Heel pain

[Ian]

Thanks Bob!

Just got back from the orthopedic clinic and it’s bursitis and achilies tendinitis exacerbated by a deformation. As Bob’s post suggests, it’s a process and for me it looks like it’s going to go in phases to see how I respond.

Right now for me it’s three calf/achilies stretch sessions per day of 5 sets at 30 seconds each side.  My range of motion with both calves were really poor.  More on this later.

While recovering, I have foam heel inserts that will go under my insoles and a gel chingadera  to wrap around my heal.

He (physician) has me taking three Advils three times daily to aggressively go after the inflammation.  He said if anyone suggests prednisone for achilies to turn and run as the risk of rupture is too great.

I return in three weeks for reassessment and we’ll go from there.

Moving forward…

I never stretch when hiking but that will have to change.  He’s not worried about me stretching before the hike as much as he is afterwards.  For long dawn to dusk hiking days, he recommends the three stretching sessions as noted above for my current treatment, one of which will be at the end of the day when I’m done hiking.

I asked his thoughts on zero drop shoes.  He felt that in the future they would be a good idea for me but not until I’ve recovered from this.

As Bob’s posts suggests, this can be a long drawn out process which includes walking boots and casts, and there’s a good chance of never fully recovering from it.

I’ve never stretched when hiking before but with the little I know now, that was not a good idea for me.

Achilles issues are not the type of injury to try and google your way through and I’d recommend anyone experiencing something similar to visit a doc quickly to try and stay on top of it and to avoid further damaging or rupturing it.

[rmeurant]

Ian, got to agree with your last paragraph in particular, mobility is just too important to mess with, and I for one would be wary of macho “Keep on truckin'” when your feet are screamin’.

[Author]

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