No Pain, No Gain
Pain is usually a warning signal--- our bodies telling us to slow down or stop an activity. My surgeon, Dr. Kessinger, confirmed today, though, that for my great progress to continue I must endure the pain of forcing my toe to the outer limits of its current range of motion. She said that if I'm not challenging the joint and nearly in tears, I'm not doing enough. I'm not fond of pain, but I guess I've been doing okay. It's been 4 1/2 weeks since the surgery, and she said that my toe function and range of motion is similar, on average, to patients after nine weeks. Celebration!
I also picked up some interesting and useful information from the nurse. I learned that the smaller joints in the body such as in the hands and feet take the longest time to heal. When I asked about the value of massaging vitamin E into the scar, she explained that vitamin E or Vaseline would be equally fine, because it's actually massaging the scar that helps to heal the suture line and minimize scaring. Finally, she informed me that sun is the enemy of scar healing; she urged me to wear sunscreen on my scar, treating my scar like a newborn with tender skin that must be protected from harmful rays.
Ah, if only my physical therapy exercises were as easy as putting on sunscreen!
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