Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction

I have been feeling significant arch pain in my foot caused by my running off and on since the beginning of July this year. I had two runs back to back that caused pain bad enough that I was limping back to the start. The first run was 16 miles and I didn’t think too much of it, but the second was only 3.5 miles. I decided that I had to get help if there was any chance I was going to meet my goal of completing the Ozark Trail 100 race in November this year.

A visit to the physical therapist, Sean Tucker at Brentwood Center of Health was quickly followed up by a visit to an orthopedist. I was diagnosed with Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction (PTTD). This is the tendon supporting the arch of the foot. Its actually serious and causes flatfootedness and an inward rolling of the ankle. I told the doctor right out of my goal to compete and what my current training was. He thought I was a bit nuts for that goal. When I asked him point blank if I should plan to do the race, he said that there was a high risk of lifelong injury if I attempted the race. So I’m out of running while I get healed up and then back to training!

I was enjoying the weight loss associated with the running, but that’ll come back when I can run again. For now, I just have to be patient!

Hogan