Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction (PTTD) 2+, fellow sufferers hope me?
November 13, 2014 10:04 AM Subscribe
It's ruining my social life, my self image, my body, my psyche, my job.
This problem isn't going to go away, diagnosed 6 years ago, and (medically speaking) only promises to get worse. I have had surgery, and wear a foot/ankle brace at all times. This makes it near impossible to find any even remotely fashionable shoes (size 11-12, 3-5 E, depending on the shoe, must fit around the hinge at the ankle, must be double depth.) Skirts just don't look good with hiking boots, but it's about all that I can wear without screaming daily pain. 2 hours at a museum, even with frequent sitting incapacitates me the next day. I can't hike anymore, which was the way I used to deal with both stress and much needed exercise. I'm more overweight than ever before. Added bonus: I have a job I love, which I may not be able to continue at due to it's physicality, and don't really have any other marketable skills. I'm a mimimum 10 years from retiring, likely far more if I can't stay at this job.
Yes, I've gotten a recumbent bicycle for exercise. Yes I am perfectly willing to say fukitol and wear the skirts anyway, most of the time. Yes I know other people have it worse. And yes, I am going to discuss further options with my podiatrist (today, even.)
How do you deal with physical limitations and daily pain?
Has anyone gotten custom/bespoke shoes, and was it worth it?
Does anyone who wears a non concealable orthotic device have novel ways to conceal or make them look better?
Just looking for a bit of a pep talk, and any and all advice, as I'm pretty depressed by this whole situation.
This problem isn't going to go away, diagnosed 6 years ago, and (medically speaking) only promises to get worse. I have had surgery, and wear a foot/ankle brace at all times. This makes it near impossible to find any even remotely fashionable shoes (size 11-12, 3-5 E, depending on the shoe, must fit around the hinge at the ankle, must be double depth.) Skirts just don't look good with hiking boots, but it's about all that I can wear without screaming daily pain. 2 hours at a museum, even with frequent sitting incapacitates me the next day. I can't hike anymore, which was the way I used to deal with both stress and much needed exercise. I'm more overweight than ever before. Added bonus: I have a job I love, which I may not be able to continue at due to it's physicality, and don't really have any other marketable skills. I'm a mimimum 10 years from retiring, likely far more if I can't stay at this job.
Yes, I've gotten a recumbent bicycle for exercise. Yes I am perfectly willing to say fukitol and wear the skirts anyway, most of the time. Yes I know other people have it worse. And yes, I am going to discuss further options with my podiatrist (today, even.)
How do you deal with physical limitations and daily pain?
Has anyone gotten custom/bespoke shoes, and was it worth it?
Does anyone who wears a non concealable orthotic device have novel ways to conceal or make them look better?
Just looking for a bit of a pep talk, and any and all advice, as I'm pretty depressed by this whole situation.
I'm not a fashion guru but I've seen women look fantastic in skirts and boots -- but admittedly as part of a sort of punky, maybe slightly 90s-ish, grunge/rocker kind of a look. I mean, I'm not saying you have to adopt that look wholesale, but maybe some sort of army-ish boots, or just long heavy ones, with some layers -- 2 skirts/dress-over-skirt/skirt-over-leggings or jeans.. with some kind of jacket/shirt over t-shirt? I don't know if that kind of aesthetic is something that could work with your climate/milieu, and it's not necessarily a solution for work, but it might help balance things out enough to really wear the footwear you need.
posted by Drexen at 10:46 AM on November 13, 2014
posted by Drexen at 10:46 AM on November 13, 2014
I know it's the standard AskMe response, but you should look into therapy. I have a chronic pain issue and therapy has helped me deal with the psychological issues surrounding the pain.
posted by radioamy at 2:15 PM on November 13, 2014
posted by radioamy at 2:15 PM on November 13, 2014
I've been very frustrated by doctors' lack of abilities to solve physically-caused pain - medical school is about diseases, and for whatever reason detecting and correcting musculoskeletal problems is a particular weakness of the field. I walked around on a torn knee ligament for 3 months because the pain wasn't specific enough to point out exactly what was wrong and the doctors couldn't be bothered to really investigate despite me complaining over and over again.
As soon as I got into physical therapy, the therapist was like "oh yeah this is the problem, let me show you how I know, and here's what we're going to do about it". He also pointed out another problem with my hip that was making the knee problems worse that the doctors didn't pick up on at all. PT was very effective and greatly increased my mobility and decreased the pain within a couple of months, letting me avoid a complicated and difficult surgery. If PT is an option for you, I highly recommend it - even if it does not increase your mobility, it may very well decrease your day to day pain levels.
In another instance, a friend was recently having extreme knee pain, to the point where she couldn't even walk up stairs properly, she had to take them one at a time. The doctors told her that her knee was misaligned, shrugged, and told her to take ibuprofen. She went to a physical therapist who immediately pointed out that her knee was misaligned because she had tight muscles around her knees that were pulling the kneecaps out of place. They prescribed a foam rolling regimen, and the pain relief was instant.
It's really worth your time to get a PT referral.
posted by zug at 2:34 PM on November 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
As soon as I got into physical therapy, the therapist was like "oh yeah this is the problem, let me show you how I know, and here's what we're going to do about it". He also pointed out another problem with my hip that was making the knee problems worse that the doctors didn't pick up on at all. PT was very effective and greatly increased my mobility and decreased the pain within a couple of months, letting me avoid a complicated and difficult surgery. If PT is an option for you, I highly recommend it - even if it does not increase your mobility, it may very well decrease your day to day pain levels.
In another instance, a friend was recently having extreme knee pain, to the point where she couldn't even walk up stairs properly, she had to take them one at a time. The doctors told her that her knee was misaligned, shrugged, and told her to take ibuprofen. She went to a physical therapist who immediately pointed out that her knee was misaligned because she had tight muscles around her knees that were pulling the kneecaps out of place. They prescribed a foam rolling regimen, and the pain relief was instant.
It's really worth your time to get a PT referral.
posted by zug at 2:34 PM on November 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
PT here, definitely get a referral to someone who can assess your strength and functional movement. I struggled with PTTD myself for about 2 years. What helped? 3 times a week pool exercises including deep water jogging/walking, good shoes, icing, Zyflamend and going to PT myself. If you can lose weight that will help but it is a real challenge when you can't exercise. Also, maybe check out Zappos for shoes- you can search by size and may be able to find something cool.
posted by bookrach at 3:12 PM on November 13, 2014
posted by bookrach at 3:12 PM on November 13, 2014
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The best thing I've done is work heavily with doctors and physical therapists to figure out exactly what I can do physically within my limitations and what can help the pain. I exercise a lot, in the ways that I can (which, I'll grant you, took a lot of years to learn, and is going super well right now), and while it does help my pain mostly it just makes me feel better. Being stronger and having more cardio endurance is fantastic for my self-image, even when standing hurts.
When there have been periods where I've had to wear obvious braces or whatnot, I've done my best to just wear them with pride and not be ashamed about what my body needs, even if my outfits have ended up being... less than stylish. That's way, way easier said than done, trust me, I know, and mostly it just took time to get there, but I like myself quite a lot, and I've learned to believe my body when it tells me something, and just do it day by day. You can get there too, just trust yourself and your body and take it day by day.
posted by brainmouse at 10:19 AM on November 13, 2014 [2 favorites]