The Wooden Maiden

A week ago we got a new piece of equipment, a "Stander". I wasn't too excited about another giant thing in the house. The stander helps Elena passively stretch her legs--her tendons, I think, are our big problem right now. If we can't get them stretched, she'll need surgery sooner rather than later in order to get her heels down so she can bear weight properly.

My initial reaction to the Stander: it looks like a mixture of a magician's box and a torture chamber. We call it The Wooden Maiden.

Back view, open, where I fitted it for Elena:

The platform can be raised to fit E to the upper planks. The first plank should hit E right at the knee, or right below the knee, so she can't bend there. The second plank hits her at the hip, so she can't bend there either. Basically this box keeps her standing tall, hips and knees neutral, and keeps her there, with her ankles at 90 degrees (or as close to that as we can get). We give her something to play with on the podium.

The best part: E is a GREAT SPORT ABOUT IT.




We're supposed to have her in it once a day, for 10-30 minutes. So far we have her at 10 minutes or so, twice a day, almost every day. It's been a week...and maybe I'm imagining things, but I already think I see a difference.