Im not overly observant about certain things, so it took me a long time to realize that people dont have large bumps on the back of their heals. My dad did and I did and my mom didnt. I thought of it like having blue eyes or brown eyes. Being a pre-med student, I have finally decided to research this and have only found one explanation: Haglunds deformity. It shows up on running forums and orthopedic websites a lot, and apparently it is really painful, especially when running, and especially when wearing shoes. People are genetically predisposed to inheriting a foot anatomy that can eventually lead to the formation of this bony protrusion, and generally have very high arches and tight Achilles tendons. (Hello, thats totally me.) The only difference is that it doesnt hurt. At least not anymore. I had growing pains, but who didnt? I was a tough kid and a lot of things other kids thought hurt, I didnt. But my growing pains kept me up at night in tears until my teen years, when I got used to my nighttime lavabone friends. My calf muscles were so tender it hurt to even touch them, and today I have very large calf muscle which make up for my mutantly small ears. So I used to sprint and run around all the time, all day as a kid and went on a lot of hikes, since I grew up in Colorado (which is accredited for being the most active state) and apparently people who run a lot get this deformity which ends up causing them to not be able to run without overcompensating which leads to shin spints, sawblade shins from micro-fractures, and the eventual demise of the integrity of the rest of the skeleton, which might explain why I ended up in physical therapy for hip problems last year. In order to not hurt I had to stretch a lot. I told this to my therapist and he explained that I was way over stretching and damaging myself. It seems that it is considered a painful condition like arthritis, except it can be treated with surgery and many people take antinflammatory pain killers and wear fancy shoes. Basically, the high arches cause the heal to rub against the Achilles tendon in a way that causes constant microtrauma, building up scar tissue which makes the tendon less agile and more painful to use. It doesnt go away and it keeps growing over time, creating more and more problems with biomechanics in general. This could explain how at one time I could run and walk all I wanted, and now when it matters most, when I am in limbo with the army because I cant blaze through the full two miles while my shins are repeatedly smashed with sledgehammers that are on fire. After a good 1 mile run, I am nearly incapacitated for days. This is normal. I just need to learn how to tough it out and work on my wincing... I mean breathing. What happens is that activities, lifestyles, heavy labor and genetics or foot shape, play a role in the development of Haglunds deformity. The equinus (Achilles tendon) rubs against the calcaneus which causes micro injuries to the tendon, which cause a lot of pain. The body responds to the pain by developing a fluid-filled sac called a bursa, between the bone and the tendon. The constant, vigorous rubbing causes the bursa to become inflamed, pushing even more into the shoes. If you look at my old shoes, the first place that wears through is the back of the heal. It has kind of become my signature shoe dip from wear there. My third week in to basic training, I could barely tolerate walking with my boots creating huge blisters and inflammation which felt like trying to walk through a bread slicer. Walking hurt so bad I teared up and looked like the platoon wussy. I have this little massage Ive been doing since I was young, to the back of my heal to help the pain and swelling go away at night. I am hoping that reading more advice from runners with Haglunds deformity will give me some ideas about how to get through a run and eventually pass my PT test.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 09:28:35 +0000