Physical gives Yao good news

¹²³ · May 28, 2010

Exam shows foot is healing at hoped-for rate

Rockets center Yao Ming might not be back on the track quite yet, but he cleared a key hurdle Thursday to get there.

An extensive physical on Yao’s repaired and restructured left foot, long considered an important milestone in his comeback, showed the rehabilitation progressing well, clearing Yao to move to more extensive running and on-court workouts.

“We reviewed his most recent bone scans, and they indicate the healing is continuing at the expected rate,” Rockets athletic trainer Keith Jones said. “He’s right where he should be with regard to his rehab.

“He’s been able to increase his rehab conditioning to the point he is running at his full body weight. He’s been doing some limited on-court work, and he’s been able to go through those workouts with no discomfort. We feel good about his progress at this point, and we’re going to keep gradually elevating the intensity of his workouts within the parameters that our doctors have established.”

Yao has been running on a gravity control treadmill, increasing the percentage of body weight on the foot to allow Thursday’s exam to indicate how he responds to the workload. He also has been doing light shooting drills.

A seven-time All-Star, Yao missed all of last season after suffering a stress fracture on May 8, 2009, in Game 3 of the Rockets’ Western Conference semifinal series against the Los Angeles Lakers, injuring the same bone he injured in February 2008. He had pins placed in the bone on that occasion.

A CT scan on June 24, 2009, showed that the fracture suffered against the Lakers had not healed, leading Yao to opt for a more extensive surgery.

Yao has had five consecutive seasons interrupted or ended by bone injuries, but doctors believed last summer that the latest procedure would correct the stress issues with that foot.

After Thursday’s exam, he had more reason to believe it will.
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