The calf is 2 muscles.  The thing you can see that people try to build up and make pretty is called the gastrocnemius.  But underneath that is another calf muscle, called the soleus.  These muscles are responsible for pointing the foot downward, which when walking lifts the body as you walk.  After a stroke, often these muscles will be pretty spastic.  That means that your toes on the affected side will be pointed down and your foot will be insanely hard to lift.  There are some physical therapists that will say if your muscles are spastic and being synergistic, don’t stretch them and don’t exercise them.  WRONG!!!!  You want to perform any movement that you have and try to control it.  If you don’t exercise those muscles when they’re being weird, then how will the movement get any better?  Use the muscles, let the movement be weird, it will get better in time.  Here, look at this.  Do these stretches.  Do this stuff.  And this stuff.  And these.  If you google “ankle strengthening exercises,” you’ll find a ton of crap.  Ok, here’s a joke for therapists…..  Peter G. Levine says HEP stands for Hand ’em Photocopies.  Haha!!!

Categories: Rehab, Stroke stuff

Tags: Calf, calves, cerebellar stroke, Gastrocnemius muscle, Physical therapy, plantarflexion, Soleus muscle, Stroke