I have noticed something in the last few weeks that I am hoping someone reading this might be able to say right or wrong to my conclusions. I expect that the answer will also come from someone who doesn’t have MS as I think once again it may be a universal symptom of those dealing with Chronic illness. As my mobility has slowly gone I have had more and more edema in my legs, part of the way of dealing with it is to sit with your feet up. I can’t do that at my desk where I sit all day, but when I move over to the settee in the evening I can then put my legs up on the coffee table. It has been when I am sitting like that that I have noticed the tendons in the back of my legs are getting tighter and tighter. It is becoming more and more painful for me to try pull my toes up, towards myself. Slowly over the last few months I am becoming less and less able to actually complete the action without my knees bending to allow the foot to complete it’s movement. Even sitting here at my desk I have just tried to lift my toes off the floor and the muscles around the tendon are starting to spasm. I think that they are tightening do to the lack of walking but they go into spasm if I force them to do anything but remain where they want them to be. My question is am I better to keep trying to make them stretch or am I causing myself additionally pain for no reason as trying to stretch the tendon is pointless?

It is one of those questions that I often find running around my head. If I was fit and healthy and I found myself with a tight tendon I would exercise it, but when you add in a mobility issue, the rules seem to change. The exercising of MS muscles normally just makes things worse as it aggravates fatigue, clearly exercising the tendon requires exercising of muscles? If I do nothing, I guess that the tendon will freeze more and more until it doesn’t move at all. Nothing ever seems these day to not have a catch to it. Nothing seems to be just be simple and straight forward in the last few years.

If anyone out there has gone through this, which I am sure there is, could you tell me what the outcome has been with or without exercise. I just want an idea of what is the best way to maintain as much mobility as possible, for as long as possible.