posterior tibial tendinitis – Margaret's Corner

I’m officially beyond the acute phase of my posterior tibial tendinitis. That means: no more pain, no more limping, and…I’m walking normally. Yaaay!

My recovery was really quick, or at least I think it was quick. 😉

I’ve definitely become a huge fan of physical therapy…It has really worked for me. That doesn’t mean that I’m cured forever and can just sit back and relax. I will have to return to the sports clinic in September for some final shoulder mobility sessions (although my left shoulder is almost as “good” as my right one now). Then, I’m done…

For the month of August, I just have to keep doing my tendon-strengthening exercises and be careful about not walking too much without resting. That way, my tibial tendon shouldn’t give me any trouble during our upcoming holiday…

Yaaaay! Another (big) problem solved.

Okay, off I go. It’s time to plan our holiday…! Take care, everyone! 😎

Okay, so I have gone from a fractured shoulder to posterior tibial tendinitis. 😕

No kidding. From one type of pain to another (worse, IMO, since this one affects my ability to walk properly). Uffa!!!

It started about a week ago, more or less. I began experiencing a bit of pain in my left heel area, but, since I have a high pain threshold, I essentially ignored it (first lesson learned: never ignore pain of any sort!)…All I did was apply ice packs to the area a couple of times a day, and that was it. On Saturday, though, as a result of having walked a bit too fast for a bit too long, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my heel area, which almost floored me. That, I could NOT ignore.

Okay, clearly, it was time to take some action…So I talked to my therapist about it on Monday. She made the diagnosis…

Luckily, since I was already doing physiotherapy to regain shoulder mobility, all we had to do was simply shift gears. Even though we are still doing a bit of shoulder therapy, we are now focusing on getting my tendon back into shape, which, well, to be honest, hurts like hell. My shoulder pain was nothing in comparison…eeek!

The good news is that it seems to be getting a bit better. The bad news is that it will probably take some time to heal properly, and, hah, of course!!!, less than three weeks from now Stefano and I are taking off to go on holiday…a holiday that will involve a certain amount of walking. Phooey. Terrible timing…BUT, hey, if this had to happen, better now than three weeks from now, right?

Okay, no more whining. I’ll be fine soon. Plus, as it happens, I have a cane, which I’ll take with me on holiday, together with everything I’ve learned about this painful, but common (especially with runners), condition. Since I’m not a runner, I probably developed this as a result of walking “funny” when I was wearing my shoulder brace. I knew I was walking a bit on the crooked side, but there wasn’t much I could do about it at the time.

Anyway, everything else is good. I am back to driving again…Luckily, my car has automatic transmission, which means that I don’t have to use my left tendon, I mean, my left foot. 😉 So at least I’m getting around a bit on my own…Mainly, I’m driving myself to physiotherapy, yaaay. I like to be free and independent…

Mostly, though, I’m resting, even more than I rested when I was in the middle of my fractured shoulder period…

Rest is the best cure for posterior tibial tendinitis, unfortunately…Ah yes, there are going to be lots of TV series in my near future!!! 🙂