Posterior Tibal Tendonitis

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please?

I have the same problem now. I was runnable until an 18 miler last Saturday followed by 5 miles of walking at the Vegas Marathon on Sunday (as a spectator) caused it to swell up. New inserts in my trainers were the likely cause of my problem. Ice as much as possible, anti-inflammatories (advil), and rest. After the initial 48 hours, use heat on it as well to promote blood flow/recovery. So far I have only had to take 4 days off, jogged 3 miles today with minimal pain so still fighting it. I'll advise if my course of treatment works or if I need more time off. Based on my research, stay off it as much as possible while you are resting to avoid making it worse. Depending on severity, you may need to take up to 2 weeks off. Work on strength and flexibility exercises (walking on heels, ankle rotations, wall pushes are a few) for the foot/ankle as soon as you can do so pain free. Resume running slowly once pain free. Good luck with it and let us know how it goes.

thanks a lot sdmiler, that's a big help. Hopefully I won't be taking a full two weeks, but we'll see.

Best of luck with your recovery as well!

Get arch supports TEMPORARILY for your easy days, continue doing workouts in flats. Do strengthening exercises until better, then GET RID of arch supports. Consider shifting to a more supportive shoe and/or strengthening in the future to avoid further problems

I am currently dealing with this now. I have taken in total about 6 weeks off (with a few test jogs thrown in). I am now seeing a physical therapist and getting cross friction massage. So far it has been a very annoying injury.

I agree with the arch support. I had this and didn't take care of it quickly enough and it brought me down to 20 mpw last indoor and ruined my season. Thinking back I think i may have gotten it from starting to do all of my strides barefoot whenever I had never done that before.

The usual RICE treatment is necessary. What helped me more than orthotics (which I got fitted for) is an arch support tape job. If you don't want to completely stop running, then you will have to get arch support or you will keep injuring it every time you go out. If you have access to trainers ask them for an arch tape job, they'll know what you mean.

If not, you can go buy your own tape at Academy or somewhere and do it yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wfmOmJRSio&feature=related

It takes a bit of practice but I got pretty good at taping myself this way after about 3 tries. Of course I had trainers to teach me how.

Like the poster above said, you need to gradually get away from the arch support when you can.

Sorry, this is the video you need.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFUFk3YyCaM&feature=related

The difference is that at the end you tape from the outside of your foot to the inside, not inside to outside. This should be tight but not too tight so that your foot can still flex some when it lands. Get it too tight and it will hurt. The "teardrop" part should be pretty tight as well as it will stretch as you run.

Regarding the arch supports, I wear orthotics because my feet are nearly totally flat (hardly any arch), I overpronate and have been wearing them full time for 7 years ( I got them to help with ITB in right knee and problem cleared up within a week of getting the orthotics). When I was younger, lighter, and fitter I was able to get away without them most of the time (only temporairily needed them for injuries). Now being older, 20 lbs. heavier and slower, I need them all the time (or so I believe). My current injury began 4 weeks after running a marathon when I tried a new arch supporting insert from RRS. The pain peaked last week the day after the 18 miler I mentioned. Putting my orthotics in my work shoes has helped quite a bit the past two days. Can you explain more on why arch supports should only be worn temporarily? Each time I have tried to get out of the othotics over the past few years, I developed some kind of leg, knee pain, etc. and went back to them. Other than the few I tossed out, can anyone reccommend additonal strengthing exercises for ankles, feet, etc. to help reduce the need for orthotics? Or am I stuck in them for the rest of my running career?

I'd also like to know why you guys are suggesting arch supports should only be worn temporarily. My PT instructed me to wear them forevermore--after hip pain issue--which I know now is a labral tear and/or tendonopathy in gluteus medius.

So . . . why or why not arch supports long-term?

Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll be stopping by the trainer today for that tape and arch supports/inserts.

Basically you have a choice to strengthen the weak areas that caused the injury, or become dependent on the arch supports. If you don't mind paying for orthotics then yeah you can wear them forever, but it's not necessary. It's just a good way to take some of the stress off the tendon until it heals. That's why the tape job I posted earlier is good; It's cheaper and actually gives more relief to the tendon than the inserts (from my experience). In the meantime there are strengthening exercises that you can do so that you can phase out the arch supports once it heals up. I'm sure a quick google search would provide some good exercises.

Note: This is for the PTT problem, I haven't had any experience with those kind of hip injuries.

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