Cross Country Runner Goes The Distance with PT After Broken Ankle
Each month, Iron Physical Therapy highlights a special patient to tell their inspiring story. We want to honor the people who go all in - body, mind and spirit. They show us what’s possible - that you can move on from a setback to do amazing things...to challenge your body, to chase your dreams, to address pain in a healthy way to #getbetterbebetter. Read Jillian’s story below and then click here to read more inspiring patient stories.
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Waiting to hit the pavement was hard for this runner after a broken ankle! Jillian wasn’t only patient and hard working, but driven to make sure she could get the miles in when she was ready! We're so glad to send this collegiate track athlete off to school knowing she's got a FAST year ahead of her.
- Dr. Marnie Wortman, DPT
In Jillian’s Own Words…
1) List Three Words to Describe You:
Hardworking, focused and funny
2) What Brought You Into Physical Therapy?
I broke my ankle back in January as a distance/cross country runner for Ithaca College. I came to Iron PT to get back into running shape to be able to come back strong this year.
3) How would you describe physical therapy?
Physical therapy helps everyday people and athletes to regain motion after injury and get back to their normal activities without pain. PT requires strengthening, stretching and balance work in the office and at home in order to reach your goals.
4) What exercise or technique helped you most?
Single leg elevated tap downs, lots of balance work, high knees at running pace
5) What would you say to someone who is living in pain and putting off physical therapy?
As a physical therapy major myself, I always recommend people to go to PT when dealing with pain. I have been in and out of PT since age 11 with all different injuries/pain and have never had an issue getting back to where I was in my sports. Strengthening the injury spot before loading on it once again is very important and can be done with the help of PT. Going to PT for an injury won’t put you back in your recovery time but will open the door for positive steps forward.
6) What are you excited to get back to after physical therapy?
I definitely did not enjoy sitting on the side lines over the past few months and am very eager to get back to racing and practicing with my team.
6) What did you enjoy most about the physical therapy experience?
With the help of Dr. Wortman and Iron PT I was able to see positive results within weeks of my first appointment and even got cleared to run after just one month into PT this summer. Every few weeks we took measurements to compare my ROM with my original measurement and each time it kept improving and improving.