Posts Tagged ‘sore ankles’

Try This! A Cross Friction Rub to Help Healing 4/3/2016

Posted by in Try This! on April 7th, 2016

While going back through my posts, I found this tip hidden in the text: a cross friction rub.

The cross friction rub is a wonderful tip that was given to me by my first Seattle Physical Therapist, Travis Orth. The cross friction rub is done by applying friction perpendicular to the tissue that is in pain for approximately 1-2 minutes. Only apply enough pressure to feel like you are applying friction across the area as the tissue will likely be tender to the touch. The purpose of the friction is to help to increase healing in a tendon/ligament, particularly one that is inflamed and has been diagnosed with tendonitis.

After the cross friction rub, it is a good idea to ice the area. When using ice on your body, you may rub a cube of ice over the area: never stop moving the ice and stop after 2 minutes or when the area becomes numb. Or take a bag of ice covered with a towel and apply it to the area for 15 min being sure to check your skin. Ice can burn your skin – especially the ice packs. Regular ice has less of a chance of burning your skin because it melts on contact, but ice packs are more likely to cause skin burns because the chemicals inside the pack do not melt. As long as you keep this in mind and move the ice or ice pack regularly, the chance of ice burn is relatively low.

In my case, I have worked on my Posterior Tibial Tendons on my right and left ankles. After a run that has left my PTTs slightly inflamed (most runs, actually), I give myself a cross friction rub because it always makes the tendons feel so much better.  I do not usually ice my PTT because the ankles have less circulation and another physical therapist, Brian Crosier, recommended that I try allowing the feet and ankles to go through the normal inflammation cycle. I find that it is the same with or without ice in that area.

Note: This method does not work on all tendons/ligaments. For example, the Illiotibial Band (or IT Band) that has been diagnosed as having tendonitis, does not usually respond to the cross friction rub, although it probably won’t hurt you to try it. In addition, if you have bursitis and are trying to “work it out” by massage or cross friction rub, most likely it will only get worse as bursitis is an irritation of a bursa (a small fluid filled sack that provides cushioning around bones and ligaments). Massaging an inflamed bursa will only make it more inflamed. So, if you want to be sure you are on a ligament or tendon, check the location of the pain to look for a possible bursa (in joints of shoulder, hips, knees and elbows). This website has great illustrations: Bursitis – Mayo Clinic.

 

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Run 4 – The big run! Saturday, February 27, 2010

Posted by in Training (running, cycling, etc.) on February 28th, 2010

Having had such success the first week with running 1.5 miles, I decided to up the ante and run 2.0 miles on Saturday. We took several friends to the 3 mile gravel loop. I ran my two miles with relative ease. As a matter of fact, I marveled at how easy it was for me to feel when I sped up and slowed down. I enjoyed the varying textures under of my feet of the uneven spread of the gravel. It was an elating time for me. I found my friends, and joined them for a walk/jog of the last mile of the loop.

I was noticing that my ankles were getting tired – specifically, the left ankle was feeling sore already. However, my leg muscles and lungs were feeling so good that I decided to do a .5 mile sprint/jog with my friends. I felt really good after that, but my feet were definitely done with exercising that day.

This morning, I woke up and almost fell when my left foot touched the ground. It is seriously hurting. However, my right foot is barely sore! Eureka! My right foot is coming around.

However, the left foot is going to need more support during this transition period, and boy did I over do it on Saturday.

I started to look up information on running barefoot beginning with the Vibramâ„¢ Five Fingers website. That is where I discovered that it can take up to one year to adjust to the barefoot style – especially when you pronate, and probably most especially when your foot pronates as badly as my left foot.

I also looked up the anatomy of the foot to see if I could figure out what the muscle or tendon that was hurting in my left foot was called. Turns out I have injured my posterior tibial tendon, and, of course, it could turn into tendonitis if I do not lay off and let it heal. I certainly am not interested in having anymore tendonitis.

As for the purpose of the posterior tibial tendon, it is apparently one of the main supports for the arch. When it is not functioning correctly, the arch will fall. Hmmm….that sounds familiar. I think that I need to somehow help that tendon help my arch. Can you strengthen a tendon?

I further investigated the two types of running (ChiRunningâ„¢ and Pose Runningâ„¢) that Vibramâ„¢ refers to on their website to see if I could glean any insight as to how to train myself to avoid true long-term injury. Turns out you have to buy their books, and I’m not into that this week. I’ll let you know when I get there. I did find the ChiRunningâ„¢ at the Seattle Public Library with 32 holds on the book. I think I’ll just buy it if I want to read it.

What next?

I am going to ice my ankle each day. I have scheduled my run with my friend on Monday at the 3 mile gravel loop. I do not want to miss it. So, my plan is to see how my ankle feels in the morning. I think I will run/walk around the loop and wear my super stiff running shoes with orthotics if the ankle is super painful or my Five Fingersâ„¢ if it is feeling better.

I do not want to seriously injure myself this early in the game, but I also do not want to lose my momentum. What a fine line to walk.

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Run 2 – Monday, February 22, 2010

Posted by in Training (running, cycling, etc.) on February 28th, 2010

On Monday, a friend of mine and I headed back down the 3 mile loop with the fantastic gravel path. She, not being an avid runner, set our pace, and I, having some lingering soreness in my ankles, was happy to follow her. We did a run/walk through the 3 mile loop, and I felt so good toward the end that I did a little sprint for kicks.

The fact that I am doing sprints for fun is a really weird thing because I, just last year, refused to sprint when my husband told me that sprinting would help me get faster in my distance running. Ha! I’ll show that me from last year!

Anyway, this run felt much better. I think it was the walking in between. My ankles were still sore, and I still walked funny the next day. However, the pain was diminished. I felt the way you feel when you start to lift weights and each successive day the soreness in your muscles decreases. However, the main pain was more acute and located on the inside of my foot wrapping just under the inner ankle bone.

Two days later, I felt good to go again.

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