Interpret my bone scan (FEET)

Looks to me like the radiologist interpreted your bone scan. If you are looking for further interpretation as to what it might mean in terms of your running, we would need to know more about this "persistent pain". For that I would ask the doctor who sent you for the bone scan. People on letsrun will give you a few different oppinions, one of which has a chance of being right. So leave it to the professionals.

Advice from a wannabe-injury-preventive coach:

No stress fractures.. that's GOOD news

PF for sure.

Note sure what he's saying about the ankles.

Cut back on your competitive expectations and you'll make it through the injury, no problemo.

also, read this:

http://sportscenteraustin.blogs.com/the_view/2005/02/if_you_have_pla.html

Arthur_ wrote:

Advice from a wannabe-injury-preventive coach:

No stress fractures.. that's GOOD news

PF for sure.

Note sure what he's saying about the ankles.

Cut back on your competitive expectations and you'll make it through the injury, no problemo.

Actually this is really, really, bad. The report says he has osteoarthritis in his ankles and subtalar joints. I'm not saying he can never run again, but his condition will only get worse over time, and eventually he won't be able to run at all. Eventually he won't even be able to walk unless he has the arthritic joints permanently fused.

Sorry to alarm the OP, but it's a pretty serious situation. I wouldn't run another step till you talk to your doc.

Osteoarthritis? Are you sure?? The report doesn't say anything about osteoarthritis.

I think he was referring to "Degenerative changes," which could mean osteoarthritis, but it could probably mean a host of other changes. Again, check with your doc to see exactly what is going on.

Just a side question in general: how do you see PF on a bone scan? The only bone scan I have had was to diagnose a stress fx, and I was unaware soft tissue damage could be seen. Different type of scan? Just curious.

"degenerative change" in a joint is synonymous with osteoarthritis. it doesn't mean anything else.

Oh, good to know. That sucks for the OP then...

Everything on here so far sounds like informed guesswork at best. I won't venture my own informed guesswork, I would call the radiologist and ask for him to explain what he meant by "degenerative changes", and perhaps "mild increased activity".

My reaction is that I don't think you should expect to never be able to run again, but that is as much as I want to put out there.

Your asking for trouble by asking for advice for this on Letsrun, but since I've dealt with PF and all the BS procedures such as bone scans that the industry put me through I'll give you my 2 cents worth (literally worth 2 cents):

It sounds like you have plantar fasciitis, as everyone else has concluded. PF affects the plantar fascia, not the bone, but an over-stressed plantar fascia can put unusual stresses on the connecting bones, which may be what the bone scan is picking up. The bones in the are may have also become subluxated, which means that they don't operate within their normal range of motion. This can be caused by repetitive motions that cause the foot to tighten (running is an example), or scar tisuse buildup. If it were me I would go to a good chiropractor to make sure all your foot joints are nice and loose. A good PT can help you too. There, maybe that's more than 2 cents worth. Good luck

I actually don't have any symptoms of plantar fasciitis. Mostly the pain is in my rearfoot area, but not on the bottom of my foot.

Arthur_ wrote:

........also, read this:

http://sportscenteraustin.blogs.com/the_view/2005/02/if_you_have_pla.html

I just read this link, and I don't agree with his solution. He's right that clinicians usually can't treat PF effectively, but I think he's wrong about how to treat it. All he's doing is putting more detail into the same "story", to make it sound like he's smarter than the rest.