Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Tarsal Coalition and Me

The day after I completed The Laurel Highlands Ultra I could not put weight on my left foot / ankle. This was not uncommon as I have had similar pain to a lesser extent before. After a few days the pain level went down, but not away. I decided to see an Orthopaedic specializing in the foot and ankle. After a lot of X-Rays he determined and diagnosed me with a Tarsal Coalition. The bones in the back of my foot do not work properly and cause pain. Under normal circumstances I do not have any pain. I did not have pain during or after any previous 50k races, but the 70 at Laurel Highlands put it over the top. It is now 5 weeks after the race and I am still in a small amount of pain. The doctor recommended that I stop running on trails and only run on the road. To me this is a bad option. He competes in ironman length triathlons and recommended that I start doing that as well to take stress off the foot. I have no plans to stop running on the trails. Surgery is an option, but it may or may not help. My next race is in 16 weeks. I have not been able to resume training properly yet, but hope to get my mileage up to a higher level soon. I am not sure why I am sharing this, but I am. Please pray for me and my foot.

5 comments:

  1. Hello! Did you take any action with the pain such as surgeries or anything?

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  2. I know your post in a bit old, but I just came across it in my search to better deal with my Tarsal Coalition. I was diagnosed 3 years ago while training for my first marathon. I was told to stop running! I of course did not and have not had to much pain running until just this year. I have TC in both feet but only recently seem to have pain in my right foot. Not so much during the run as afterwards. Well this isn't really true either. Lately I've noticed aches and pains in that foot, ankle and calf. I'm pretty certain it is changing my gait too. I'm right in the middle of training for a half and will be doing a full later in the year. So I was wondering what you have found over the past that has helped with your pain/discomfort or what you may have learned that you can pass on.

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  3. Hello fellow members of the coalition,
    I am also an athlete with a tarsal coalition (50-70% bone meld in left ankle). I was diagnosed 3 years ago and I am now 30. I use to wear hiking boots that left me with a sharp needle pain especially when going down stairs. I Played basketball and soccer all through K-12 and stayed active in college. I now train for 5K to 10K races. I decided to forgo surgery, which I was told wouldn't offer much other than maintaining the status quo. I tried shoe inserts with mixed results and eventually gave up on them for better shoes. I have found a return to close to no pain in my ankle with long runs through a combination of finding the right shoes, respecting and dealing with inflammation when it occurs through advil, ice, and rest, and focusing on stretching my ankle after runs, along with doing other ankle strength improving exercises. I avoid running on uneven surfaces or sports that require high impact with ankle twisting such as basketball. I highly suggest shoes that are given to those with severe overpronation and prefer new balance and asics. Good luck with your training.

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  4. Chris,
    Like you I wear support running shoes. I currently am wearing Brooks Adrenaline GTSs in the 4e width. I do not need that wide of a shoe and have wore normal width for a long time, but the owner of the local running shop fitted me in them, the wide base helps to correct my motion more. I can tell a difference. I had a pair of custom orthodics for a while, but gave up on them as I believe they caused more issues than they helped. It got to a point where my foot was so weak without them that I could not walk around barefoot or in sandals without pain for a week.

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  5. http://mytarsalcoalition.blogspot.com

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