"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Thursday, August 15, 2013

End of the road?

Just got the final verdict on my heel injuries:

That broken bit of bone? That's supposed to be a tendon.
"We see a case this extreme once every 10 years, and we get athletes with this problem that we treat all the time, but an athlete this extreme is unique. If we do the surgery, there's better than a 50% chance we'd have to replace the tendon with your FHL tendon and then you'd have lessened ability to use your big toe. There's also better than a 50% chance we'd damage the nerve chain and you'd lose the sense of touch on the entire bottom of your foot. There's even a 50-50 chance the pain in your heel wouldn't be resolved. Rehab would take 6 months. And there's both heels to contend with, so a year. You can run now, though in pain, and there's a high risk you wouldn't be able to after healing from surgery."

Running is now pain management for me.

5 comments:

sea legs girl said...

Ok, now that we can comiserate over our extra os, has any mentioned that shock wave treatment to you? While it may not zap away the extra bone (nice, by the way), it might help with the pain you have from it. My understanding is a lot of heel spurs (and ones I've just run across tonight that look worse than yours) don't even cause pain. If you could somehow make a subtle change so the nerve isn't being irritated and causing pain the story would be entirely different. Just a thought! Acupuncture is another option. Chiropractic maniplulation a third. Calf massage a 4th. I would seriously look into the shock wave, though.

sea legs girl said...

From 2001: http://ard.bmj.com/content/60/11/1064.full

(let me know if you can't read it)

PiccolaPineCone said...

okay, i know nothing about nothing but it seems to me that there must be a better way to manage the pain. i know people whom shock wave therapy has really helped (one of them with their heel). I hope you find a solution Steve, either better pain management or else a new love who doesn't cause you pain!

SteveQ said...

I do two hours per day of self-myofascial release (what chiropractic cals active release therapy) as it is. My understanding is that ESWT is not an answer for me, as the tendon, bursa and surrounding tissue are nothing but scar tissue - I don't have pain at the bone spur itself.

PPC - I should email you my latest dating catastrophe. It's a doozy.

Anonymous said...

I finally bit the bullet and ordered orthotics which control motion on my messed up heel...they also add lift as a pelvic scan showed one hip much higher than the other. Both the lift and orthotic were 'against my better jusgment" but i was exhausted by this pain.

They seem to be helping with both the pain level and with realigning the tendon which is horribly off center due to slight pronation, years of running, and a too quick switch into a minimal shoe. . I will continue to do myofascial work on calf, plantar fascia, and the front side of my lower leg, stretching is still counter productive. I ice after each run now too.

Honestly, in 3 years of constant pain and countless attempts to stop it, this orthotic is the only thing that has made a dent in the pain. I hope its a move in the right direction.

Just passing that along.