Tag: night splints

What a difference a week makes

You may remember that I spent most of last week’s post talking about the pain that I’ve been having in my left hip for a while now. I knew that I had to take a lot of the blame for this because I haven’t been keeping up with my physio or wearing my night splints as often as I should.

Well, what a difference a week can make.

I’ve put a lot more effort in, especially over the last seven days and it seems to be paying off for me. I’ve been spending more time sitting in positions like long sitting and sitting cross-legged to help give my muscles a good stretch, I’ve been trying to massage my hip myself. I’ve made a real effort to wear my night splints more too.

To ease myself back into having them back on again, I started out just wearing them for a couple of hours during the day while I was resting and reading or watching TV, and then I spend the whole night in them last night. I had the best night’s sleep I’ve had for a while and I woke up feeling the benefits of both that and my muscles having had a good stretch. I’ve noticed that my ankles have been feeling a lot less tight over the last couple of days too so I’m already feeling the improvement. This is one of the best forms of motivation for me.

My hip still aches a little bit, but it’s better than it was. Let’s hope I’m on the right track now.

The ‘down side’ to my night splints

My night splints
My night splints

People who’ve been reading this blog for a while now might know that I got a new pair of night splints a few months ago; and I’ve blogged about my love for them ever since. I wake up in the morning feeling like I’ve had a really good stretch without having to put in too much effort (besides remembering to get someone to put them on for me). I don’t have to find time to build wearing them into my day either. Needless to say; I think I’m in love. As long as I remember to put a pair of socks on so that the straps don’t rub my feet I couldn’t really find anything not to like.

Until now…

Just lately we’ve been having some really warm weather here to the point where I can walk around the house in bare feet; and I say this as someone who owns a pair of microwave socks because her feet are usually so cold. I love warm weather so I’ve been switching between bounding around like an excited puppy, eating loads of Ben and Jerry’s, and reading in the garden or our lovely and warm conservatory. Happy days! I love it. Until it’s time to go to sleep.

My Microwavable socks
My Microwavable socks

My night splints are also fully-lined on the inside, (that’s part of the reason I find them so comfy), but it also makes my feet really hot. Usually, I find having warm toes quite a novelty, but with the added heat it’s making them just that bit too toasty.

I’ve started sleeping with my feet poking out of the bed covers to try keep them cool, but the other day I had to admit defeat and take them off. I’m even thinking of wearing them during the day (I can also wear them when I’m resting if I want to) until it cools down a bit.

Still, I’m not going to complain that the sun is here. I’m going to enjoy it while I can!

Now, who wants an ice cream?

 

My new wheelchair has arrived

I kind of already mentioned what today’s post would be about on View From a Walking Frame’s Facebook page and on my Twitter, but I am now pleased to tell you all that my new wheelchair has arrived.

It looks pretty much like my old one, which was silver and black, but I don’t mind that because I always liked the way that one looked anyway. Not that it really matters if I like the colour at the end of the day as long as the chair can do its job, but it’s always a nice little bonus.

I haven’t really had much of a chance to have a go a pushing myself around it in yet because it’s quite rainy and wet here, but I’ve had a quick try and wheeling myself around the kitchen and it seems like it’s going to be fairly easy for me to handle.

Just in case you’re wondering, I haven’t picked out a name for my new wheelchair yet, but as soon as I do, I’ll let you all know. Feel free to leave your suggestions.

In other news, I’ve also got my night splints back with my walking grip now re-glued back on too which I’m also really pleased about because I enjoy wearing those.

That’s it for today, just short and sweet. Have a good day guys,

Nic

My first full night in night splints

There has been an achievement in Nicland this week, or it feels like one to me at least.

I’ve managed to spend my first full night in my night splints since I got given them a while ago!

My night splints
My night splints

At first I couldn’t wear them for a whole night because I can’t put them on for myself so I would have to take them off again if I needed to get up in the middle of the night for anything. Then I took them back to the hospital and got some walking grips put on the bottom so I wouldn’t need to keep taking them off.

Even after I’d had the grips put on, it still took me some time to be able to wear them for a whole night because I had to build up wearing them for longer periods of time slowly by a couple of hours at a time until I got used to it.

Now, I’ve finally done it! I was pretty surprised when I woke up the next day and found that they were still on.

Hopefully I’ll be able to do this most of the nights that I wear them now.

An Update about my night splints

My night splints
My night splints

People who’ve been following this blog a while might know that I got given some new night splints a bit ago. These are to wear when I’m in bed or just resting in the house. I like them. I personally find them really comfortable and can feel the stretch when I’ve had them on.

However, I could never manage to wear them for an entire night because I haven’t yet managed to be able to get them on for myself, and they didn’t have walking grips on the bottom. This meant that I had to take them off if I needed to get up in the middle of the night, and kept them off because I didn’t want to wake my mother up to get her to put back on again.

However, at my last appointment with my orthotist, he offered to put some grips on the bottom for me if I brought them back in to make this easier.

I’m really excited about this because I’m hoping that I’ll be able to move around in them easily so I’ll be able to wear them for longer.

It will be a little while before I get them back, but I’m already looking forward to it.

I’ll let you all know how it goes as soon as I can.