A former professional triathlete and current coach discusses how he’s managing a painful plantar plate sprain while trying to maintain fitness during a real strategy call with Dr. Christopher Segler.
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Plantar plate pain in runners can be confusing. Learn the critical differences between stress, strain, and
sprain so you can make smarter decisions, protect your foot, and keep running without making the
injury worse.
Today on the Doc on the Run podcast, we’re talking about when a plantar plate tear can cause or contribute to the development of a thing called crossover toe deformity. If you are a runner and you got diagnosed with a plantar plate sprain, I know you are in for a frustrating course […]
View Details »Most of the runners I see who have pain in the ball of the foot from a plantar plate sprain rarely start out with a completely torn plantar plate tear.
More often, runners ignore the pain from the plantar plate sprain and it evolves into a full thickness plantar plate tear.
Surgery is only needed when the plantar plate is torn in such a way that the plantar plate ligament cannot be expected to heal without surgery.
But there are some mistakes that could lead a runner to the operating room.
Plantar plate surgery is a failure to act quickly.
That’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »If you are a runner struggling with a plantar plate sprain, it is probably going to be extremely frustrating trying to get it to heal so you can get back to running.
The plantar plate a very small ligament. It does not have a great blood supply. Every time you take a step, you put pressure on the plantar plate. Every time your heel comes up off the ground when you walk, you stretch the plantar plate.
Because it is so difficult to heal, runners typically have frustrating setbacks.
That state of discouragement makes it pretty easy for a doctor to talk you into plantar plate surgery.
When should a runner just give up and have plantar plate surgery for a plantar plate sprain?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »If you have been told you have a plantar plate sprain, you’re probably already really frustrated.
Even minor plantar plate tears can be nagging injuries that are very difficult to get better while you’re running on them.
The bottom line is, you’ve got to make sure that the plantar plate ligament improves because (in general) plantar plate sprains are either getting worse or they’re getting better.
One of the questions I get all the time from runners is what is really the best study for a plantar plate injury.
What’s the best imaging study for a runner who is suspected of having a plantar plate injury?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »There are times when you might have a suspected stress fracture in your foot. If so, your doctor may order an X-ray.
There are other times when it’s extremely unlikely that you have a broken bone at all, but it is almost certainly just a soft tissue injury.
One of the questions I get a lot from runners with plantar plate sprains is how to make sure the pain is not from a stress fracture.
I have only seen one case where somebody had fracture pain in the exact same spot you would have pain when you had a plantar plate injury.
Can a fracture in the metatarsal seem like a plantar plate sprain?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »I was recently doing a second opinion consultation with a runner over a webcam to review the MRI of his foot.
What we found was that he had what looked to be attenuation and a partial tear in the plantar plate ligament on his MRI.
There was a lot of inflammation in the foot around the ligament, not just within the ligament itself.
He asked me was really good question:
“Could my plantar plate ligament been have injured long before I ever got an MRI?”
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 »You’re out on a run, and you suddenly start having extremely sharp heel pain.
You think it’s plantar fasciitis.
But when you look at your foot, you see a huge bruise.
That’s not plantar fasciitis. That’s where you ripped something.
Is there always bruising with a partial rupture or a tear in the plantar fascia?
Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
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