Posterior Tibial Tendonitis-anyone had it? Suggestions?

KombuchaKat wrote: »

Last Fall I went from living in the burbs and driving everywhere to living in a major city and walking everywhere. I LOVE all the walking but began to have intense pain on the inside arch of my left foot. It's gotten so bad that walking is painful most of the time and doing standing postures in yoga is excruciating at times. I've been diagnosed with posterior tibial tendonitis. Since I no longer have a car I have no choice but to walk everywhere but I can cut back on some of the pounding by not running or doing box jumps and the like in Crossfit. Obviously getting the extra weight off is no longer just a general health concern I can continue to just take at my own pace, either. I'm wearing arch support inserts which is helping and compression socks.
Has anyone else had this? If so how long did it take you to heal and do you have any suggestions? It's kind of scary because apparently if it gets bad enough your arch collapses and you can be left with a permanent deformity. At least it's only on one foot but man, the pain can get intense!

You need to rest. I think that things like running or crossfit are off limits for a few months (yes, that long, but check with your dr). Make sure you have the right shoes, not just orthotics, discuss your dr about a brace if you still feel the pain, do not walk barefoot or with completely flat shoes (not even at home) and ask when is the right time to start physical therapy to strengthen the muscle, and what is safe to do in the meantime. The usual advice will be swimming, and perhaps cycling. The basic rule is: if it hurts, stop immediately. You never push through tendon pain.

I have this also. It took 2-3 years of seeing doctors and podiatrist after podiatrist before I began seeing a Physical Therapist that specializes in Manual Therapy. It took two years to heal and I'd say that I still have to take really good care of my feet/ankles with appropriate strengthening and stretching exercises. My PT actually had me ditch the super supportive foot-ware (over a period of time) to rebuild the strength of my feet. It was scary at first and felt really slow but progress was made and that gave me encouragement to not give up.

I also commute from the suburbs to the city via bus and walking is just part of what needs to happen. I agree with the rest, I think that part of the reason mine got so bad was that I was pushing through the pain for about a year because I wasn't getting any answers....and agree it's not the way to go.

My biggest recommendation is to keep looking for a health care provider that knows what this is and how to treat it...based on personal experience I'd highly recommend a Physical Therapist that does Manual Therapy. She taught me how to place my feet and where the weight should land as I step, not to wag my hips, what muscles needed to be strengthened through specific exercises and did manual therapy which is a bit like massage but not nearly as enjoyable - She changed my life...I saw her today for some knee pain but I know that it's temporary as she said in my first appointment, "we just need to teach your body how to heal itself" and we did.