X-Rays of Ankle Bone Spurs
After experiencing pain in my ankles for over three months, I sought medical advice from foot and ankle specialist Dr. Amol Saxeena at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. The pain had persisted ever since running my last marathon in early October. Although I sprained my left ankle midway through the marathon, I was experiencing pain in both ankles with the right hurting more than the injured left ankle. It's unclear if running with the sprain had a direct effect upon my current condition, but in retrospect, it was probably unwise that I continued running. In my defense however, at the time, my emotions took over and I felt I needed to finish the marathon after weeks of training especially since the run was going so well up to that point. Dr. Saxeena took these x-rays of my right ankle and observed bone spur growths on the top and medial areas as documented in first and third photos (I added the "bone spur" pointers). He offered arthroscopic surgery to remove the bone spurs as an option, but suggested that I try taping my ankles to support them during high-impact activities like running. The taping method he recommended is called Kinesio taping, and I have used it with some success. I'm hoping that the pain will eventually subside and that I can get back to running.
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I've been using the Kinesio taping method off and on for about a month now. Due to recent weather conditions and other commitments, I haven't been able to fully test the effectiveness of the taping. Road running seems to cause more pain than trail-running, so at least I can still make occasional trips to my beloved Mission Peak. :-) The risk of continued running without removing the bone spurs is developing osteoarthritis or the bone spurs breaking off, damaging the surrounding cartilage.
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