Any runners dealing with peroneal tendonitis?

[ControlD]

This has to be the most frustrating injury I have ever dealt with. I have been battling peroneal tendonitis (right ankle) since late February of this year. When it gets too bad I take a few weeks off and then try to get my legs back into running shape. As soon as I feel like I am making progress the ankle gets too sore to run on and it is back to more time off. I just can't seem to get ahead of this for some reason.

I have been seeing a podiatrist, have had a couple of cortisone shots but that is just temporary relief. I guess maybe I need to go see an orthopedist or someone else with an actual medical degree.

I know this isn't that uncommon of a problem for runners so I am just wondering if people have dealt successfully with this and if so what did you do to get rid of it?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Cortisone shots? Jesus. That's completely unnecessary and may actually be doing more harm, as it can reduce the strength of your connective tissue. Go see a physician and get a prescription for physical therapy. I feel like I sound like a broken record here, but this is something that is easy and routine to fix in a physical therapy clinic. Treatment would consist tissue massage, assessment of your foot type, prescription of orthotics if appropriate (if your podiatrist hasn't already done it), joint mobilization (in case you are over using your peroneals to get your foot up), etc. This isn't a complex problem and you shouldn't have been dealing with it for 6mo. It's not your fault - your podiatrist should have referred you out. I say if 6-8 weeks of one treatment isn't working or at least improving symptoms, it's time to refer to a different healthcare professional.

Things you can do in the meantime - stretch your calves (many times, peroneals are overworked because you don't have enough dorsiflexion range of motion), foam roll your peroneals, lightly stretch your ankle into inversion (LIGHTLY - no pain allowed). You can also ice it after all that. See how that feels. If it begins to help, you should see a PT as they can do it in a more guided and effective manner and get you back running ASAP.

 

[ControlD]

Thanks for the advice. I have never been to PT before. In fact I didn't know it was something prescribed by a physician so that helps quite a bit.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thanks for the advice. I have never been to PT before. In fact I didn't know it was something prescribed by a physician so that helps quite a bit.

Hm, yeah, the state physical therapy associations have not been doing a very good job of letting people know what we do. We're not massage therapists and we're not chiropractors. We have perhaps the most basis in logical science and research for our interventions and we treat everything that contributes. A good therpist utilizes soft tissue massage, joint mobilizations, postural re-training, movement re-training, pt education, exercises, stretches, modalities (ice, heat, ultrasound, electric stim), neuromuscular techniques, etc to improve function and restore normalcy. These techniques work quite well, especially for injuries like your's.

 

[episodic]

My son had this (he is on a cross country team). He was booted for 2 weeks, then he foam rolled and cross trained in a pool and on a bike for another couple. Then he started running again. That is just our experience with it.

He got it running in one direction on an indoor track

 

[ControlD]

Thanks for the information episodic. Once he rehabbed did the tendonitis stay away? I have appointments with my family physician and the podiatrist next week so we will see what they have say.

 

[tbtn]

The girl I work for had the same thing you're talking about. It was the same tendon, except her inflammation was where the tendon connected to the bone under the foot. Everyone that she had plantar fasciitis. The only way she got over it was to stop running completely and let it heel. Hasn't had a repeat problem as far as I know.

 

[grohl]

I had a peroneal nerve irritation high near the fibular head that masquered like shin splints. Once I figured this out and iced the right area the pain vanished. Just a thought, may have nothing to do with your issue.

 

[ControlD]

I pretty much just decided to ignore it for now as it has been feeling quite a bit better over the past couple of weeks. I have been taking a daily dose of ibuprofen for a completely different issue, so I am guessing whatever inflammation I had has been knocked down for now. I suppose ignoring the problem isn't the smartest thing in the world but running takes my mind off of more serious things so I say just keep running.