I sure hope no one was looking forward to a long, drawn-out saga of recovery from debilitating injury, because Dr. Hewitt is confident the calfankilles issue can be resolved with a brief regimen of anti-inflammatories. The issue, it seems to be, is a variation of Os Trigonum Syndrome. He was confident enough of his diagnosis that no MRI or even x-ray was needed (and won’t be unless the pain continues), however if I were to have one or the other, the Dr. claims it would have shown a piece of extra bone getting pinched in the back of my ankle joint. The cause of the possibly errant bone chip is speculative, but likely due to a combination of ankle twisting and that whole Rock Jump business, on a talus that had a cartilage nubbin.
This news is obviously a big relief. It’s easily treatable, it’s not damaging, and my generally shoeless disposition is not to blame.
This is, of course, assuming Dr. Hewitt is right. Since he told me to go ahead and start running again as barefoot as I want, I’m going to assume the guy is a genius.
So what next? A week of short easy runs are in order, I think, and lots of ibuprofen for the next five days. If this does the trick, I’ll start looking for a 5K in November to focus on. Can anyone recommend a good training plan for that distance? Not that I’ll follow it, although who knows I might; I’m just curious on what if anything folks have to say on the subject.
Anyway, I’m not out of the woods yet, but it seems to be a tiny gathering of trees to have been lost in for such a long time. The light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncoming train, and discretion continues to be the better part of valor. Not sure how or if that last one fits in, but it’s true regardless.
I would be suspicious of anti-inflammatory medication, especially in large doses. Some evidence exists for them actually weakening tendons and ligaments. While getting us to feel better and be functional faster, the long term effect for the affected area may be that it becomes injury prone. I have not taken any in 3 years (though there have been times I was tempted). Something to consider…
Naproxen Sodium is a favorite in our family. When in pain, we take 2 for the 24 hour period. Who has time to take ibuprofen all day?
Glad to hear you are in the clear.
Good news that the bad news ain’t so bad. Enjoy your comeback. Remember, alcohol reduces pain and improves confidence. Cheers!
Hey Josh-
Just found your blog recently, and I was wondering why you’d gone silent. Good to hear it appears to be a minor problem.
FWIW I’m also suspicious of NSAIDs. They tend to make my muscles feel sorta gooey…stuff doesn’t work quite right, so I’m cautious about physical activity when I take ‘em. Caveat: I have some neurological damage in my spinal cord, so this may be fairly idiosyncratic.
But the main point I wanted to make: Have you tried curcumin? It’s basically turmeric, so you could buy capsules or eat a lot of curry, depending on which you find palatable. It seems to reduce pain at least as well as (other?) drugs, without the weird side effects. At least for me.
HTH.