I’ve been battling achilles pain for about 8 months. I’ve had achilles issues before and know how to fix it, but this is different. I’ve been doing PT and just about everything else for achiles tendonosis. No real luck. There was some serious scar tissue but that’s mostly gone through PT and other torturous means (dry needling-made me scream and cry, acupuncture-meh, ART, Graston technique, massage, rolling, wearing a boot, wearing a night splint). Finally had an MRI that shows retrocalcaneal bursitis. I’ve always known that this particular achilles has been swollen. Even before this flare up my shoes fit different on my right foot vs left.
I’m saw an ortho today and discussed steroid injection. I’m very aware of the issues with that, but nothing else is working. The bursa is pressing on a nerve and I lose control of my foot from this and also wake up in the middle of the night with a searing pain in my foot. There are times it is so painful I cannot move and want to vomit. I
'm not a huge fan of my ortho (through the VA and am starting a new insurance plan in January so I will have a lot more (better) options), but if the injection is the way to go, he can do it and I can be 3 weeks ahead of where I’d be if I waited until January to get it done.
Thoughts? Anything other than a steroid injection to look at? Possibility for aspiration of the bursa?
I’ve been battling achilles pain for about 8 months. I’ve had achilles issues before and know how to fix it, but this is different. I’ve been doing PT and just about everything else for achiles tendonosis. No real luck. There was some serious scar tissue but that’s mostly gone through PT and other torturous means (dry needling-made me scream and cry, acupuncture-meh, ART, Graston technique, massage, rolling, wearing a boot, wearing a night splint). Finally had an MRI that shows retrocalcaneal bursitis. I’ve always known that this particular achilles has been swollen. Even before this flare up my shoes fit different on my right foot vs left.
I’m saw an ortho today and discussed steroid injection. I’m very aware of the issues with that, but nothing else is working. The bursa is pressing on a nerve and I lose control of my foot from this and also wake up in the middle of the night with a searing pain in my foot. There are times it is so painful I cannot move and want to vomit. I
'm not a huge fan of my ortho (through the VA and am starting a new insurance plan in January so I will have a lot more (better) options), but if the injection is the way to go, he can do it and I can be 3 weeks ahead of where I’d be if I waited until January to get it done.
Thoughts? Anything other than a steroid injection to look at? Possibility for aspiration of the bursa?
Sorry not much to add re retrocacaneal bursitis. I’ve had hip bursitis and shoulder bursitis in both right and left shoulders. I had 3 cortisone injections in the hip, none of them worked, it fixed itself over a period of about a year. The cortisone shot in my left shoulder worked, the one in my right did, but the issue returned 3 months later as I hadn’t fixed up my swim technique which was causing the issue. Now they’re good. So yeah hit and miss for me. Worth a shot?
I dragged my retrocalcaneal bursitis around for-almost-ever…
It resolved finally just with the classic treatments you mentioned, changing to 8mm drop shoes and mostly staying off the trails (to minimize irritation in the lateral plane, as my bursitis was to the medial side of the heel bone).
Always have bee too scared to get repeat steroid injections this close to the tendon, as they are known to weaken it, so running would have been completely out until issue was resolved.
Injections may work, but if the trigger remains, it will re-occur (at least mine did).
I did not need for it to go away immediately that bad (as I am not making a living by running), but if I were and would be as incapacitated as I was, I would look into surgery.
Thanks. I don’t necessarily need to run, but it’s been a year and it’s my sanity. I’m willing to wait a few months after the injection to start training again, after 12 months of no running and almost no biking, what’s 2-3 more months if I can get my sanity back
I always thought the cortisone injections were just pain relief but reading up now it seems they can be a sort of cure - can reduce the inflammation sufficiently and for long enough. In the case of running where it’s nearly certain to be an overuse type of injury, there probably needs to be some kind of other intervention as well to address the overuse/weakness specific to the inflammation. Waiting after the injection is a good idea…
Mine started in 2004, flared up 2007, got bad enough that I couldn’t run for 2011-2013, still has bad days now but is mostly under control.
What worked:
ice every day
the eccentric heel drops, 3 sets of 15 drops twice a day, on flat ground. Add weight as needed to maintain pain, these should hurt.
Hokas. These were the game-changer, could walk the day after a run in Hokas, unlike any other shoe I’d tried.
Like windschatten I was unconvinced of the necessity to risk the injection myself, but was able to bike and swim to keep some semblance of sanity…
Nice quote Doug. As far as steroid injections go my rule of thumb is …one good, two maybe and three you may need to try something else. Easy to read about the bad things of steroid injections, but they sometimes work like a champ. Repeated shots on the same site can be asking for problems.
