Tibial tendonitis (ankle)

It needs a long time, my husband is still dealing with that pain over 3 months now.
What helped the most was stretching his back legs and using ice.
He froze a bottle of water and rolls his foot and angle over it.
He uses these kind of steps to stand on them as often as he can.
Hope this helps a little. Good luck.

Thank you @rainerhans. Does he seem to experience more pain if he over does it? I have horses that I have to feed and the ground is uneven between the house and the barn. I'm wondering if the uneven ground is causing more pain.
Thanks again.
B

Hi, I have had posterior tibial tendonitis in both feet.
Believe me I understand how painful it is. I was never able to get any relief from physical therapy. I cannot take NSAIDS Because of a prior heart condition.
I Had surgery on both my ankles separately over the years. The basic gist is that you have your surgery and you keep weight off that foot For 6 weeks. Totally.

It's very exhausting, but well worth it in the end..

Good luck and God bless

Thank you @christine5 .

Uneven ground is not helpful to recover and overdoing not either, it increases pain immediately.
You got to rest more maybe and get some help for your horses.

@bhb30602 Hi Barret. I’ve been through a difficult recovery after a bad ankle fracture that included a high ankle sprain with compound fracture of the fibula, and fracture of the tibia. An injury like that also includes spraining tendons and ligaments when you roll the ankle and break it. Since then, about a year later, I was taking care of horses outside and the uneven ground full of hoof prints was a killer. I would try to walk without flexing the ankle, wear a brace and work boots and even did the chores once with my air cast boot. It would put me on so much pain after a half hour that I would need to stay off my feet the rest of the week. The problem when you compensate is that muscles get tight which exerts too much pressure on an injured side. The injured side needs to heal initially immobilized, but later when functional, the stronger muscles are going to overpower it and keep stressing it. What helps is to even the tension between the strong side of the leg and the weaker side. I learned a lot of myofascial stretching from my physical therapist and when I started working on the tight painful spots, I could walk pain free. I had scar tissue adhered to the shin bone from an external fixation cage that had been attached right after the injury before fixation surgery was done. That gets tight along with the other surgical scars and it would cause my foot to collapse in pain when I was stepping off of it. I was able to fix that with my MFR stretching and I continue to do that as needed. I was even able to hike about 3 miles in the mountains which wasn’t possible until I figured out how to even out the tension in the ligaments and tendons around my ankle. I’m 4.5 years post injury now. I also need to stretch and mash out tension on the calves and thigh and make sure my pelvis is aligned properly because mine can shift. I have been able to walk on uneven ground without reinjuring the sprains. If you search for “myofascial release” you can find my discussion about it in the Neuropathy group when you can learn a lot more. There is a MFR provider search at MFRtherapists.com.

@bhb30602 Barrett, another point I forgot to mention is if you are wearing an air cast boot, wear another hiking boot or something so you can have your legs at the same height. If you don’t, it causes extra stress on your other ankle, and that is how my husband partially tore his Achilles tendon. He started with a stress fracture in one foot, and that boot caused the tendon tear in the other.

Thanks for the info Jennifer. I'm sorry you had to go through so much pain but your journey gives me hope that I can return to normal activity and exercise at some point.
I'm off the boots (mercifully) but they did a real number on my knees. The tendons in R ankle hardly give me any pain but I'm wearing an ankle brace at the moment. My R knee is a different story - so much pain. My Dr tells me the tendons in ankle, heel, calf are the culprit so I'll ask about returning to PT so I can work that out.

Jennifer is so right - when one part of the body is out of alignment - due to a boot, a brace, a sprain or a congenital anomaly, everything suffers.

For years I was treated for back and knee pain - and nothing helped - not exercise, PT, meds, injections... Finally, as a long shot, my primary ordered hip x-rays - at 54 I had "the hips of an 85 year-old" according to the orthopedic surgeon. Bilateral hip replacement followed - and a little later PT to retrain my body how to walk - 19 years later I'm still dancing and hiking with my grandkids. My knees are wearing, and my spine is arthritic, but wow the relief.

PT from what I call a "Real Therapist", not a cookie-cutter place, keeps me mobile and controls my pain. Without it, I would be a couch potato.
Sue

@bhb30602 Your therapist should also look at your pelvic alignment. Everything needs to be aligned properly or it causes wear and tear on adjacent joints and that may lead to joint replacements later on. If you feel pain in your knee, check the alignment of pelvis and ankles with your therapist. If the pelvis is off, it is like one of your legs is longer. I wondered what to do after the ankle brace. Wearing it helped if tendons were painful, but it didn’t allow movement that was needed to strengthen my ankle. I bought high top shoes with good support and I have custom orthotics in them from my podiatrist. This helps because you have equal support for both ankles, you can have range of motion, and support your ankle. I found great shoes at catfootwear.com. I think it is the Intruder Mid range model. The Invader model is similar, but normal height .I also have used the iso ankle brace inside a work boot. To be around horses, I get them with composite toe protection and waterproof. CAT has those too. They are manufactured by Wolverine and you can buy similar things from them online. With cold weather, the composite toe does not transfer cold to your feet.