Photo from Mount Royal, Frisco, Colorado.

"That is happiness; to be disolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep." - Willa Cather

Thursday 24 September 2009

No miracle cure

I guess it is no surprise that the prednisone did not cure my tendonitis. I still can't go on long runs, but I can go on short runs without pain. So perhaps some of the inflammation was reduced. As Steve Q mentioned, the injury still needs time and rest to heal.

Because of this blog, I was actually contacted by a family member about using prednisone for a more chronic tendonitis. Whereas steroid injections might help with chronic joint problems and some types of fasciitis, systemic prednisone will not help with chronic tendonitis. I am not a sports doctor. I am in training to be an eye surgeon, so realize I don't have the most experienced advice. But I just thought I would share my thoughts rather than having lots of reades running to their doctors and asking for prednisone.

In other news, step-daughter looked awesome this morning.

I have to say I love having her here.

I haven't been running enough to even have a running song recommendation :(.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey there, just found your blog.

A couple thoughts.

If you can press into your tib anterior and feel pain, your shin splints aren't likely to be cured, even if the rest of the pain is gone. Tendonitis is pregressive, and unless you truly reverse the dynamic, it's just waiting in the wings to be irritated again.

Since you can have pain without actually having damage, hopefully you just had 'itis' from to much running, and don't have the chronically tight muscles, shorted, constrictive connective tissue, and a nervous system primed to turn on the inflammation process again.


Also, kudos on the running while pregnant. I can see why people wouldn't like that, but it sounds like you were aware and watchful, so you know best. Rock on.

Joshua
http://www.TendonitisExpert.com

sea legs girl said...

Hey Joshua (TTE),

Thanks for your advice. I just have to ask what it is you suggest to "reverse they dynamic." Sounds kind of tricky.

Unknown said...

Not that tricky, really. It does take some effort, but worth it for people that want to keep on the move.

I suspect you're one of those people:)

The dynamic of shin splints is a slow increase of muscle and connective tissue tightness, which sets the structure up for micro rip and tear injury, when then kicks in an inflammation response.

That's happening before you ever feel pain, and this accounts for why shin splints pain often return even though the pain goes away.

Reversing that dynamic is, essentially, opening up the shrunk wrapped connective tissue, (which helps to) reduce the tone of the muscle, and kick out the chronic inflammation.

You can probably imagine some methods to do those things (anti-inflammatories rarely work in the long run).

The tricky part is, using the right tools in the most effective way.

I should have a shin splints dvd out in the next month or so, I'll send you a free copy if you like. I get a kick out of helping athletes keep on doing what they're passionate about.

Meghan said...

Hey SeaLegs,

I just caught up on your injury situ, and from a recovering injured, I'm SORRY to hear about it.

Don't be silly like me, though, and run on something that's partially injured, partially painful. Let thyself rest, and you'll soon(er than running whilst still somewhat layed up) be back to running.

Take good care of thine ankle ;),
Meghan

SteveQ said...

Not sure about the stepdaughter's indoor gloves...

BTW, in my experience, that particular injury is most commonly from improper mechanics - holding the foot at one angle, rather than "pawing" the ground with each step. Running uphill for hours in the alps might lead to it.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sea Legs! Boy, I really sympathize with you. I hate being injured. I'll think positive thoughts for you!

I was running too much before my pregnancy and now that I am on the three-day-week training program from the Furman Institute... I am running faster and am injury-free, no aches, no pains, nothing! I was overtraining before. It sucks not being able to run more than three days a week, but injuries suck more!

Anyway, I am sure you will bounce back and get even faster.

sea legs girl said...

Steve Q,

Your thoughts about the injury make perfect sense to me. And I'm even more convinced of it now that I think I'm cured.

Enthused,

Great to hear from you!! I look forward to hearing how Furman works for you. Cross training is such a good strategy. But on top of that, there is no doubt your running is going to get faster because you are coming off a pregancy (a generally ignored but effective training strategy).

sea legs girl said...

Oh and Steve Q, I have to respectfully disagree about the indoor gloves. :)