I just saw a runner who sprained her ankle. It’s been about a month and she’s still having pain. Pain and swelling persisting a month later, are not good. There are a couple of reasons that that can happen.
Anytime doctors see persistent swelling and pain after an ankle injury, they become concerned there might be a fracture.
When should a runner who rolled an ankle be concerned that there might be a fracture like a lateral process fracture?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »If you are a runner with pain in the ball of the foot at the base of the second toe and start researching online, you may become concerned you have a thing called a plantar plate injury.
If so, you may be wondering whether X-rays or MRI imaging may be needed to tell what is wrong. Before seeing a doctor, it may be helpful to understand which are helpful, and which imaging studies are a waste of time.
What is the worst possible medical imaging study you could get if you’re a runner with a suspected plantar plate injury?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »Today’s question comes from one of the YouTube viewers. Tasnim, wrote in and wanted to know whether or not “stress reaction” is the same terminology that is used in the UK for the term “metatarsalgia”.
This question points out how confusing these two terms can be when you have forefoot pain that might be a stress fracture, might be a plantar plate sprain, or could even be a neuroma.
Are stress “reaction” and “metatarsalgia” the same terms?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »If you want to run as soon as possible after an injury, you may need aggressive treatment like immobilization in a cast or a fracture walking boot.
When I lecture at medical conferences, I talk a lot about why I believe fracture walking boots are over-prescribed, overused and often used way too long in many injured runners for common overtraining injuries.
In talking to another runner the other day, I was thinking about the specific goals that are in conflict between you and your doctor.
Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about doctor’s goals when they give you a fracture walking boot versus your goals when you’re wearing a fracture walking boot and you’re a runner.
View Details »I just had a discussion with a really interesting patient. He was a pro triathlete. He had some difficulty getting past a particular injury.
We were talking about all of the ways that you can encounter barriers to healing. And how you can start making progress in spite of them.
We were talking about two different things, logical and psychological barriers.
What’s the difference between logical versus psychological barriers to healing injuries in runners?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »Every runner with a stress fracture wants to know “when can I run?”
How soon you can start running after a foot fracture really depends on when you have enough strength in the bone so that the healing fracture will withstand the forces applied during running without breaking the bone again.
It all depends on what you do to speed up (or slow down) the bone healing process. The rate of fracture healing depends on your physiology, and it depends on stages of bone healing.
But it does NOT depend entirely on generic timelines.
How long is each stage of fracture healing when you have a broken bone?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »The first thing any runner should do when you roll your ankle is protect the ankle from further injury. In fact, the algorithm doctors use to treat ankle sprains is P. R. I. C. E.
P stands for Protection, meaning don’t roll it again. Don’t make it worse. Then, Rest it. Ice it. Use Compression to keep it from swelling. Elevate it to get the fluid out if it’s really swollen.
So, what happens is, you’re a runner, you’re out on a trail and you roll your ankle. What happens if you don’t follow the PRICE method?
It just might take a whole lot longer before it gets better.
What are the most common three ways I see runners lose all their fitness after they get an ankle sprain?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »Let’s say you’re out on a trail run, you roll your ankle and sprain it. So what do you do?
You limp home, you get back to the car, you ice it, you take some pressure off of it, you elevate it, you do all the right stuff. But, it’s really painful and swollen the next few days.
Then, maybe a day or two later, it’s black, it’s blue and swollen. But even worse, you look down and you’re kind of dismayed because your toes are swollen like sausages.
Believe it or not, I have had a number of patients who called me, not because they sprained their ankle, but because they were actually worried they may have broken toes as well.
Is it possible to break your toes at the same time you get an ankle sprain?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »Today’s episode comes from a discussion I just had yesterday with an athlete. He had a metatarsal fracture non-union.
A “fracture non-union” can develop when there is a crack in the bone that moving a little bit too much and doesn’t completely heal.
Non-unions can happen if you get a stress fracture, and you keep running on it and you’re tough and you’re strong and it doesn’t really hurt that bad.
If you keep running and repeatedly stress that crack, it can’t heal.
Should I get a CT scan or should I test walking to see if my fracture is healed?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »When you get an injury to a bone like a metatarsal stress fracture, you can develop a thing called a “bone callus.”
You might even see it as a lump visible on the x-ray in your doctors office.
Whether the lump is made up of hard bone, fibrocartilage or something in between, it may help you to understand the significance of that lump in your foot.
When the bone callous appears, and the size of the bone callous itself, can tell your whole lot about your progression of healing, and whether or not you might get other problems in the future.
What is a bone callus in a metatarsal stress fracture? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On the Run Podcast!
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