I really overdid it yesterday — I took a powerful dose of ibuprofen so I could walk around in the wilderness, and it worked. I was walking around in rough terrain, rather gingerly I’ll admit, and then I got home and a little later the drugs wore off and now…holy crap, I was so stupid. I’ve spent the day doing nothing but lying back and moaning.
It’s been a day of drugs and ice. I’m hoping I’ll be able to go in to work tomorrow, but the rational side of my brain is telling me not to be stupid again, to call the doctor in the morning, and stay off my damned pathetic ankle.
This is not good, since I’m flying off to visit the family in the Pacific Northwest on Friday, and at this rate I’ll be doing it from a wheelchair.
Did I mention I was an idiot?
“Did I mention I was an idiot?” No need. Goes without saying…
Taking painkillers to let you do something your body is desperately trying not to do? No, no, no, no etc.
Yeah, I actually said we were idiots.
The most recent was, going shopping.
Now, I know where food is.
Notable, due to food desert
Well, you’re no spring chicken anymore, PZ.
“A man’s got to know his limitations” — Dirty Harry.
Anyway, sympathy. Pain is painful.
I suspect it makes it worse that you knew better, so call the doctor, your’e more likely to make the Pacific Northwest without a wheelchair if you do and you’ll have nothing more to berate yourself about. Sympathy for the pain!
Get a steroid injection in that heel before you go away.
Oh boy,
I know what you’re going through as I’ve suffered the same ailment myself. My podiatrist said that some of us are just unlucky when it comes to long bone spurs.
It took about two years for my last episode to resolve itself. I hope you have better luck. Changing shoes frequently was one help.
I have not had that particular ailment, but I have suffered fractures so I can almost understand the amount of pain. Almost, because memory blissfully erases most of it. Otherwise women would probably not want a second child.
I can understand why people used oxycotin.
I feel you, PZ. A few weeks ago at the Oregon Country Fair, I tore a ligament in my SI joint while crawling around in the rafters of my booth, and then proceeded to limp around on it, aggravating the injury further with each step for a week. It’s getting better, but I was immobile for a week, and I’m still walking with a cane. I’m going to see if I can be marginally functional tomorrow, but I’ll be surprised if I can get 4 hours of work in before I’m done.
Oh, I’m so sorry, PZ.
Did I tell you that I’m closer than ever to your stomping grounds?
Not far from Bellingham right now.
in December 2020 I suffered a weird multipart fall that cost me 2 broken ankles. It was ugly. Took me a long time to recover, and I still experience pain in the ankles to this day. I’ve taken ibuprofen many times but recently my primary care said my kidney function was down some, so I’ve had to stop. The only alternative at this time is paracetamol/acetaminophen, which I have to only take in limited quantities per day due to not wanting to burn my liver. So, I know in my own way what you’re dealing with. If I may offer a small bit of advice, I would suggest elevating and if possible adding some compression via ace bandage, to help alleviate the inflammation and pain a bit. Hope it gets better soon.
Gout in both feet flared up on the first day of an overseas holiday. I spent visiting place in a wheelchair. Fortunately the drugs kicked in and I was fine for the rest of the trip. Except walking around a desert I 50+degC heat resulted in an afternoon in a clinic on a drip to rehydrate.
I’ve always had a problem with those ads for painkillers where they are promoted as a means of suppressing pain so you can go about your daily business as if nothing was wrong. Pain is an indication that something is wrong. Turning off the alarm doesn’t address whatever caused it to go off in the first place.
Nah, you’re not an idiot. You have the same problem I do-I refuse to admit I’m not a teenager anymore. (pushing 70)
The steroid injection is the best solution as 5 Stuffin advises.
#9: I’ll be in Auburn and Lacey for a few days, starting Friday! If my heel doesn’t fall off.
Going in to the doctor in a few minutes, hoping she can work magic.
Learning the difference between “pain you can push through” and “pain you should listen to RIGHT NOW” is a lifelong challenge. Not least because things move from the first category to the second as we get older.
@ #5, #14: Aren’t steroid injections mostly for inflammation? I think if you have sharp pointy things shredding your tendon surgery would be a better solution.
I always travel with a wheelchair. It helps a lot. I own one, so it goes right up to the plane, is taken down to cargo and then brought up to me as we disembark. It’s great for touring at our destination, too.
Is Mary up for pushing you around? I hope she isn’t as wild and crazy as my “driver”.
He once nearly dumped me on a steep hill in San Francisco’s China Town!
Don’t jump at the steroid injections! There is one good reason to do them: the inflammation will settle rapidly. If the pain is severe (only you can decide this), then it might be worth it to shave some time off recovery and get back on your feet. However, steroid injections do not make any difference long-term, if repeated they increase the risk of localised osteoporosis, and particularly with tendon injuries, there is a small but serious risk of tendon rupture. (A few years ago, I had a steroid injection for bursitis knowing that it would make no difference long term but I didn’t want to wait a week to be able to walk.)
Again, you need specific advice from your doctor and physio, but the basic treatment plan is likely to be: simple analgesia, rest and elevation until you can walk again, then a graded exercise program with physio input to aid recovery and prevent recurrence. If you want to be able to spend a day in a nature reserve in future, then train up for it over time and get really good hiking shoes even if it means seeing a podiatrist and paying through the nose for the shoes. Most other interventions, from steroid injections to platelet-rich plasma have a very poor evidence base, which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try them.
My father had burr hole surgery for a bone spur. He ended up fine, thank you.
That said, I had an Achilles tendon injury years ago, took years to get better, totally unfun, double plus ungood.
Given that experience, I’d go for a radical craniotomy instead.
So yeah, the surgery sounds like it’s optimal, it beats being headless or in agony.
But then, I do have a bias, I am a chronic pain patient.