Visit to the Doctor

I went to see Dr Foreman today at Carolina Family Practice and Sports Medicine to discuss my shin, calf and knee pains that have been preventing me from running. We spent a few minutes discussing the pain, when it started and when it disappears and reappears.

Dr Foreman had me remove my shoes and socks and said "ah, as I expected" with a little smile. He then had me sit on the examination bed and he performed some stability tests on my knee to check for ligament damage and was happy to report that there was none. He gently prodded the area that the pain typically appears in with his fingers and checked some points on my knee and high shin with a metal tool that apparently would have been painful if a stress fracture was present - which wasn't painful at all.

Dr Foreman took a look at my shoes, which happen to be a pair of old running shoes that I now use as day-to-day shoes. He commented that the wear pattern is uniform, suggesting that I have a good running gait. He then explained that as I have an (extremely) high arch and the start of bone build up on the top of my foot, I am prone to stress fractures and knee problems as the result of running and it is only my good running mechanics that have prevented them until now. This is because I lack the normal shock-absorbing characteristics of other runners who have lower aches and because at my age, male runners feet typically lose flexibility anyway. However, this doesn't mean that I shouldn't run again!

Dr Foreman recommended that I get custom orthotics made that are molded to fit my feet perfectly and provide support to my arches. He also recommended that I continue to cross-train, even when I return to running. He mentioned that he treats lots of runners and lots of triathletes, and it is the triathletes that experience fewer injuries as they don't perform the same exercise, with the same stress on the body day after day. I had already planned on continuing to cycle and swim at least once a week anyway, so cross-training shouldn't be a problem.

I am scheduled to take my feet and my running shoes to see Dr Foreman next Friday (Sept 10th) to have my orthotics made - a process that lasts an hour or so. He also said that I should be able to add cycling back in to my routine immediately, but to avoid running until I have the new orthotics in my shoes.