I’ve been battling achilles pain for about 8 months. I’ve had achilles issues before and know how to fix it, but this is different. I’ve been doing PT and just about everything else for achiles tendonosis. No real luck. There was some serious scar tissue but that’s mostly gone through PT and other torturous means (dry needling-made me scream and cry, acupuncture-meh, ART, Graston technique, massage, rolling, wearing a boot, wearing a night splint). Finally had an MRI that shows retrocalcaneal bursitis. I’ve always known that this particular achilles has been swollen. Even before this flare up my shoes fit different on my right foot vs left.
I’m saw an ortho today and discussed steroid injection. I’m very aware of the issues with that, but nothing else is working. The bursa is pressing on a nerve and I lose control of my foot from this and also wake up in the middle of the night with a searing pain in my foot. There are times it is so painful I cannot move and want to vomit. I
'm not a huge fan of my ortho (through the VA and am starting a new insurance plan in January so I will have a lot more (better) options), but if the injection is the way to go, he can do it and I can be 3 weeks ahead of where I’d be if I waited until January to get it done.
Thoughts? Anything other than a steroid injection to look at? Possibility for aspiration of the bursa?
Pros: Possible quick relief (a bit of a crap shoot honestly).
Cons: A) doesn’t correct underlying cause, B) Common scenario…“Awesome, I feel great now” and the runner ramps up volume too quick, only to be back in the same boat due to A.
Thanks. Ortho said no to the cortisone. And the bursa isn’t the big problem. My tendon is too ‘rotten’ for it. Referring me to Ortho Carolina for surgery to clean it up and then maybe take my big toe tendon to repair the tendon.
Thanks. I don’t necessarily need to run, but it’s been a year and it’s my sanity. I’m willing to wait a few months after the injection to start training again, after 12 months of no running and almost no biking, what’s 2-3 more months if I can get my sanity back
No advice on your injury but regarding your sanity: could you not swim more??? Dev Paul has become a veritable fish due to a bike crash that left him unable to B and R. In the past two years, at the age of 50-52, he has swum 100,000 meters per month and become a competent flyer as well as freestyler. You may have seen his frequent swim posts over the past 2 yrs. It’s never too late to become a “fish”.
Thanks. I don’t necessarily need to run, but it’s been a year and it’s my sanity. I’m willing to wait a few months after the injection to start training again, after 12 months of no running and almost no biking, what’s 2-3 more months if I can get my sanity back
I can’t comment on the medical angle but I can on the sanity angle…mainly due to very sporadic ability to run and ride due to disc/nerve issue, I have thrown myself into swimming. Pretty well been swimming 100K per month for the last 24 months and that’s how I keep my sanity and I really love it now and look forward to the daily swim since its a daily learning/improvement process.
Thanks. I don’t necessarily need to run, but it’s been a year and it’s my sanity. I’m willing to wait a few months after the injection to start training again, after 12 months of no running and almost no biking, what’s 2-3 more months if I can get my sanity back
I can’t comment on the medical angle but I can on the sanity angle…mainly due to very sporadic ability to run and ride due to disc/nerve issue, I have thrown myself into swimming. Pretty well been swimming 100K per month for the last 24 months and that’s how I keep my sanity and I really love it now and look forward to the daily swim since its a daily learning/improvement process.
Dev - Did you see where i cited you as a stellar example in post #9 above??? GhiaGirl has not replied back yet but maybe she’ll respond to you.
Thanks. I don’t necessarily need to run, but it’s been a year and it’s my sanity. I’m willing to wait a few months after the injection to start training again, after 12 months of no running and almost no biking, what’s 2-3 more months if I can get my sanity back
I can’t comment on the medical angle but I can on the sanity angle…mainly due to very sporadic ability to run and ride due to disc/nerve issue, I have thrown myself into swimming. Pretty well been swimming 100K per month for the last 24 months and that’s how I keep my sanity and I really love it now and look forward to the daily swim since its a daily learning/improvement process.
Dev - Did you see where i cited you as a stellar example in post #9 above??? GhiaGirl has not replied back yet but maybe she’ll respond to you.
I think the “problem” us lifelong runner and life long cyclists have is the mentality it takes to be a swimmer. I recently went for my first outdoor workout in 4 months since the outdoor pool closed when I went snowshoeing. One of my friends asked me if it was “awesome” to be outside again. To which I replied, “that is runner mentality externalizing the workout”. I had the advantage of doing repetitive sports like tennis or baseball or cricket which while outdoors are essentially “trapped inside a box” like in swimming. Your focus is on honing moving the body through repetitive motions are focusing how they are done and doing them better and better and better. In terms of running having grown up on a track, we did a lot of the same too. You just stayed inside those 400m and the coach had you focus on intervals and form very much like swimmers.
