Does the plantar plate ligament need to heal on an MRI before I can run? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
Plantar plate ligament sprains are a tough injury for runners. You get a lot of pain in the ball of the foot and that pain can persist for a long time and they can be very frustrating. Unfortunately, plantar plate tears are often diagnosed when you get an MRI of your foot, and I often get questions from runners asking me whether or not they have to wait for another MRI before they can run. That’s a great question.
As a good example. I recently worked with someone who had had multiple MRIs. In fact, after his last MRI, he was told that he would either have to have another PRP or platelet-rich plasma injection to the plantar plate or he would have to have surgery to the plantar plate before it would get better and before he could run. Now, all of that was based on his MRI. He went through the plantar plate course to try to learn some more about how to deal with his plantar plate injury, and after we did a couple of calls, well, he got back to full running, back to full training and back to competing in half Ironman races.
Again, results may vary and all that sort of stuff. You’ve got to talk to your own doctor. But the point of this is really simple. He did not need another MRI. He did not need surgery, and he did not need to have a plantar plate ligament injection with PRP. You cannot rely on the MRI. I’ve talked about this over and over in a number of episodes, and a lot of times the MRIs make plantar plate ligament injuries look worse than they actually are. There are a number of different ways to assess the plantar plate ligament, and an MRI is just one of them.
So if you don’t know what to do, you need to get help. You need to do your research. You need to figure out what you can do yourself to start getting it better and start really and truly assessing whether or not it’s improving without an MRI. Otherwise, get a second opinion if your doctor doesn’t cater to runners.
So hopefully you found this episode useful. If you like it, please like it. Please share. Please subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next training.
