Tendonitis in foot - anyone else had tendonitis while pg?

[philbee]

It's driving me mad. Came on about five weeks ago (I'm 10 wks now) and got steadily worse. Hurts across the top of the foot, where the toes join the foot. I was convinced it was a stress fracture, but have had it x-rayed and apparently not. Am advised to rest, ice it, take copious paracetamol (which I'm not going to do) etc. and perhaps it will get better in 4-6 weeks, ugh. I can't really walk anywhere and am not meant to anyway. Until today I thought maybe it was coincidental, but have googled and think it is exacerbated by hormonal changes of being pg.

Has anyone else had this, in your foot or elsewhere? What did you do? Was there anything that helped? I hate being incapacitated like this!

Yes, I've had tendonitis both in the achilles and in the lateral tendons of the foot. It is very painful, and does feel like a stress fracture, especially when a tendon flicks off line and clicks.

First of all you need to keep your foot moving, but not weight bearing. Stretch your foot gently in all directions, especially across the painful area. Keeping it rigid will make the problem much worse as the tendons will thicken and seize up.

Second you really do need to see a sports physio. Ask your GP for a referral. If you can't get this on the NHS it is worth saving for some private sessions. The physio will use a combination of ultrasound and manipulation.

Pregnancy hormones make tendons looser so it is very important to warm up carefully and avoid over stretching when taking exercise as you have a greater injury risk.

It took 4-6 weeks for mine to completely recover, but I had a very marked improvement after just a few physio sessions.

Thank you, that's very useful. I have found stretching it helpful, after keeping it immobile seemed to be making it worse. I saw the GP today and asked for a physio referral as NHS direct said the same as you about ultrasound. He refused and said they wouldn't be able to do anything. Ill have to go back and see someone else. Am already waiting for a physio appt for PGP so will mention it then. And I do know of a few private ones locally so will give them a call. Thank you again. It's very frustrating being fobbed off when you know what you need to happen!

He refused??? He's got some agenda there.... do GPs get a charge for referrals or something? You def need physio, of course it will help. The NHS is a bloody disgrace, and I have had to go private for every single tiny thing to get a diagnosis and I am still fuming at the GP who told me when I was having a bleed at 8 weeks to 'buy some strong pain killers and wait to miscarry'. Evil witch. Grrrr

He's a pretty old school doctor, blunt, no bedside manner. But it's a very big practice and I've never had a problem with any of the others. Will go back tomorrow and ask again, and apparently the physio dept will see me quicker because I'm pg so shouldn't be too long. Tbh I've rarely had problems with the NHS but I think you do have to do quite a lot of chasing and demanding! Thanks again for the advice.

A stress fracture mightn't show up just yet - they can take 6 -8 weeks to show up on an x-ray. Though, assuming that your nutrition and general health is reasonably normal, and assuming that you've not been increasing your weightbearing activity (running/aerobics/spending all day in heels) it's probably unlikely.

There is probably not a huge benefit in getting an ultrasound scan. It may well come up normal, and in any case if it does show up tendinitis this won't change the diagnosis, and it probably won't change the treatment. An ultrasound scan would be a good thing to push for if self treatment and/or physio prove to be unhelpful and you therefore need the diagnosis confirmed.

The advise on stretching and moving it is sensible. Tendonitis also responds well to massage and warmth (so long as it's not an acute injury, which at 5 weeks yours is not) as it gets the blood flowing and helps with healing and getting rid of the rubbish/scar tissue.

Physio can help, or a podiatrist with an interest in sports/musculoskeletal stuff.

Definitely tendinitis and other soft tissue injuries are very common in the feet in pregnancy (I'm a podiatrist, I see it all the time). Oh, and my feet have gone through bad spells too so I feel your pain!