Peroneal tendonitis

http://www.yourrunning.com/forum-peroneal_tendonitis

Q: Has anyone had this injury before? It's what my doctor thinks I've got. Any advice on how to treat it and promote it's healing would be very appreciated. It started hurting about three weeks ago during a long trail run. I've been trying to lay off it ever since, but I ran about two hours last Saturday, because it was feeling better and I'm afraid I may have set it back. I guess it's the bike for me for a while. It's very frustrating.

I also bought some Superfeet insoles for my running shoes. Any experience on whether these help?

baselbutt says:
Are you much in to stretching before or after your runs? I wasn't a big believer in the benefit of delaying my run for 10 minutes while I stood there loosening up and then adding 10 minutes at the end, when I could be upstairs in the shower.. That said, as I "age", I'm slowly becoming a believer in the power of the warm-up and cool-down stretch..

simon says:
Good advice from "one who knows". I will only caution -- do NOT stretch before a run, but rather do a dynamic warm-up, putting your joints (and tendons) through gradually increasing range of motion. Stretch afterwards when you are hot.

You're probably OK to run on it while it is healing, BUT you really risk making it chronic and/or more serious if you continue running on trails. This injury is very similar to a sprained ankle, so every time you put your foot down on uneven terrain, you are risking blowing the whole thing again. You might be better off on the bike -- but also thinking about working out in the pool and also on a X-country ski machine, which will keep your foot straight and kind of rest the tendon.

I'd also recommend getting to a really experienced sports therapist of whatever type you relate to best, as you need an expert assessment of your biomechanics and your shoes to find out what "really" caused this. Have you changed shoes recently, or started training on a different surface? If you have suddenly started over-supinating for whatever reason, this would stress the tendon. And if you don't fix the unberlying cause, it'll be back!

As well as the more traditional treatment options, I always use a stack of anti-inflammatory herbs and enzymes and so on. I also get the area lasered, get myself muscle-tested to make sure the compensations I am am making are not screwing me up -- and get acupuncture; it speeds up healing.