8 replies to this topic

[skydemon]

Hi all,

On Thursday I was doing a hill repeat training run and about 3/4 trough it I suddenly felt a sharp pain at the base of my right heel, right where it joins with the achilles and slightly around the outside. Of course I did the smart thing and kept running and the pain slowly disappeared until I finished the run. After sitting down for 5 minutes I got up and found I could barely walk on it and ever since then I have been hobbling around . Standing on it feels fine it's just the walking motion which causes a lot of pain and it's always coming from the back of the heel (never under it).Similarly flexing my ankle so that my points point back towards me causes the same pain

I've been regularly icing it up and popping anti-infam pills but since it's not getting any better I've resigned myself to going to either a podiatrist or physio. Does anyone have any idea what this problem may be and whether a podiatrist or physio makes more sense to go to?

Thanks!

Mick

[tomh]

Given that it's sudden, I'd be suspecting some type of tear or strain. The base of the heal is where the achilles attaches to the bone. A pod won't provide help for this type of injury, so I'd recommend a physio.

[mutk]

skydemon, on 02 June 2012 - 11:59 AM, said:

Hi all,

On Thursday I was doing a hill repeat training run and about 3/4 trough it I suddenly felt a sharp pain at the base of my right heel, right where it joins with the achilles and slightly around the outside. Of course I did the smart thing and kept running and the pain slowly disappeared until I finished the run. After sitting down for 5 minutes I got up and found I could barely walk on it and ever since then I have been hobbling around . Standing on it feels fine it's just the walking motion which causes a lot of pain and it's always coming from the back of the heel (never under it).Similarly flexing my ankle so that my points point back towards me causes the same pain

I've been regularly icing it up and popping anti-infam pills but since it's not getting any better I've resigned myself to going to either a podiatrist or physio. Does anyone have any idea what this problem may be and whether a podiatrist or physio makes more sense to go to?

Thanks!

Mick

I recall similar and specifically it began after hill repeats in my dim dark past and continued into something worse over many months.

It could be some form of tendonopathy, bursitis or both. It could be a tear or other type of injury. Get to a sports physician to get to the truth.

[brizza]

deep ice massage,get a few ice cubes on a towel and do a rotary massage over the sore spot with the ice directly on the skin,no more than 4 minutes then once it is warm again put voltaren gel or other anti inflamitory gel on it,make sure the alcohol solvent is well evaporated before icing again or you'll burn the skin
brizza

[Wiefranz]

- cold pack
- Tiger balm
- exercises -> www.youtube.com/watch?gl=ES&v=M6EKuuZ7C2E
- time and patience

Christian

[skydemon]

Thanks for the responses, I've been icing it up and popping pills since it happened. I also made a visit to a physio who thinks it's either bursitis or an insertion strain so I'm off to see a sports doc on Friday for an ultrasound to confirm.

It's been feeling a lot better the last couple of days, the pain has almost gone when walking so I have to resist the temptation to try a small run

[mutk]

skydemon, on 05 June 2012 - 09:40 AM, said:

Thanks for the responses, I've been icing it up and popping pills since it happened. I also made a visit to a physio who thinks it's either bursitis or an insertion strain so I'm off to see a sports doc on Friday for an ultrasound to confirm.

It's been feeling a lot better the last couple of days, the pain has almost gone when walking so I have to resist the temptation to try a small run

Its usually a combo of both - Bursitis and some sort of insertional tendon problem. And if its anything like my issues, Dr's investigations, MRI's and ultrasound or whatever will show the bursa's but no sign of anything else.

Time and active recovery is what's needed, the right exercises etc. Good luck. BTW its taken me since July / August 2010 to _begin_  to make progress on this.

[skydemon]

I ended up going to a sports doc who agreed it most likely was bursitis but didn't want ot do an ultrasound quite yet, rather give it a few days rest and see how it goe. Since then I did a 10km 2weeks after the inital injury with absolutely no pain at all, 2 days after a 20km and it started hurting a bit on the any uphill after the 15km mark (I might have been a bit keen then I hit a 15km trail run with moderate hills with no issues 2 days afterwards. So far so good but it's so hard having to hold back at the moment!

[mutk]

skydemon, on 18 June 2012 - 11:16 PM, said:

I ended up going to a sports doc who agreed it most likely was bursitis but didn't want ot do an ultrasound quite yet, rather give it a few days rest and see how it goe. Since then I did a 10km 2weeks after the inital injury with absolutely no pain at all, 2 days after a 20km and it started hurting a bit on the any uphill after the 15km mark (I might have been a bit keen then I hit a 15km trail run with moderate hills with no issues 2 days afterwards. So far so good but it's so hard having to hold back at the moment!

Yep hills do aggravate it.  I use Nike Free 3.0  now too, completely soft heel to avoid bashing and bruising in a solid heel box of traditional shoes. I also run with deliberate full motion, and avoid going super slow. It brings decent form and allows spring from heels rather than sloppy feet.

I am convinced slow running in an effort to get long runs done contibuted to my issues in th past. Running better - with better form-  seems to help.

Cheers