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That's why they have doctors and radiologists
Well, I was very wrong about my MRI. That's why people need TRAINING to interpret complicated MRI printouts! Not just GUESSING. LOL According to the MRI report:
1) There is posterior tibial tendinopathy and linear longitudinal partial tear with associated tenosynovitis and soft tissue inflammation
2) Sinus tarsi edema consistent with synovitis or sinus tarsi syndrome. Small subtalar joint effusion is also noted
3) Plantar heel spur. No evidence for stress fracture.
I knew about the heel spur. I had quite a lot of problems with this foot 5 years or so ago, with a heel spur and plantar fasciitis. I do stretch it regularly still because of this and haven't had pain in the plantar area for a while. NO evidence of a stress fracture though. So the pain is associated with a tear of the tendon. No wonder it hurts. It is a sharp pain, almost like a burning sensation which I guess makes sense if it is a tear. I looked up some of the other terms. Tenosynovitis is inflammation of the fluid-filled sheath around the tendon. "Edema" and "effusion" both mean fluid leaking in the wrong places (due to the inflammation?). Sinus tarsi syndrome is pain and inflammation in a particular area of the ankle, and 70% of the time it is associated with a "turning out" ankle sprain. It can also be caused by overuse. Mine is probably a combination of the two, because it was likely a "turning out" event that tore the tendon too. My feet kind of tend to turn out on their own, and when I'm not doing taekwondo I wear custom orthotics inside my shoes that keep this from happening. But barefoot there aren't any custom orthotics! Tendinopathy is basically just swelling and pain associated with the tear, but may also mean "micro tears" associated with overuse, which is probably the case for me.
Anyway I guess it is a good thing I had the MRI. When I thought I'd diagnosed it as a stress fracture I figured a good x-ray would have sufficed, but I guess not.
The treatment for now is to stop "all" exercise and to wear a tall walking boot which stops just below my knee. I did call the doctor back and ask the receptionist to clarify for me did "all" exercise include swimming? Because I would like to keep up something, so I got permission to swim laps, thank goodness. I got the walking boot yesterday afternoon and it is a pain in the rear. It is tight (duh, that's the point) but probably tighter on my calf because of my weight, so the top of it rubs and hurts. It also makes my knee want to flex backwards with each step, so I'm afraid I'll come out of this with an okay ankle but a bum knee. I'm trying to be very careful, and I have made arrangements to borrow a cane from a friend to see if I put some weight on a cane might it not flex my knee the wrong way. I can't just not walk around. I mean even just walking around the house it is hurting me. I'll get the cane this afternoon. I may borrow a crutch from my neighbor too and see which works best. One of my concerns is that I have to park kind of far away from the pool at the college, in a "commuter" lot, and have quite a hike from the car to the pool. So I want to make that easier.
I officially froze my taekwondo membership for 3 months. We'll see after that. I'm going to not freeze my gym membership, because I'd like to try to keep doing upper body weight-lifting. My doctor specifically said no yoga (when I asked about swimming I also asked about yoga or other classes at the gym that aren't as intensive). But I think it will be worth keeping the membership for upper body weight lifting. My gym also has a stationary bicycle that you do with your arms instead of your legs, and I'll try that out.
In other news, I worked frantically yesterday trying to finish a quilt for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. It has turned out really cute. I will post some pictures soon. I have to go finish the binding so I can get it in the mail today and get it to her in time. It has an angel on it and I quilted some butterflies and hearts. I think she'll like it. It is meant to be a lap quilt and to go to the hospital with her when she goes for treatments and things. If I finish the binding in the next hour I may wash and dry it once so that I can tell her it washes and dries well and she doesn't have to worry about that.
1) There is posterior tibial tendinopathy and linear longitudinal partial tear with associated tenosynovitis and soft tissue inflammation
2) Sinus tarsi edema consistent with synovitis or sinus tarsi syndrome. Small subtalar joint effusion is also noted
3) Plantar heel spur. No evidence for stress fracture.
I knew about the heel spur. I had quite a lot of problems with this foot 5 years or so ago, with a heel spur and plantar fasciitis. I do stretch it regularly still because of this and haven't had pain in the plantar area for a while. NO evidence of a stress fracture though. So the pain is associated with a tear of the tendon. No wonder it hurts. It is a sharp pain, almost like a burning sensation which I guess makes sense if it is a tear. I looked up some of the other terms. Tenosynovitis is inflammation of the fluid-filled sheath around the tendon. "Edema" and "effusion" both mean fluid leaking in the wrong places (due to the inflammation?). Sinus tarsi syndrome is pain and inflammation in a particular area of the ankle, and 70% of the time it is associated with a "turning out" ankle sprain. It can also be caused by overuse. Mine is probably a combination of the two, because it was likely a "turning out" event that tore the tendon too. My feet kind of tend to turn out on their own, and when I'm not doing taekwondo I wear custom orthotics inside my shoes that keep this from happening. But barefoot there aren't any custom orthotics! Tendinopathy is basically just swelling and pain associated with the tear, but may also mean "micro tears" associated with overuse, which is probably the case for me.
Anyway I guess it is a good thing I had the MRI. When I thought I'd diagnosed it as a stress fracture I figured a good x-ray would have sufficed, but I guess not.
The treatment for now is to stop "all" exercise and to wear a tall walking boot which stops just below my knee. I did call the doctor back and ask the receptionist to clarify for me did "all" exercise include swimming? Because I would like to keep up something, so I got permission to swim laps, thank goodness. I got the walking boot yesterday afternoon and it is a pain in the rear. It is tight (duh, that's the point) but probably tighter on my calf because of my weight, so the top of it rubs and hurts. It also makes my knee want to flex backwards with each step, so I'm afraid I'll come out of this with an okay ankle but a bum knee. I'm trying to be very careful, and I have made arrangements to borrow a cane from a friend to see if I put some weight on a cane might it not flex my knee the wrong way. I can't just not walk around. I mean even just walking around the house it is hurting me. I'll get the cane this afternoon. I may borrow a crutch from my neighbor too and see which works best. One of my concerns is that I have to park kind of far away from the pool at the college, in a "commuter" lot, and have quite a hike from the car to the pool. So I want to make that easier.
I officially froze my taekwondo membership for 3 months. We'll see after that. I'm going to not freeze my gym membership, because I'd like to try to keep doing upper body weight-lifting. My doctor specifically said no yoga (when I asked about swimming I also asked about yoga or other classes at the gym that aren't as intensive). But I think it will be worth keeping the membership for upper body weight lifting. My gym also has a stationary bicycle that you do with your arms instead of your legs, and I'll try that out.
In other news, I worked frantically yesterday trying to finish a quilt for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. It has turned out really cute. I will post some pictures soon. I have to go finish the binding so I can get it in the mail today and get it to her in time. It has an angel on it and I quilted some butterflies and hearts. I think she'll like it. It is meant to be a lap quilt and to go to the hospital with her when she goes for treatments and things. If I finish the binding in the next hour I may wash and dry it once so that I can tell her it washes and dries well and she doesn't have to worry about that.
(Anonymous)
Barefoot