skis because  they are slower and better able to take skiing over branches, rocks and dirt. My waxable wood skis are beautiful but it may be years before I can handle the speed of them.  I went without the AFO because it cramps my toes a lot. It was a problem because my ankle rolled a lot, forcing me to ski very slowly and awkwardly trying to keep the weight on my inside. I cut short the loop, maybe one third mile.  While I very seldom roll my ankle when walking the action of skiing is completely different since you are trying to push the ski forward with a flat foot.  And the spasticity of my ankle  tries to point the toe downward and to the underside.  This is so common there should be a stroke protocol to overcome this and be readily available to every survivor.  Only 30 minutes skiing. On New Years I'll try again probably with the AFO.

This used to be my one of my main cardiovascular exercises and I would do it for hours.  That will be years ahead. But I won't give up.



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