After my Dr. Google diagnosis, I had one too many people relate horror stories of stress fractures gone bad. Ali's story of a friend with dead bone and pins in her foot was the straw that broke the camel's back. I went ahead and made an appointment with the local orthopedic specialist. I had my appointment today. Today also marks four weeks of no exercise. My ankle feels better, but not healed...but good enough that I almost felt silly going in.
I related how everything started hurting, my weird aches and pains and what not. The assistant poked and prodded and moved and twisted and sent me in for x-rays. I came back after three scans and the Doctor came to view them. He poked and prodded and twisted and turned and showed me how the range of motion on my right foot was pretty much non-existent compared to that of my left. To my surprise, when he held my heel bone and moved my left foot back and forth it was normal, but on my right it barely even moved. It didn't cause any more pain, but it pretty much has no side to side movement. He said if it was a stress fracture the healing would show up by now. My x-rays came back clear, but he could see some dense area on the top of my foot. He sent me back for two more views of my foot. At this point I wanted to get to the bottom of things, but I was just wondering how much each x-ray was costing me. Ugh.
He looked at the second set and explained that I have a "calcaneonavicular coalition". Pretty much there are two bones in the foot that most people have a pretty good space between. My space is small and filled with some fibrous something or other, limiting my motion and causing me pain. It isn't injury related, rather something that has probably always been there, but gets more painful with running. Mine isn't as bad as the picture. I don't have a complete joining of the two bones; there is still a little space for movement.
Long story short: there is nothing I can do. It will always be there causing me pain unless I want to have surgery. I have pain in my ankle because those two foot bones aren't doing their job moving and absorbing shock. It gets transferred to the ankle, then the knee, then the back and so on. Blah, blah, blah.
I don't know if I am discouraged or relieved.
I am discouraged that it will always be there causing me pain and giving me an excuse not to run another marathon. I am relieved that it isn't something that will cause more injury. I feared that every time it hurt I was causing further injury and deterioration. Nope. Every time it hurts it will just hurt.
I guess I will just get back in the swing of things and see how it goes.
(Of course, swimming is recommended, but seriously. How in the world, with four kids, is swimming for exercise and cardio purposes possible? I tend to think it is not. In order to beat my kids out of bed and get to the pool for some laps, I would seriously have to be up and out by 4:30. No thanks.)
Anyway, wish me luck. I can handle the ankle pain, but I don't know if I can tolerate the knee pain and back pain...and what that may lead to. Ugh again.
Any other Madsen's have foot pain and limited movement? He said it was pretty genetic or hereditary or something like that.
6 comments:
I don't think I would consider surgery unless it got REALLY bad. The surgery puts you out for a couple of months and is more for people who refuse to stop running. I should be ok. I will just run once or twice a week and look more into some yoga and pilates.
I wonder if the joint and back pain is something you could address with a good shoe.
Also, do you run on a treadmill or outside? Seems like treadmill-people have more foot and joint problems.
Brad, I asked about wearing an ankle brace for support and he said a good shoe was my best bet. I want to limit pronation as much as possible. He also said the treadmill was horrible. Because it is soft, your foot turns and has more movement. Oddly enough, concrete is now my best running surface. Any soft or bumpy surface will cause the most pain.
Well, at least you know what it is now. Oddly, I've noticed that I have the most pain after running on the treadmill, outside and I feel fine.
I guess you need to get a good pair on hiking shoes and break them in before Table Rock. :)
Whew...it's good that it's nothing HORRIBLE (to quote Macie!) ;) and that you still have options! Run when you can, enjoy your yoga and pilates, and maybe you can get in a swim once a week or so. Also, maybe try biking and a nice long walk periodically (assuming that's less jarring than running?!). Is this the wrong time to ask if you might still be up to doing the half marathon with me in Sept?? ;) Love you! <3
If you are thinking about pronation and stuff, you should probably go to an actual running store. They will have you try on shoes and watch you run on a treadmill to help you pick the right pair.
I've always figured running on a treadmill was better for you knees, but worse for your feet. It feels like running in sand, almost. And every foot strike is exactly the same. In my experience, people who have been on a treadmill are surprised at how fast they run outside.
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