injury rehab
Well, I went to the orthopedic doctor on Monday afternoon. Right after my foot started hurting really bad, I asked some of my PT + ATC friends on Facebook for local doctor recommendations. I had one in mind that Matt had gone to several years ago, but wanted to see if there were some other doctors professionals recommended, especially for runners. One of my friends recommended the doctor for the Cardinals, which was really appealing since I knew he worked with athletes, but when my former boss recommended the doctor I had in my head, I was sold.I got to my appointment, filled out all the necessary paperwork and insurance information, and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally I was taken back for x-rays. Does anyone else have issues with x-rays? I don't mind them, but I always overthink the whole not moving while they take the x-ray part and feel like I just have to move. They took pictures of my foot in 4 different angles and then took my to my room. Where I did a lot more waiting. I was tempted to lay down on the table and take a nap, but I figured that probably wasn't the best first impression.The doctor was awesome! Very down to earth and easy to talk to. And did I mention, he's a runner as well. So he gets it. And by it, I mean the urge to need to run and run through injuries because you just can't stop. #runnerproblems He asked me when it started hurting, which I almost totally had forgotten about up until that point. I had a few issues over the summer, but after a week off, quickly went away. However, one night MacKenna was up in the middle of the night, and I was walking her back to her room, I felt a pop in my foot. It wasn't necessarily painful and didn't swell, but I know that's when this really started to both me. I was back to running in compression socks daily until it got to the point where running didn't hurt, but I couldn't walk afterward.
He was surprised when I said there was no swelling after the pop in my foot, but there is a decent bump on my heel at the site of my pain. He poked around a little bit and tested the strength in my ankle and toes. We looked at my x-ray and he pointed out a few things. I didn't feel like the x-ray is necessary, but plantar fasciitis can lead to heel spurs, so at that point, I was thankful there was nothing of concern (heel spur, stress fracture) on the x-ray.The recommended treatment: physical therapy to work on my strength and flexibility. I mean, I surely can't be surprised because those have been the things I have really been lacking on since I've bumped up my mileage while training for RnR Chicago and RnR St. Louis. While he still said I can't run until I go see the physical therapist (ugh, another full week off), the good news is he said I absolutely needed to be exercising (THANK THE LORD!) so I could be in shape to run RnR St. Louis! He thinks that with the right treatment of strength, flexibility, and lots + lots of ice (he recommended NSAIDS but I'm allergic to ibuprofen), I should easily be running again.
I have to admit, the time off has definitely helped. As much as I hate it, I know it's exactly what I needed before this really got out of hand. I'm hoping the PT will help me manage the pain a little bit better and give me better ways to stretch. I guess I'm over the whole not stretching thing. I HATE doing it - it's such a time suck to this Type A girl - but it's obviously going to help keep these stupid little injuries at bay. I'm ready to run again and hopefully won't be sidelined too much longer.Oh, and the last thing the doctor said to me before walking out the door: "You know how this happened, right? You're 30." *sigh* Birthday month officially begins tomorrow - let's hope things look a little brighter at 31...