Monday morning I had an appointment with the podiatrist. Thankfully the referral from last week was fast and I got in to see him without waiting weeks (which is typical).
I slept in a little bit (even though I didn’t sleep well Sunday night) and then went to the doctor.
The doctor was very nice. I liked him much better than Dr. Asshole from last week–plus he spent about 40 minutes with me. Dr. Asshole diagnosed me in 3 seconds.
He did a full exam of my feet, ankles, calves. He checked stability, range of motion and other exams on the my left ankle. His conclusion?
I do not have Achilles Tendinitis.
After all the testing he did, he determined that I did not have Achilles problems. That my ankles are strong and not swollen, bruised or painful to the touch–all good things.
He thinks that I strained a muscle or maybe even the medial tendon–but not the Achilles. He was leaning more towards a strained muscle which is good news for me! He asked me about my activities. I explained that I’ve been doing swimming and upper body weight training.
He asked me if I stand while lifting weights–I said no. He said good (for now). He said that I can stop wearing the boot tomorrow because it will cause more harm than good (back pain, hip pain, leg pain) when I don’t even have Achilles Tendinitis. Good news.
Now onto the other foot.
More good news: I do not have Plantar Fasciitis!
It was such a relief and I’m so glad I went to the podiatrist. He said that the area of my arch where I was having the weird twinge wasn’t plantar fasciitis. His recommendations:
- Don’t go barefoot.
- Wear shoes with good arch support.
- Wear my good running shoes when I just walk around all day (I do that).
- Wear my good running shoes (a new pair) when I run only (I do that).
- Do calf stretches!!!!
The above photos is the calf stretch I now have to do every day for the rest of my life so that I do not develop plantar fasciitis.
His directives:
- Don’t be too far back from the wall.
- Hold it for 30 seconds minimum at a time.
- Release, repeat for a total of 3 times.
- Always do the calf stretch before physical activities.
- He recommends the calf stretch first thing in the morning.
- Skip the calf stretch on the stairs.
He also said that anything less than 30 seconds is detrimental. Holding the stretch for 15-20 seconds only means that the muscles and fibers just tighten up, shorten, and then eventually tear. Good to know.
What was my next question for the doc? When is it safe to return to exercising normally?
You can safely return to your sport when you meet the following conditions:
- You have your physician’s “okay.”
- You are pain-free.
- You have no swelling.
- You have full range of motion (compared to the uninjured side).
- You have full or close to full (90 percent) strength (again, compare with the uninjured side)
- You can jog straight ahead without pain or limping.
- You can sprint straight ahead without pain or limping.
- You can jump on both legs without pain and you can jump on the injured leg without pain.
I’m cleared for exercise! He said that swimming is excellent (which I knew). He said to take it easy the rest of this week then try easy exercise on Saturday. For example the exercise bike at a low resistance. Yay!
I’m also supposed to continue the anti-inflammatory medication for a few more weeks then stop. It’s basically a one-a-day extra strong Motrin.
After some thought I’m wondering if I just strained something in my ankle on the elliptical machine last week. It was a machine I don’t normally use and maybe I wasn’t doing it properly (i.e. lifting my heel too much). Quite possible.
I’m happy with the doctor visit and I’m happy with the outcome. I hope he’s right! Thank you all for the well-wishes and positive thoughts!
QUESTION: Have you ever been mis-diagnosed?
Carbzilla
This makes me SO happy for you and SO mad at Dr. Asshole. WTF? Medical school much? Thank goodness for 2nd opinions.
Lisa Eirene
YES! Thank you for 2nd opinions. I felt the same way! What a jerk. Maybe spend more than 3 seconds diagnosing a patient?!?
kalin
great news!!!
i need to make a dr appointment – i have major issues from birth control (massive migraines) and the last dr i saw just shrugged it off and prescribed me painkillers, rather than trying to find a method that, you know, doesn’t make me feel like i’m dying for a week every month 🙁
Lisa Eirene
The more run-around I get from my doctors, the more I am for second opinions! If one doctor won’t listen, get a better one. Seriously!
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Lori (Finding Radiance)
Yay for returning to exercise! I was misdiagnosed with my back earlier this year. Was told it was a pulled muscle and it turned out to be a herniated disk.
Lisa Eirene
I hope you are healing right on track!
Jenn
Yay!!! That is so awesome!! So glad u got another opinion. I was misdiagnosed twice once with bone chip but really achilles tendonitis and once with partial tear of ACL which was really a partially torn ACL, MCL and muscle. Both times physical therapist figured out right problem. Good luck returning back to activity! So happy for you!
Lisa Eirene
Thank you Jenn! And thank you for the tweets! Glad you got diagnosed correctly. Ouch.
Nicole
That’s awesome. Here’s to hoping that things keep moving in the right direction!!
Jennifer is Always Sick
I have been frequently misdiagnosed, and it’s a headache…that’s being nice. It’s infuriating, especially because, like Dr. Asshole, a lot of doctors have a diagnosis before they even look at you. They’ve made up their minds within the first 3 minutes of listening to their patients talk to them. It’s sick.
I’ve also had the “I’m referring you to this specialist…” and then that specialist says, “I can’t help you, let me refer you to….” and then, before I know it, because so many doctors have no clue as to how to help me, they assume it’s psychological, and I have a psych consult. YAY! lol
I’m glad you found a good doctor who could help you and actually examined and listened to you. I sometimes wonder how some doctors are still practicing medicine when they behave the way Dr .Asshole did.
Lisa Eirene
It’s very frustrating when they diagnose so quickly and then escape out of the room before I can ask any questions. Then they wonder why I have repeat appointments!
blackhuff
Many, many times in my life have I been misdiagnosed and that frustrates me tremendously but I do understand that doctors is also just people and they too can make mistakes.
@irun2befit
You’re so LUCKY!! Glad things are turning around for you.
Haven’t been misdiagnosed (that I know of), but that physical therapist took me a step backwards pain-wise.
Julie
I’m so glad your diagnosis was “revised”. That’s so frustrating that the first doctor was such a twit! Achilles tendinitis SUCKS! Glad that it’s not the true issue.
I don’t know that I’ve ever been misdiagnosed, but I’ve had my share of general lack of a conclusion to my issue. It’s so frustrating.
marie
I always see people at races doing calf stretches wrong — pushing up against a tree or a wall and bouncing, while switching legs every few seconds. All they’re doing is cutting off the circulation to their feet. I want to yell, “Nooooo!” So its good he showed you the right way, and REALLY good you were thorough yourself and got a second opinion. Good luck, glad you’ll be getting back into it!
Lisa Eirene
Thanks Marie! I know I don’t stretch enough and need to be better about that…but the calf stretch surprised me. I’m glad I got a second opinion from someone competent!