When I went to the HSP clinic in London earlier in the year, one of the comments made was that my quadriceps were showing some weakness.
The quadriceps are the group of four muscles at the front of the top half of your leg. Their job is to flex the thigh and extend the knee, and are integral to walking. It has taken me a while to consider this piece of news! When I think about how my mobility is changing, it is quite obvious - quad weakness means I'm not lifting my leg as high when I walk, resulting in my toes not being raised as far, with consequential shoe wear as noted over several years.
In my mind that particular weakness is the principal cause of my shoe wear. The walking poles that I'm using help me keep my posture more upright, allow my legs to swing through more easily, and take some of the balance function needed for walking, so are (to my mind) helping to offset the weakness in these muscles.
I also think about how it is sometimes more challenging for me to stand up from sitting, which is more frequently the case when I am on a lower seat, and the quads start from a more extended state. When I'm doing some moves when sitting down at Pilates I'm finding that I'm needing to hold onto my knees to give support to my lower back and posture. I also wonder if this weakness is part of my reason to want to sit down after a while. I'm also mentally going through other muscle groups and thinking if I perceive weakness in those.
Another part of that appointment was a handful of GP requests, and I have begun the process of getting an appointment to see my GP to begin to cover these.
