Doc On The Run Podcast

Can my doctor tell if I need peroneal tendon surgery by looking at my ankle?

Today's episode comes from one of the YouTube viewers who was watching a video called "Can I run with a split peroneal tendon?"

I was trying to explain the circumstances when you can run with a split tendon, and when you really shouldn't. 

He wanted to know if his doctor could tell whether or not he needed surgery just by looking at his ankle. 

“The MRI tells me I have a split tear. So, presumably as a tear in the peroneal tendon, but I don't know which one."

Can my doctor tell me if I need surgery on my peroneal tendon just by looking at my ankle? 

Well, that's a great question and that's what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast. 

How big toe position can help sesamoid stress fracture or bipartite sprain

This episode comes from a consultation call on webcam with a runner with a sesamoid stress fracture. 

Interestingly, his doctor wasn't even sure what it was, if it was really a crack in the bone that wasn't healing, or if it was what I call a "sprain" of the bipartite sesamoid. 

Today on the Doc On The Run Podcast we're talking about how big toe positioning can actually help a medial tibial sesamoid stress fracture or bipartite sesamoid disruption. 

Injured 5 weeks out from half marathon. Is there hope?

Today's episode comes from Benda, who was watching a video called "12 steps to healing and running with a metatarsal stress fracture" on the Doc On The Run YouTube channel. 

She asked a question, 

“I'm so confused. I don't have a stress fracture. It was an acute injury. I have a half marathon in early December. Is there hope for me?”

I got injured five weeks out from my half marathon. Is there hope? 

Well, that's what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast. 

What does a fracture walking boot do?

I recently got a comment from Michael on a video on the Doc On The Run YouTube channel which was about how fracture walking boots are one of the worst treatments for an injured runner. 

He posted an interesting comment which is really a valid question. He said, 

“What is the boot for? Is it for protection? Is it for immobilization? Is it to keep weight off?"

What does a fracture walking boot actually do? 

Well, that's what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast. 

Difference between a sesamoid fracture non-union and bi-partite sesamoid sprain

I recently got a great question from someone who was watching one of the videos on sesamoid fractures.

Underneath the big toe joint, you have two little bones called sesamoid bones.
 
Sometimes you can get a fracture or crack in the bone that doesn't heal. Then it turns into what we call a non-union. 

Some people have sesamoids called "bi-partite" sesamoids. It looks like a fractured sesamoid. But its' normal. The two pieces are connected by soft tissue. But that soft tissue connection can become injured or sprained. 
 
What's the difference between a sesamoid fracture non-union and a disrupted bipartite sesamoid sprain? 
 
Well, that's what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.

The #1 question for a runner with a second stress fracture

Stress fractures are the most common overtraining injury I treat in runners. 

If you're a runner with a stress fracture, your first question is probably "When can I run?"

Since the answer is always, "When it is healed enough to withstand running..."

Your second question is likely “What can I do to heal a stress fracture as quickly as possible.” 

But if you heal it, get back to running and then get another stress fracture, a recurrent stress fracture, your number one question should be “why”. 

What is the number one question for a runner with a second stress fracture? 

Well, that's what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast. 

When should I give in and have plantar plate surgery?

If you are a runner struggling with a plantar plate sprain, it is probably going to be extremely frustrating trying to get it to heal so you can get back to running. 

The plantar plate a very small ligament. It does not have a great blood supply. Every time you take a step, you put pressure on the plantar plate. Every time your heel comes up off the ground when you walk, you stretch the plantar plate.

Because it is so difficult to heal, runners typically have frustrating setbacks. 

That state of discouragement makes it pretty easy for a doctor to talk you into plantar plate surgery. 

When should a runner just give up and have plantar plate surgery for a plantar plate sprain? 

Well, that's what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.

Reduce your risk of the #1 most common injury by 35%?

Just last week, I was giving a lecture at the International Foot and Ankle Foundation meeting in Hawaii. The lecture was on Conservative Management of Ankle Sprains in Runners Who Want to Run.

One of the worst things that can happen to a runner with an ankle sprain is that you can lose what we call proprioceptive ability. But that is preventable.

What would you do if I told you, you can reduce your risk of the number one most common musculoskeletal injury by 35%? 

Well, that's what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast. 

 

What do injured runners do that makes as much a sense as picking at a healing skin incision?

In today’s podcast episode we're talking about fracture healing versus skin healing.

This talk comes from a discussion I had at the International Foot and Ankle Foundation meeting in Hawaii where I was recently giving a lecture on Runner's Heel Pain to a whole roomful of doctors. 

A doctor asked me a question about how to get a runner back to running as quickly as possible after injury.
 
What do injured runners do that makes about as much sense as picking at a healing skin incision? 
 
Well, that's what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast. 

 

How much earlier than X-ray can ultrasound prove fracture healing?

If you get a fracture of one of the metatarsal bones in your foot, you are not going to be able to run until it heals. 

But as soon as it's healed, you will want to start running again. 
 
You may have recently seen the episode that I did where I was talking about how ultrasound may show signs of healing sooner than X-rays.
 
How much earlier can ultrasound show healing of a fracture as compared to X-ray? 
 
Well, that's what we're talking about today on the Doc On The Run Podcast.