Forums >Health and Nutrition>Need advice starting to run after PF/posterior tibial tendonitis
Bugs
I got plantar fascities and posterior tibial tendonitis back in Sept/October. (Mine was really all in arch, and not in heal of foot.) I've not been able to ran much since then. Each time I try to build miles back up my feet start to hurt. I got inserts for my shoes, which really helped. I do a 100 pick-up the sock exercies each day. I wear the strawsburg socks every night. I can still feel the pain in my feet now and then. Is it best to wait longer before running, or will some activity due them good?
I'd love to hear from others who have had a longer term injury and how you got back into running.
not bad for mile 25
Hi Bugs,
I'm dealing with PTT, and I've got to say it's discouraging. Evidently people do get over it eventually. Anyway, when I keep my runs short, very slow and easy, and take a day or two off between, I seem to do alright. Makes it hard to build up mileage, but it's better than nothing. On the off days, I've been swimming.
Best of luck; you have my sympathy. Again, keep the faith; this will pass.
My ptt started in July. I continued to run through September, though I cut way back. At that point, my left ankle was swollen and hot, and my right ankle was somewhat painful. I took a few weeks off from running and walking. I cross trained on the bike and in the pool. Every week I'd do a test run to see how things felt. My ankle always felt the same, bad, but not worse.
Once the swelling and heat disappeared, I started doing short walk/runs on the treadmill with the incline set fairly steep. The incline took some impact off my lower legs. I power walked outside and continued with the other cross training. In November I started running every other day. The first few weeks were discouraging because my ankles hurt during and after the run. But after a week, they started to feel better. I had a few minor setbacks when I tried to run too fast.
I've had some trouble finding the right shoes since my old ones no longer work for me.
My ankles still feel sore. I have to do a long, easy warm up before running. But once warm, I'm able to run more or less normally (aside from being out of shape and somewhat rotund). I'm up to about 30mpw. Some runs are pretty good, and some are craptastic. I'm running slower than ever, but I don't really care about that. If I'm having a bad day, I'll get on the treadmill and raise the incline and walk or jog.
I don't know if any of that helps. I don't know if I did the right thing, but as long as things are getting better, I'll keep on keeping on. I'd like to hear what others have done and how long it took to get better.
On a related note, yesterday's Sweat Science blog was about MICE (Movement, Ice, Compression, Elevation). I will say that once my ankle was past the initial swelling and pain, it felt better to run or walk and get everything stretched out.
I ran through PF (which started around last August). I found that easy running didn't aggravate it - so for a long while that's what I did nearly all the time, and improvement was slow. It's still there, but much better than it was and now I can do some more intense running too.
The other thing I did was switch from neutral shoes (which I've run in for years) to shoes with some support (wave inspires).
Hey Bugs,
I had PF late 2010 and in to 2011. In the arch, right where it meets the heel. I tried to run through it by scaling back mileage and running easy but then it just became schizophrenic. I'd feel fine after a 10 miler and then couldn't walk to work after an easy 3. Frustrating. I went to a PT but that didn't help much. I had to take time off and let it heal. It took 6 months before there was no pain. There's a big hole in my training log in the first half of 2011. I seriously thought I'd never run pain free or at all again. It felt that bad.
So, I basically quit running in December 2010. Put it out of my head and did other stuff. I went to the gym and hit the weights but stayed off the elliptical and the bike b/c they seemed to aggravate it. I tried a light jog once in a while that winter but if there was even a hint of pain, I stopped. But the pain finally ebbed. But it took a couple months.
I knew I was going to have to start back up slowly so I took the opportunity to experiment with less shoe. I had heard many times from people that barefoot/minimalism cured their PF. I wasn't going to go barefoot or run in Vibrams but I thought less shoe could help. So I started running slow, short runs in Saucony Kinvaras. I always ran in neutral trainers but they were heavier and stiffer. The Kinvaras felt great right away and I was able to ramp up and the PF pain never came back. I did Pete Magill's PF stretches with the towel and that helped a lot. I continued to work in my heavier trainers for some of my runs too so I could adjust. By the summer, I was 100% healthy and even doing track workouts in flats.
But after having a pretty good AugSept/Oct, I developed PTT in the same leg. I think I had just run too many miles in the less supportive shoe and maybe ran in them past their useful life. Took about 3 weeks off, soaked my ankle in a bucket of ice water religiously, got a new pair of shoes and it's gone. I still run in neutral trainers. I have really low arches so I need to pay attention to calf stretching. But I think the lighter weight, flexible shoe helped take the stress off the PF and helped strengthen my ankles. But I overdid it a bit and got the PTT. So I run in the Kinvaras but also a pair of Bostons that are still neutral but are a bit more shoe.
Not sure I have any great advice. PF is the worst and it's highly individual. There are runners I know that run through it. I couldn't. If I hadn't wasted 2 months trying to run through it, I'd have healed sooner. Sometimes it just needs time. I also know some people that have had inserts like Superfeet work magic for them. But for me, taking the time to let it heal and then transitioning to lighter, more flexible shoes worked.
Good luck and don't get discouraged. It will heal.
