Diagnosis – Plantar Fasciitis
I’ve spent all my bank holiday weekend worrying about my Podiatry appointment which was booked in for Tuesday ( 04. April ).
But lets start it from the beginning. Since january I had a really bad foot pain. First I thought that maybe I’ve done too much exercises, Which woulnd’t have been a surprise because of my ironman training schedule. Had a few weeks rest and it got better. Went back to training and the pain came back, but this time it was even much worse. So I knew I had to do something about it.
Few weeks ago I was chatting with my colleague and she asked me if I pay into the Transport Benelovment Fund. I do pay into that since I’ve started my job at the railways. It’s only £1/ week and they cover loads and loads of treatments. Turns out they cover Podiatry and physiotherapy services up to £250/year/treatment. Since I started my job I never had to use them so I totally forgot it. So all thanks to her I’ll be able to get free treatments 🙂
I’ve contacted with loads of podiatrist and physiotherapist and straight away told them that I’m 90% sure that I have plantar fasciitis. At the end I’ve booked an appointment with a local podiatrist, called Anton Podiatry, and it runs by a lovely lady called Teresa .
I never seen a podiatrist before so I really had no clue what to expect. I was asked to bring my running shoes with me and also my everyday shoes. She had loads of questions before she started the assessment. i said to her that I’ve torn my ankle ligaments in February 2017 but my foot pain only started in January this year. She also asked how much do i run currently and whats my job is.
After all these questions she started a process called ” Biomechanical Assessment “.
The foot needs to be flexible enough to absorb the shock of hitting the ground but firm enough not to collapse. Your foot and ankle is highly complex, containing 28 bones, 214 ligaments and 38 muscles. They have to take your weight multiple times a day and are subsequently prone to over-use conditions and other types of injury.
Most sports injuries seen in Podiatry Clinics are due to over-use. This can be as a result of increasing training too quickly, poor foot and leg function, weak muscles, poor footwear choices etc.
A Biomechanics Assessment looks at your whole lower limb function, identifies what is hurting and then puts an appropriate plan in place to manage and ultimately resolve your symptoms.
The Assessment involves looking at your gait (how you walk) in particular, as not many people get injured standing still! It is that dynamic movement that shows where the muscle imbalance may be or if too much load is passing through certain structures in your foot or leg.
Biomechanics is not just Sports Injuries!! Biomechanics is applicable to everybody.
Had to walk up and down in the corridor bare footed, then I’ve sat down and she asked me to relax my foot so she can move the around. Than stood on the ground lift one foot up and then the other ect.
The diagnosis was confirmed and it is Plantar Fasciitis 🙁
it turns out my ankle hasn’t really healed well since I’ve torn the ligaments last year. My whole foot is really tight and when I had to stand on it she seen loads of wobble. Also when I was walking up and down , she said she clearly seen that my left ankle is wobble way too much. Which means it’s not as strong as my right one. And because of that my whole foot is under constant stress. which causing the plantar fascia ligament to be incredibly tight. She said I came to see her in a good time, because if it gets too tight it can easily tear then I will need to have an operation.
So it’s not a good diagnosis at all, but at least it has been confirmed.
I’ve a special insoles for my shoes and i need to wear them everywhere, I also need to tape up my foot every single day. Also she gave me a few leaflets with different kind of stretches which I will need to do 3 times a day. After any kind of exercise I will need to Ice my foot for at least 10-15mins. Will need to get a proper foam roller as well.
Special insoles
The “Orange” one is for my bad foot.
Luckily I have loads of tape, left over from my ankle and knee taping.
Will need to go and see her again on the 9th of May and see how I’m getting on.
She said I should see improvements after about 9-10 weeks and if everything goes well a full recovery within 6months.
Also advised me not to run anything further than 15k at the moment, well before the 9th of May and we will re asses my options after that.
She said if I follow her plan and advise I shouldn’t have any problem running the Berlin and Chicago mararthon later this year.
At least I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I’m on the way to get better 🙂
Love,
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