Yesterday I was giving a lecture at the International Foot & Ankle Foundation meeting in Lake Tahoe. The topic was on protocols for return to running after recovering from over training injuries. One of the most important points I was trying to make to the doctors in that session was that fitness is transient. Fitness is only present in the presence of growth. If you’re an injured runner this is terrible news. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we’re talking about why running fitness is transient.
View Details »One of the worst injuries you can actually get if you’re a runner is a plantar plate ligament sprain.
The plantar plate ligament is a very small ligament on the bottom of the foot, where the toe attaches to the metatarsal phalangeal joint, right at the ball of the foot.
These can happen for lots of different reasons but it’s a very small structure and the unfortunate reality is, is that every single time that you stand, you’re stepping on the ligament.
Why do plantar plate sprains take so long to heal? Well, that’s a great question and that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run podcast.
In this episode we’re talking about whether or not you can’t run just because you got a running injury and this is a thing I hear all the time from injured runners. They call me because they’re frustrated because they’re runners, they got a metatarsal stress fracture, or a plantar fasciitis, or a plantar plate ligament sprain, or Achilles tendonitis. They say, “My doctor said I can’t run because I got a running injury. Does that make sense to you?” Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run podcast.
View Details »I just saw a comment on our YouTube videos from a runner named Mary. She viewed the video on permanent calf atrophy, and how that can happen if you spend way too long in a fracture walking boot or a cast. Mary replied and basically said, “Great. Now you depressed the crap out of me. Thanks. Ugh.” Realizing that you have lost fitness to the point of atrophy can be really upsetting for any runner. Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you, and that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On the Run podcast.
View Details »Metatarsal stress fractures are one of the most common overtraining injuries afflicting runners. Much of the time the stress fracture is preceded by what we as doctors call a “stress reaction. ”If you ignore the warning signs of a stress reaction and keep on running in the same way, applying the same stress, the stress reaction will advance to a full on stress fracture they can keep you out of training for months. Most people think and X-ray of the foot is the best way to tell the difference between the stress fracture and a stress reaction. But that assumption is false. If you’re trying to figure out whether or not you’re in the early phases of the stress fracture injury process you have to take action to figure out what is going on immediately. This episode will explain that process. Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we’re talking about the difference between stress fracture and stress reaction.
View Details »Today’s episode comes from an injured runner who saw a doctor, got x-rays and found what looked like bone fragments in the peroneal tendons. We were doing a telemedicine second opinion consultation, and she wanted to know whether or not she should have surgery to take the bone chips out of the peroneal tendon. That’s a great question! How did bone chips get in my peroneal tendon? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »This podcast episode comes from a telemedicine visit second opinion with a triathlete and runner who was having pain as he ramped up his mileage. It turns out he had what we call a limb length discrepancy, where you actually have one leg that is a little bit shorter than the other. This is something we see a lot in runners who are starting to get problems as they increase mileage during training. Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we’re talking about three signs of limb length discrepancies in runners.
View Details »This is a great question from a runner I’ve been helping in the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday coaching group. She had a fifth metatarsal fracture and wanted to know if this could actually cause posterior tibial tendonitis. Since they’re on the opposite sides of the foot, a lot of people think that it won’t cause the same kind of problem, because you wouldn’t expect to have problems on both the left and right sides of the same foot. Can a fifth metatarsal fracture cause posterior tibial tendonitis? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
View Details »This is a great question I got from a runner during a recent telemedicine visit and this was a runner who actually called me for a second opinion because she had a tear in the plantar fascia.
She felt like it was healing, and she wanted to get back to running. She was really hoping to get some kind of real positive affirmation or confirmation that she was okay to run and wanted to know whether or not she should get a repeat of the MRI that she had previously that actually discovered she had a partial tear in the plantar fascia and not just plantar fasciitis.
Now, this is a great question and it’s a completely reasonable one. In fact, I just discussed this with doctors last week at the International Foot and Ankle Foundation meeting, where I was actually lecturing on runner’s heel pain.
Should I get an MRI of my healing plantar fascia tear before I start running? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.
I had a really great question from a patient on a second opinion webcam visit.
“I have a partially torn plantar fascia. Can I keep running and let it heal later?”
He had purchased The Runner’s Heel Pain course and based on his self-diagnosis, he concluded that he definitely did not just have plantar fasciitis. It was more likely plantar fasciosis with a small tear in the plantar fascia.
Unfortunately, the treatment that we would normally do and normally recommend for somebody with a partial tear in the plantar fascia, well, he just cannot do right now. He does not have time to actually take off of his activity and stop running completely right now.
Today on the Doc On the Run podcast, we’re talking about Torn Plantar Fascia: If I run can it heal it later?
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