running on slight posterial tibial tendonitis?

[ajb422]

If you have some tenderness in the posterial tibial tendon area is it ok to run short slow distances on it? It isn't full blown pain more of what I would call discomfort or soreness. I've given it three days completely off from running (I haven't taken that long completely off running in like three months) and while its not getting worse it really isn't getting better. I can cross train on it without any discomfort, I've been doing rowing and stairmills to keep me busy since I'm scared to run on it.

I've had compression wraps on it and did the massages on it that was recommended somewhere in one of the other forums along with NSAIDS (during the day and before bed NOT during workouts). I feel like all this is probably overkill since it doesn't hurt that bad, but I'm paranoid about hurting myself and not being able to work out at all for weeks as this would probably make me go completely insane. I've run on knees that felt like this before and was fine, but that was when I was still in normal shoes so I know its not the same thing.

I know the strengthening exercises I need to do on it to keep it from recurring, but in the mean time is running short distances on it ok so long as it doesn't make it worse? I don't want to blow out my ankle, but I'm annoyed that 3 days of no running and total babying hasn't improved it much.

Any suggestions/opinions ect... would be wonderful

 

[jschwab]

Personally, I am a fan of

Personally, I am a fan of continuing to run on it so you can figure out what the heck the problem is, what makes it worse, what makes it better. If I had to guess, I would guess the culprit is your shoes that you wear when you are not running. Do they have heels? Do you wear flip flops?

 

[LavaRunner]

Only personal experience here

Only personal experience here since I am not a doc but tendons get inflamed and when that happens several things start to take place. Chronic inflammation will eventually break down the tendon and weaken. If the Tendon becomes weak you run the risk of a partial or full rupture or tear and that is bad.

The other is if inflammation is present where the tendons attach / insert to the bone then a natural defense happens where the body creates more bone surface for the tendon to attach. This extra bone is called a bone spur and they are weaker than the bone the original tendon attaches to and you can get an avulsion fracture where the tendon attaches to the bone spur. An avulsion fracture is an injury to the bone in a place where a tendon or ligament attaches to the bone. When an avulsion fracture occurs, the tendon or ligament pulls off a piece of the bone.

The point I am attempting to make is that you can cause more injury ignoring a tendon injury. It is important to know why you have the soreness and you probably want to look at form. More than likely though, you didn’t give your body time to adjust and build tendon and bone density. In other words; To Much To Soon (TMTS). But you need to heal and if you don’t you are asking for trouble down the road. I learned this from experience where I achieved, to my surprise, a partial tear of the Achilles and an avulsion fracture on a bone spur at the heel running a BF 120 mile race. It took me out of the game for 10 weeks and I am just getting back to low pace low distance training runs.

 

[ajb422]

 My shoes I wear are usually

My shoes I wear are usually wear when not running is either my nike frees, zems or a pair of Merrell sandals. I actually am nearly certain I know what caused the problem. I got really lost on a trail run (with shoes thank goodness in this case) alittle bit ago and ended up going 23 miles, which is completely beyond my capabilities, but yeah I was really really lost. I felt my ankle weaken a few time near the end and it never really felt perfect again but didn't start actually feeling wrong until recently. Its one of those things that once it heals will probably not happen again because I learned my lesson. I now have a GPS and will never go to an unknown area without maps, cell phone and cash again.

I'm kinda thinking continuing only really really short runs may be my best bet then. I have a mile long run over rough stones and such that keep my form nice and help my skin not forget how to run bf, so I guess I'll have to stick with that :-(. Better than a rupture for sure. With any luck the soreness will be gone shortly.

Thank you for the suggestions. And a 120 bf race? Totally amazing!

 

[twinkletoes]

Hi ajb,I so wish I was

Hi ajb,

I so wish I was paranoid rather than stubborn: LavaRunner posted something similar to what he did above several weeks ago and I read it with interest, then ignored it two days later at a high cost.

I had an achy ankle (peroneal tendon) from sprints, and instead of respecting the pain, thought a 10-miler in the hills was a good idea because hey, it would either get worse or better and that's what I always do. After a tough uphill stretch at the halfway point, I suddenly couldn't bear weight on it and it was the most painful 4+ mile limp back to my car, Ever. ( and I've done that run at least once a week for the past year) Well, I took two weeks off and it's still sketchy. I've done more walking than running, and only short runs since.

Good luck and hope it heals fast.

 

[jschwab]

That definitely sounds

That definitely sounds running-related. i would still look at wearing more minimalist shoes, but it sounds like some healing and rest is in order.

 

[Nyal]

 Nothing sucks more than an

Nothing sucks more than an injury to the PT. It will weaken your foot, mess up your arch, and prevent the foot's ability to land gently. It will cause so many other problems. If your PT is sore, REST it until it is not sore at all anymore. Trust me on this. You will regret it if you 'push through'. Cross train, go crazy, just don't run on it. REST.

 

[ajb422]

 Thank you for all the

Thank you for all the suggestions everyone. *sigh* looks like another week of crosstraining for me.