Got pain and slight swelling (almost like a small nodule) in my left leg right above and slightly behind where my ankle bone protrudes. Ran 4 races over 5k in two weeks (thanks NCAA) and this flared up.
Anybody out there got success stories dealing with this - how long off? What can I get away with while it's healing? How much risk of permanent damage if I race while there's still discomfort?
I had the same thing -- really badly, actually, as it hindered my ability to walk without a limp -- but I was able to train right through it without so much as a day off thanks to 1) having the athletic trainer tape up my foot/ankle before every run (basically the same way they tape the football player's ankles), and 2) stretching the heck out of the peroneal tendon at every opportunity. I also iced it after any hard training session.
I also watched the trainer and learned how to do the tape job myself (though it wasn't as good) so that I could get through morning runs -- before the trainers were awake -- without too much difficulty.
I think that, for me at least, the root of the problem was excessive supination while wearing flats/spikes; stretching the tendons on the lateral aspect of the ankle was the key to long-term recovery.
Good luck!
Be careful, I had that and missed 8 months of running - mine got so bad that I had surgery. Make sure you ice often and you may want to check out a book on trigger points - the trigger point for the peroneal tendon is actually behind the calf. Some deep massage on it may work wonders.
I had it.
Do this:
Stand on the injured foot with eyes closed. Hold for 60 seconds and repeat as you get better. It is hard at first but it will strengthen the joint positioning system and it worked to get rid of my peroneal tendonitis.
Also stretch it. Remember how you stretch the shins; hold onto a chair and let your weight rest on the top of your foot. To get the peroneal tendon, just turn the top of your foot.
Hope you get better soon.
Hey...I actually had that in both feet this past year. I say feet because where the tendon connects to the fifth metatarsal is where it hit me the most. I wasn't able to walk right for a good two weeks after the initial inflammation.
What I did about it...
Aside from a lot of time off (which sucked), I did core strengthening religiously for half a year, and kept it up as I started running again. The stuff listed in the above post good. I also use weights or resistance on one ankle. The other non-weighted one I keep on the ground. I then do kicks with the resisted foot - forward, backward, across and away from the body. While this might be mistaken for ham or ab-/ad-ductor work by people walking by in the gym, it's actually insanely hard to keep balance (oh yeah, don't hold on to anything to stay up), and most of the work goes to your ankles, peroneal muscles, calves, arches, etc...all the stuff that needs to be worked.
I also stopped cracking my ankle. That sounds ridiculous, but I've always sort of had a knack for cracking various joints, and what I cracked down at my ankles is the peroneal tendon where it slips by the ankle joint. That can spur on discomfort and inflammation.
The big thing, though, was that I started walking/running barefoot once the pain was gone. I started from scratch. I changed from a braking and jarring heelstrike to a ball-of-foot strike.
And my two cents on orthotics, in case it comes up for you: Some PT said I *needed* orthotics, so I went along with his professional opinion, but the tendinitis in my right foot actually came up after a long walk on a beautiful WITH ORTHOTICS because the peroneal tendon is on the outside of the foot. With orthotics, there's a great deal of pressure turned over to the outside of the foot. They say that overpronation is the root cause of everything, but with a forefoot strike that's null, as now my foot doesn't turn in going from heel to toe since the heel doesn't strike.
P.S. - I realize your pain isn't exactly where I had it, but it can develop into it...same muscle groups and all. Hope everything works out for you.
What worked for me was biking and not running for three months and then switching over to low heeled flexible shoes when I started running again. Also trigger point massage was very useful.
don't get a boot! it screwed my gait. i was out for a couple weeks than ran thoruhg some light pain with ice and ibuprofen and was fine in a few weeks.
have actually had this a few times and missed a lot of running each time until the last one when I got ART therapy on it and didn't miss a day.
First of all, go to a Podiatrist.
2nd, insist on an MRI, make sure there is not a tear in the tendon or that the tendon is not dislocating. Pain and swelling are a bad sign in that tendon.
Brian