I Heart Thomas Muster
Semi-Pro
I've been seeing a lot of heel related topics here recently so I thought I would share my tale of woe and hopefully it will help some struggling with similar symptoms. I woke up one morning after a hard fought tennis match (no injuries or incidents of pain) and the back of my heel/achilles was stiff and painful to step on. I have never experienced this sensation and thought maybe I banged my heel into the ground a little harder than normal and that given a few days would probably go away on its own. After walking around a bit the pain went away completely as I "warmed up".
Over the course of a couple of weeks nothing improved and the pain wouldn't go away completely after stretching a bit. If I walked for a bit the spot where the achilles attaches to the heel would become sore. So I decided to call my doctor and schedule an appointment but he was booked for some time and he called me and said I just needed rest as it was probably a heel bruise or ankle sprain. That didn't sit right with me so I went and saw an Urgent Care doctor who also told me it was just a mild ankle sprain and would be fine in 4-6 weeks. Again I wasn't terribly reassured so I bought those Smart Feet Green insoles which felt great but didn't make my heel feel any better.
Fast forward about a month and I'm still in the same boat. I haven't been playing tennis and while the stiffness and pain in the morning has decreased, walking still hurts. I see a sports medicine doctor for my wrist and he asked about my tennis and I told him I hadn't been playing because I sprained my ankle and he asked how long had it been hurting and I said almost two months now. Finally a doctor took me seriously and he asked more questions and said that's not an ankle sprain and ordered X-Rays right there. I knew it was bad when he asked if before this had I experienced heel pain. I said no and he said "You're lucky you made it this long" Besides arthritis in my ankle there was this bony deformity on the heel he said was a result of the pounding of tennis and the tendon pulling on the heel bone. I didn't even need him to point it out. It was like a little claw sticking out of the heel irritating and inflaming the tendon.
He then did an ultrasound and showed me the tendon where it was healthy and where it was inflamed and had me fitted for a boot to immobilize it which I'll be wearing for three weeks to try and get the inflammation down. He said if the pain is gone after the three weeks then we'll go to physical therapy. I asked about surgery but I was so dazed and depressed I forgot what he said. My fear is taking time off to heal, time away while doing the PT and finally getting on a tennis court and the same thing happens. Part of me wants to cut my heel open and file the bone down myself and just get it over with.
So that's where I'm at now. Next appointment is November 9th and I'm pretty bummed but I hope this helps some of you experiencing similar symptoms. Listen to your body. Oh and stretch your calves!!!!! I knew this was more than an ankle sprain and I let it linger for too long because I didn't want to come across as a know it all or one of those guys who self diagnoses using Web MD every time they get a sniffle.
Over the course of a couple of weeks nothing improved and the pain wouldn't go away completely after stretching a bit. If I walked for a bit the spot where the achilles attaches to the heel would become sore. So I decided to call my doctor and schedule an appointment but he was booked for some time and he called me and said I just needed rest as it was probably a heel bruise or ankle sprain. That didn't sit right with me so I went and saw an Urgent Care doctor who also told me it was just a mild ankle sprain and would be fine in 4-6 weeks. Again I wasn't terribly reassured so I bought those Smart Feet Green insoles which felt great but didn't make my heel feel any better.
Fast forward about a month and I'm still in the same boat. I haven't been playing tennis and while the stiffness and pain in the morning has decreased, walking still hurts. I see a sports medicine doctor for my wrist and he asked about my tennis and I told him I hadn't been playing because I sprained my ankle and he asked how long had it been hurting and I said almost two months now. Finally a doctor took me seriously and he asked more questions and said that's not an ankle sprain and ordered X-Rays right there. I knew it was bad when he asked if before this had I experienced heel pain. I said no and he said "You're lucky you made it this long" Besides arthritis in my ankle there was this bony deformity on the heel he said was a result of the pounding of tennis and the tendon pulling on the heel bone. I didn't even need him to point it out. It was like a little claw sticking out of the heel irritating and inflaming the tendon.
He then did an ultrasound and showed me the tendon where it was healthy and where it was inflamed and had me fitted for a boot to immobilize it which I'll be wearing for three weeks to try and get the inflammation down. He said if the pain is gone after the three weeks then we'll go to physical therapy. I asked about surgery but I was so dazed and depressed I forgot what he said. My fear is taking time off to heal, time away while doing the PT and finally getting on a tennis court and the same thing happens. Part of me wants to cut my heel open and file the bone down myself and just get it over with.
So that's where I'm at now. Next appointment is November 9th and I'm pretty bummed but I hope this helps some of you experiencing similar symptoms. Listen to your body. Oh and stretch your calves!!!!! I knew this was more than an ankle sprain and I let it linger for too long because I didn't want to come across as a know it all or one of those guys who self diagnoses using Web MD every time they get a sniffle.
