Spinning for Physical Therapy Purposes

After my foot injury, one of the owners of my LYS told me that I could use my spinning wheel as part of my physical therapy. Up until now, the foot hasn't been capable of doing much, and I had been spinning one-footed on my double treadle wheels. As much as I love my Ashford Kiwi, I love her even more now, because she spins very very easily even with one foot.

My Ashford Joy is a little harder to spin with one foot, due to the wheel as there is a definite "bottom" and top of the wheel which causes it to wobble ever-so-slightly when spinning with one foot when the heavy part comes around. This is not a problem, and I've learned to compensate for the slightly heavier part of the wheel.

I did attempt to spin on the Kiwi with two feet, but the angle & treadle size wasn't right and it hurt to use my foot on it. HOWEVER, the angle & size of the Joy works with my poor hurt foot. So, the other night, I put the hurt foot on its treadle and let it just "ride" while my good foot does all the work.

So, I spun for a while. I let my foot "ride" for about 5-10 minutes, then gave it a rest while my good foot continued spinning. Later, I'd let the foot "ride" again....repeat for a bit. It felt pretty good and got some blood flow into the leg. My foot also felt "looser" instead of being tight. But, just like any other workout, the next day my foot was slightly sore (but not a "bad" type of sore) and I noticed that I had a little bit more movement than I did before.

When I go see my physical therapist, I shall be sure to talk to her about spinning. Mayperhaps, I can start a trend where spinning is recommended as part of physical therapy for those who have ankle injuries. :-)