I had PTT - so bad it lead to a stress reaction. I took 3 weeks off and iced very, very aggressively. Used ice cups and concentrated the ice along the tendon - 20 minutes on, 20 off, every night, for hours. Once I started running again I built back up slowly. It took a full year to recover though - I think my true cure was acupuncture. I continued icing when there was pain or tenderness, but the thing that helped the most was toe lifts (just, balancing on one leg, lifting up on to tiptoes, lowering, repeated 10 times - one foot at a time). What seemed to agitate it the most was stretching it though, specifically downward dog (I'm a yoga teacher) - so I had to stop/modify that (maybe though the strawsburg sock is good for PF it is bad for PTT?? No idea, just a though). I did and still run in a neutral cushion shoe...haven't had an issue in about a year.
I had a partial tear in the posterior tibial tendon and the only thing that worked for me was not running at all. I tried taking 2 weeks off then doing a test run several times and it always just set me back further. I eventually took 5 months off but I still biked and walked to much and then I came back too soon and started running. I ended up running for 6 months on/off with pain and finally took 6 months completely off from running and biking and even limited my walking. That was a couple years ago and I haven't relapsed since although I haven't run more then 40mpw since my recovery. I also did PT for a while and still do some of the exercises.
Son, when you participate in sporting events, it's not whether you win or lose; it's how drunk you get. -- Homer Simpson
Oh my god, Jen! You totally just blew my mind. Everytime I get serious about incorporating yoga back into my routine my PTT flares up. I was telling my running buddy this the other day when she was trying to peer pressure me to do yoga again. She looked at me like I was crazy. I'm glad I'm not the only one to experience this! Not to mention, forward folds are terrible for my herniated disc. I think I have to face the fact that yoga does me more harm than good.
To the OP - I suffered with PTT for over a year beginning in Spring of 2010. I raced 3 fairly hard races (for me) in May of 2010 and by June I couldn't run at all without severe pain. I had to cut way back on miles and I began ramping up in five fingers and neutral shoes. It took a long time, but now I'm able to run without pain 95% of the time. It still comes on at odd times...like one of the other posters said, it really is a schizophrenic injury. One thing that I notice for sure, hard running, like intervals and racing, really aggravate mine. Which really sucks for me since I know I need to do a lot more of that to get any better
veggies on the run
Yoga can be fantastic for runners (or anyone, really), or seriously injure them (or anyone, really). I KNOW the poses that are good for my body/running, and I know now the ones to modify, the ones to do periodically, and the ones to completely stay away from. My go to are balancing poses and any warrior pose...I stay away from forward bends and modify downward dog; generally backbends are very, very good for me.
I can really relate to EGH on putting running out of my head during injury. I've done a great job of that, but today watching the warmer weather brought tears to my eyes. Most days I am fine swimming, and happy to run less be a Mom more, but today it took a toll. I'm tired of being broken, and I want to be strong.
You know those magic black balls that people shake and it gives them an answer like "Yes", "Probably", "Maybe", ... I am going to make one for runners. You can ask it "How should I heal my injury?" It will show "Go Barefoot", "Orthotics", "Massage", "Ice", "Run less", "Retire".. I feel like the answers for injury are simply a guessing game.. All the science in this world and I'm left guessing.
I was considering seeing a sports physical therapist, a professional in the cities. Instead I've went back to my chiropractor today. He has been treating me for a back injury (from Kettle Bells) (Exercise is not medicine.) Anyway after mentioning my adductor pain, AGAIN, he dug into my leg and there is injury running from adductor lungus, down side calf, and into arch. My list of injured body parts has officially increased. I keep hurting my feet when I run because my leg is a mess. Maybe even all the swimming was worse than doing nothing. So much is unclear. But hopefully this is the started of getting at the root of problem...
I got plantar fascities and posterior tibial tendonitis back in Sept/October. (Mine was really all in arch, and not in heal of foot.) I've not been able to ran much since then. Each time I try to build miles back up my feet start to hurt. I got inserts for my shoes, which really helped. I do a 100 pick-up the sock exercies each day. I wear the strawsburg socks every night. I can still feel the pain in my feet now and then. Is it best to wait longer before running, or will some activity due them good? I'd love to hear from others who have had a longer term injury and how you got back into running.
Posterior Tibial tendonitis ended my bid for my first marathon last spring. I tried all of the stretching/sterngthening exercises for a month with very little improvement. The only thing that ended up helping me was foam rolling my lower legs. Even now when I get some twinges of pain I go to the foam roller and I can run the next day without pain.
I dealt with PF in my right foot long before I had PTT. Interestingly enough, the cure for me was using one of those little nobby massage balls ($5 at running store) on my foot before and after every run.
Since switching shoes this year to ASICS GT2160's, I have been experiencing some metatarsalagia and the nobby massage ball successfully massages this problem area too.
2013 -Sub 2:00 for 1/2 marathon
Yeah, I kind of think the Magic 8 Ball method may be an okay way to choose one's therapy. Anyway, I hope you find the right one. My therapy mainly consists of cutting back and gingerly seeing what I can and can't (or shouldn't) do at this point. Good luck!
I had a very severe case of PTT a couple of years ago, could not run for 9 weeks and could not even use elliptical for 6 or so of those weeks. I swam, pool ran, biked. Rest and some PT helped, but I also had to get custom orthotics. I think tight calves were part of the initial issue. You will come back but it takes a while ( though usually not as long as for me!)
Good luck...