Posterior tibial tendinitis?

[Mdfowlman2]

Anyone out there dealing with this also? I was doing some heavy pack hiking a few weeks ago as training, when I got home and took the boots off my right foot felt very odd, next morning I woke up and knew something wasn’t right. Got in with the podiatrist that day and was diagnosed with posterior tibial tendinitis in my right foot. They had me get insoles for my large arch and put me on a bunch of oral steroids. It’s been two weeks and it doesn’t feel much better. Hoping someone out there has some previous experience with this condition and can share some insight
Thanks in advance!!

 

[P Carter]

Uff, tough news

I went through this in 2017.

As understand it, this can be serious injury than can become chronic and even debalitating, causing the arch to collapse if it stretches or ruptures. Lots of horror stories out there

After a month or so of escalating pain with no relief, I went to a good physical therapist, who diagnosed the underlying bio mechanical weakness, which for me was lack of mobility in the ankles and hips, and very week hips. I did a 2 month period of what I saw as acute interventions to get the injury under control — daily stretching, daily strengthening, twice daily icing. I did minimal running during that period, I could go about 4 miles before I felt it, so I didn’t go further than that. I also got insoles for my running shoes and work shoes

After about two months of that acute intervention, the pain started reducing, so I was able to ramp up running but still maintained the strength and mobility routine.

To this day, I still focus on strength and mobility, along with running and hiking. And if I feel any tweaks in the area I back off and double down on the stretching and stuff.

It’s manageable but can be tough. Really poor blood flow to the area, and basically all the lateral force in your moving body has to channel through that tendon.

I would suggest that you go to a good physical therapist, and realize that your plans and goals have been drastically altered, goal #1 has to be healing it up. Good luck! Let me know if you have questions.

edit: I also remember reading (and talking to pt) that, if there is a rupture or long-term dysfunction, surgery can be the answer and surgical outcomes are often not great...often there is a loss of function. Definitely part of what got me really focused on healing it up.

 

[Marmots]

I'm a PTT horror story.

I have really flat feet and have a career that requires a lot of hiking.

One day I put on a pair of boots and felt excruciating pain in my medial malleolus, the bony bump on the inside of my ankle. I ignored it an continued to hike 12+ miles every day at work. The injury rapidly got so unstable that my ankle wouldn't bear any weight and I was tripping and inversion spraining it, making the problem worse. I ended up with PTT so bad that I had also torn the spring ligament in my foot.

That was six years ago. I still have terrible pain every day and am significantly less active than I was before. I get seriously sad thinking about it too much.

I was slow to get treatment because it was a worker's comp case, and the folks at the worker's comp office were the biggest bunch of idiots I have ever encountered. I was 25 years old and young and dumb. If I knew then what I know now, it would have been worth it to me to go into debt and pay the 10k obamacare deductible I had at the time to get immediate treatment.

I'm planning on getting surgery one day, but haven't been able to take the 6+ months out of the field that it would take to recover. I have also been told that surgery for PTT isn't always successful.

There's a few things that keep me back on my feet. I got some very nice custom orthotics that make a truly incredible difference. I saw a PT that diagnosed mobility issues (tight hamstrings caused it all). The PT also did a bunch of graston treatments on me to break up adhesions in my tendon. I limped into and walked out of my first graston appointment.

It sucks to hear, but you need to take this very seriously. Don't spare any expense with medical treatment or time off your feet. See a good PT and figure out what it causing this. See an orthopedic specialist as well and get some imaging done of your ankle to make sure the bones are still in square. Stay extremely disciplined about the stretches you are told to do. I really sincerely wish you the best.

 

[Mdfowlman2]

I'm a PTT horror story.

I have really flat feet and have a career that requires a lot of hiking.

One day I put on a pair of boots and felt excruciating pain in my medial malleolus, the bony bump on the inside of my ankle. I ignored it an continued to hike 12+ miles every day at work. The injury rapidly got so unstable that my ankle wouldn't bear any weight and I was tripping and inversion spraining it, making the problem worse. I ended up with PTT so bad that I had also torn the spring ligament in my foot.

That was six years ago. I still have terrible pain every day and am significantly less active than I was before. I get seriously sad thinking about it too much.

I was slow to get treatment because it was a worker's comp case, and the folks at the worker's comp office were the biggest bunch of idiots I have ever encountered. I was 25 years old and young and dumb. If I knew then what I know now, it would have been worth it to me to go into debt and pay the 10k obamacare deductible I had at the time to get immediate treatment.

I'm planning on getting surgery one day, but haven't been able to take the 6+ months out of the field that it would take to recover. I have also been told that surgery for PTT isn't always successful.

There's a few things that keep me back on my feet. I got some very nice custom orthotics that make a truly incredible difference. I saw a PT that diagnosed mobility issues (tight hamstrings caused it all). The PT also did a bunch of graston treatments on me to break up adhesions in my tendon. I limped into and walked out of my first graston appointment.

It sucks to hear, but you need to take this very seriously. Don't spare any expense with medical treatment or time off your feet. See a good PT and figure out what it causing this. See an orthopedic specialist as well and get some imaging done of your ankle to make sure the bones are still in square. Stay extremely disciplined about the stretches you are told to do. I really sincerely wish you the best.

That’s terrible, I usually don’t take the medical issue very seriously but luckily the diagnosis on google (always the worst) scared then hell out of me so I immediately went to the podiatrist and followed all directions since. I’m going to try and find a good PT and get in with them ASAP.