If you are a runner coming from that type of background I THINK it is easy to transform into the mindset needed to enjoy swimming. Runners often ask, “what do you focus on looking at the black line” the answer to which is, "I am too focused on body movements and drills and intervals to even notice the line or scenery.
I don’t know Ghiagirl’s background and her mindset, and I totally “get” missing the the Run and Bike (I don’t actually miss running as my running kind of sucked and as painful in ways since 2011 accident, but I do miss that feeling you get on the bike which is the same as the first day the training wheels came off…the speed and the ability to go anywhere). In the mean time, I would encourage her to find sanity in the pool, or yoga, or lifting weights…heck even the elliptical trainer or whatever you can do to keep moving, many of which MAY lead to running again…but heck keep moving and doing what you can with this body in the mean time. You can only work with what you got…no point getting too depressed with what was or what you don’t have today. Today is the present, the past is the past, do what we can in the present to set up a better future, but no point longing for the future to happen today cause we’re stuck with the crap or goodness today. I’ll eventually meet Ghiagirl for a ride and a run…in the mean time, the dolphin tank awaits (damn, it is closed for 2 days in a row on Dec 25 and 26…my family may just lose it with me deprived of the marineland tail fin crew).
It’s not at the insertion point. It’s at the upper end of the tendon, from above the ankle bone up.
Thing is I haven’t run more than 10 miles this year, because of my knees in the beginning of the year, then the Achilles started hurting mid bike ride in April and I’ve barely been on the bike. 20 minutes on the bike and the pain becomes pretty unbearable.
I am probably one of the few people on ST that cannot swim more. I swim a lot when training for tri, and when I’m injured even more. I like swimming and feel good after I swim, but it’s just not the same as a run. My black lab agrees with me
I am probably one of the few people on ST that cannot swim more. I swim a lot when training for tri, and when I’m injured even more. I like swimming and feel good after I swim, but it’s just not the same as a run. My black lab agrees with me
Wait wait…your answer is not ST approved. You can NEVER not do more of a sport. Slowman may need to suspend your ST account because you used “cannot” and “more” in the same sentence!!! Come on, let’s go. Even if we swam the English Channel, Erikmulk would just tell us to swim back!!! The black lab, will swim the channel when Erikmulk sends you back doing the channel band pull only!!!
Agreed, it is not the “same”…none of these sports can be the same as each other. They are all different, it’s a matter of figuring out the entertainment out of each. Let’s go, get on the fish thread and let’s support each other…you’ll be running soon enough.
I am probably one of the few people on ST that cannot swim more. I swim a lot when training for tri, and when I’m injured even more. I like swimming and feel good after I swim, but it’s just not the same as a run. My black lab agrees with me
What do you consider “a lot”??? Are you swimming 6-7 days/wk, 5000-6000 yd/day???
Also, does you Achilles hurt when you walk, i.e. can you take your Lab for long walks???
I do swim at least 5 days a week, usually 6. Sometimes twice a day. workouts vary in length, but 4K is probably my standard workout. I am limited by pool availability (only 2 hours on Sunday). 25000 a week isn’t a stretch for me at all, to be honest, I do multiple weeks like that when I’m also running and cycling.
My walking is very limited, if the Achilles doesn’t hurt it will within a 1/2 mile. Long walks are out. A couple college kids the live near me have had a lot of beer money this year because I pay them to walk/run/play fetch with Moose, but he really needs a daily run and walking/playing fetch.
Yeah, I’m feeling sorry for myself. I took an entire year off due knee arthritis and Achilles. I ended up more injured than I have ever been and it sucks.
I do swim at least 5 days a week, usually 6. Sometimes twice a day. workouts vary in length, but 4K is probably my standard workout. I am limited by pool availability (only 2 hours on Sunday). 25000 a week isn’t a stretch for me at all, to be honest, I do multiple weeks like that when I’m also running and cycling.
My walking is very limited, if the Achilles doesn’t hurt it will within a 1/2 mile. Long walks are out. A couple college kids the live near me have had a lot of beer money this year because I pay them to walk/run/play fetch with Moose, but he really needs a daily run and walking/playing fetch.
Yeah, I’m feeling sorry for myself. I took an entire year off due knee arthritis and Achilles. I ended up more injured than I have ever been and it sucks.
25,000 yd/wk is a good steady level, espec when you are doing B and R also. I’m sorry to hear that you can not even do the long walks, and i sincerely hope that you find some solution to your issues. I think it is OK to feel sorry for yourself, but at least you have swimming and Moose to cheer you up!!! Moose sounds like a very well cared for and happy dog. I have two rescued Golden Retrievers myself, brothers from the same litter. They turned 5 in late Sept.
