Foot and Ankle Issues--It Could Be Worse

[mlroseplant]

I have not made a special post about this until now, because it's not really that big of a deal, but there may be some who are interested. A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile. Sorry, I always get distracted by Don McLean every time I talk about something that happened in the distant past. Take 2: More than a decade ago, I jumped off a waist-high concrete form in the dark, and landed on uneven ground, causing my right achilles tendon to hyperextend. I have never fully recovered from that injury. I wish I'd never jumped off that form, I never realized how that one moment would affect the rest of my life.

I do not mean to blame this one incident for all of my problems, but it sure seems like I can trace almost everything back to that. Or is there more to it? Why is my right foot so much stronger and more actively flexible than my left, and yet I have most of my problems with my right? My left foot and ankle has basically escaped life unscathed, except for that bone spur, which hasn't really bothered me all that much in recent times, and it's never interfered with my heel wearing one bit.

As I write this, I'm preparing to do my 5 km loop before the farmer's market, and we'll see how it goes. I talked with my sister last night, who is four years younger than I am, and it seems like we have many of the same health issues, only every one of them has hit her worse. Example: I haven't shared this, but I seem to have arthritis in my right big toe joint. Not a bunion, but it just doesn't bend like it used to, and it hurts if I try to make it bend like it used to. I work on it every day, but it's just a fact of life, that alone would probably prevent me from dancing ballet. Then my sister says that her own big toe joint has frozen up so much that she can only bend it maybe 10º each way. My first reaction was, "Oh, no, that would never work for me. I need at least 90º flexibility each way (and I struggle with that every day). Does this mean no more high heels for you?" She said what it means is no more high heels in reasonable comfort for her. And more importantly, it probably means giving up long distance running, which has been her pursuit for a couple of decades.

Despite whatever is wrong with my feet, it could always be worse.  I need to get off this website and get walking. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Cali]

Jumping off a form bought back (painful) memories. In the 70's I jumped off a loading dock onto a grass area. However, a water pipe had broken and I jumped into a mud pit. I hurt my ankle.  Black and blue from my toes to my waist, but this before MRIs or CAT scans and all they told me was I sprained it. Men's shoes would have me turning my ankle 5 to 6+ times a week, YES A WEEK. I would have to sit down, message it and I would be able to get up and go in a minute or so. 25+ years latter, when they looked into that ankle, they found I had torn my tendon off a bone in my foot. It got reattached in that foot's first reconstruction.Later, that foot had a leaky tendon, and had to have the leak sealed. Then that foot had another reconstruction when scar tissue from the first operation interferred with my blood flow. During that operation they also rerouted another tendon. After that operation I found women's shoes and have had no further issues. Except when I was walking in running shoes and pavement broke off and I totaled my peronral tendon.

Now for the other foot. In the mid 80's I hyperextended the achilles tendon playing tennis. Had to wear a 'balleria' cast, a cast with a 3 inch stooped built into the heel. Couldn't wait to get that cast off. Then in the nineties, I stepped into a gopher hole just before leaving on a family vacation. When I returned, I had both ankles looked at. They wanted to work on both ankles, but I choose this one first. I had broken a bone inside my ankle sack. They also tighten my tendons too.  Then I stubbed my toe, I meaning really stub it. I wouldn't get straight and would just stick straight up. In that operation they reroute tendons and took out a hammer toe joint, then inserted 6 inch rods/pins through the toes. Weeks later when they pulled those pins out I screamed at the highest pitch ever.

 

@mlroseplant try soaking your foot in Epsom Salt and see what happens.

[mlroseplant]

I did my 3 mile loop in 4 inchers yesterday, and nothing bad happened. I am debating about whether I should go lower today. I don't know when to pronounce myself healed, or whether I ever will be.

[Shyheels]

I’d go lower. Alternate. Rest periods are as important as the workouts, especially when coming back from injury 

[mlroseplant]

Update on the achilles tendon situation. It's a lot better. Whether it's "normal" is not necessarily so clear. Now that I think about it, I don't think it will ever be "normal." I didn't really think about it until it actually hurt hurt, but it's been a little wonky for years. And then there was that whole drop foot thing that happened to me a few years ago that mysteriously cured itself, I have a slight loss of sensation in my right thigh, and I've got a slight case of plantar fasciitis in the right foot. None of these things is currently as bad as each of them have been in the past. I wonder if they are all somehow related? I've nothing like any of it on my left side.

An afterthought: I'm still a little wary about wearing heels with a steepness much over 4 inches, even though I want to. Also, I quit wearing heels around the house. I have to force myself to take it easy longer than I think I need to.

[Shyheels]

That’s often the way - things take longer and heal slower. Taking it easy will pay benefits in the long run