After running on Friday morning, I noticed a weird pain in the top of my foot, near the ankle. I really didn’t think much of it. Yesterday I did a 22 miler, and it was bothering me at the beginning, but after a little while I didn’t really notice it (I may have been too busy battling the snow). After the run there was a small area that was quite tender to the touch, and a bit of swelling. It got a bit better with ice. Today a larger part of the inside of my foot is swollen. The area is no longer painful when pushed on. It doesn’t hurt when I stand or push my foot down on the floor. It only hurts when I bend my ankle upwards, so the foot is pointing toward the knee.
I’m worried that it might be a stress fracture because of the point tenderness and the swelling. But it seems weird to me that it would come on so suddenly. I put on a new pair (same make/model) 0f shoes on Wednesday, so at first I was thinking that something was simply rubbing the wrong way, but the pain is deeper than that.
Can anyone tell me if this sounds like the beginnings of a stress fracture, or something totally different?
does NOT sound like a stress fracture. Can you be more specific as to location? Sounds like your pain is at the anterior tibial tendon insertion near the top of the base of the 1st metatarsal-cuneiform joint. The AT tendon is main dorsiflexor of the ankle which is what you are describing when you bend your ankle up.
Is the swollen spot above the shoe sock line?
I’ve seen and experineced frostnip in this exposed area on longer winter runs and skis (Maine).
The area will get swollen with tightness deeper in the skin, usually red-ish and very susceiptable to repeat cold injury.
Of course the lower third of the shin is commonly stress fractured as well
If avoiding cold injury, and not overdoing the icing allows this to recover in like a week, your good. If swelling and pain linger into 2-3 weeks get the bone checked out.
Thanks rroof. I would circle the area on my foot and post a picture, but my camera is broken. It is on the top/inside of the foot, right at the base of the leg (but certainly on the foot). Is this the right area for some sort of AT tendionitis? I certainly hope so, that sounds better than a stress fracture. If so, is there a course of treatment to recommend?
As with most cases of tendonitis (whether ankle, wrist, shoulder, knee, etc.), rest is the hallmark of treatment. The trick with most athletes is to juggle rest with performance/training. A firm diagnosis is critical first, then, to ensure the athlete isn’t going to do more damage by continuing to run (which they usually will!). Stress fracture - easy tx. You are done. No running. Tendonitis type injuries can be a little more frustrating though because the athlete can often still run/walk and can turn their minor tendonitis type issue into a more chronic tendinosis type issue. That can be WORSE than a stress fx since a stress fx at least heals rather predictably in most cases.
No, that is likely called “crepitus” of the AT tendon and is an indication of tendinosis - NOT a good thing. Diagnosed easily since that tendon is so superficial via diagnostic ultrasound - you can see it clearly and watch it in real time moving.
I once had some top of the foot pain (near the ankle) that I believe resulted from laces that were too tight. I had just gotten a new pair of shoes and not yet swapped over my ‘quick laces’ – so I think I overtightened the standard laces. Just an idea…good luck.