Using a rower after foot surgery

[Erica H.]

Originally Posted by Vantreesta

Erica, what did you find out about your injury and how did it happen? Seems like I remember you starting a thread about running and pain or swelling?

It's been over two months since the injury started. I don't really know how it happened. I was running a lot (as usual) and developed some soreness so I took a few days off and used NSAIDs. It felt better and I went for a run and was fine. The next day, I ran again and was fine for 2/3 of the run until I suddenly felt intense pain and could barely walk home. Since then I've had swelling and pain. I had an MRI last week, which showed tendinosis and tenosynovitis of the posterior tibialis tendon. I knew about the tendonitis because the symptoms matched perfectly, but not the tenosynovitis. My doctor is having me be more aggressive with conservative treatment but released me from his care and referred me to see a surgeon next if there is no improvement.

It's really complicated...I can continue resting it for months and hope it improves and doesn't reoccur once I resume activity (I've been resting it the entire time) or go straight to surgery, which will require a very long recovery time. Either way, I'm looking at a lot of doing nothing. I really want to avoid surgery but don't want to put it off for months and then end up having it anyway. I'll have the consult with the surgeon if it doesn't improve in a few weeks and see what he says - he might want to continue with nonsurgical treatment for a while or he might say it's a waste of time to wait longer. We have to move my daughter back on campus next month (terrible timing) so I'll be doing a lot of walking then, unfortunately. I am going to see what happens with lots of rest, Aleve, and bracing until then. Hoping for improvement because the tenosynovitis takes a long time to heal on its own and maybe it just needs more time. We'll see...

Erica

[Lori_Michigan]

Gosh, Erica, I'm so sorry you're still dealing with all of this! I *so* wanted it to heal on its own without surgery for you.

I finally got to the point with my torn meniscus that I just couldn't sit around and do nothing anymore. After 4 months of just walking, I was getting nowhere fast. I completely gave it up and I started just doing upper body weight training and some leg stuff by sitting in a chair just to actually feel like I could do something again. After a while I started just doing small leg stuff and icing it every day. I'm finally back to doing weight training again after nearly 5 months. I've completely given up cardio and I'm not even walking that much really since that still aggravates my knee. It's odd that resistance and weight training is the only thing that *doesn't* aggravate it so I'm doing that every few days. I'm still gaining weight every month but that's just my continuing perimenopause saga...

Thinking of you and hoping you can find something that works!

[Vantreesta]

Originally Posted by Erica H.

It's been over two months since the injury started. I don't really know how it happened. I was running a lot (as usual) and developed some soreness so I took a few days off and used NSAIDs. It felt better and I went for a run and was fine. The next day, I ran again and was fine for 2/3 of the run until I suddenly felt intense pain and could barely walk home. Since then I've had swelling and pain. I had an MRI last week, which showed tendinosis and tenosynovitis of the posterior tibialis tendon. I knew about the tendonitis because the symptoms matched perfectly, but not the tenosynovitis. My doctor is having me be more aggressive with conservative treatment but released me from his care and referred me to see a surgeon next if there is no improvement.

It's really complicated...I can continue resting it for months and hope it improves and doesn't reoccur once I resume activity (I've been resting it the entire time) or go straight to surgery, which will require a very long recovery time. Either way, I'm looking at a lot of doing nothing. I really want to avoid surgery but don't want to put it off for months and then end up having it anyway. I'll have the consult with the surgeon if it doesn't improve in a few weeks and see what he says - he might want to continue with nonsurgical treatment for a while or he might say it's a waste of time to wait longer. We have to move my daughter back on campus next month (terrible timing) so I'll be doing a lot of walking then, unfortunately. I am going to see what happens with lots of rest, Aleve, and bracing until then. Hoping for improvement because the tenosynovitis takes a long time to heal on its own and maybe it just needs more time. We'll see...

Erica

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. I had de Quervain's tenosynovitis in my thumb that went away when I stopped holding my phone the way I had been (roll eyes).

I don't mean to nitpick or be argumentative, but you said you have been spinning and you suspect that isn't good for your foot but you also said you have been resting it this whole time. That to me sounds like spinning is not really resting it. Just my opinion, I don't know your full situation but I do understand the many reasons for needing to exercise. I know my mental health takes a bit of a hit when I can't run for whatever reason too. I hope you find the best course of action and solution for your circumstances!

[Erica H.]

Originally Posted by Vantreesta

I don't mean to nitpick or be argumentative, but you said you have been spinning and you suspect that isn't good for your foot but you also said you have been resting it this whole time. That to me sounds like spinning is not really resting it. Just my opinion, I don't know your full situation but I do understand the many reasons for needing to exercise. I know my mental health takes a bit of a hit when I can't run for whatever reason too. I hope you find the best course of action and solution for your circumstances!

I appreciate your post! You're right that I haven't been completely resting it if I'm using my spin bike. I guess what I meant is that I'm not running anymore, not walking (I used to walk with DH anymore), and spend much of my day sitting and elevating. My doctor knew I was using my bike and was fine with it, but I have to admit that most doctors I've seen haven't been knowledgeable about fitness. A good workout helps me so much mentally - I really don't know how I would/will handle not being able to do that.

I did use my brace today on the spin bike and it seemed to make a big difference.

Lori - We've both been though an awful lot and keep going without giving up. That's something to be proud of.

Erica

[Lori_Michigan]

Originally Posted by Erica H.

Lori - We've both been though an awful lot and keep going without giving up. That's something to be proud of.

Erica

High fives, that makes my day! We are not quitters! I have the utmost confidence that you'll find *something* that works!

[Vantreesta]

Erica, I'm glad the brace helped for your spin today. I agree with you about doctors not always being knowledgeable about fitness. When I tore my hamstring tendon and a bunch of stuff in my hip my doctor at the time said it's okay to go running, just don't do anything that hurts. Huh?? I wondered if she had ever run at all! EVERYthing hurt during those first months. Because I can't do anything halfway, even after the pain lessened some I still couldn't workout at all bc if I was doing upper body the next thing I knew I would be stretching or jumping or doing lower body work so about all I did for 10 months was PT and dog walks, but I kept eating like I always had so I gained 15 lbs. I'm still trying to lose that 15 lbs.

[Erica H.]

Originally Posted by Vantreesta

Erica, I'm glad the brace helped for your spin today. I agree with you about doctors not always being knowledgeable about fitness. When I tore my hamstring tendon and a bunch of stuff in my hip my doctor at the time said it's okay to go running, just don't do anything that hurts. Huh?? I wondered if she had ever run at all! EVERYthing hurt during those first months. Because I can't do anything halfway, even after the pain lessened some I still couldn't workout at all bc if I was doing upper body the next thing I knew I would be stretching or jumping or doing lower body work so about all I did for 10 months was PT and dog walks, but I kept eating like I always had so I gained 15 lbs. I'm still trying to lose that 15 lbs.

I've had similar experiences with doctors and fitness advice, which is why I always do research and come here to VF and other fitness sites to help make a decision on what is safe to do.

And the gaining weight is a HUGE fear of mine. Not so much about the number on the scale, but the fear of growing out of my clothes. I just can't afford a whole new wardrobe and I already feel like such a financial burden to DH after years of health issues that I'd feel terribly guilty if I needed new clothes. I gained a lot of weight when I broke my ankle many years ago and it took a year to heal - I got very depressed and sat around all day soothing myself with food. Sorry about your weight gain - it just makes a hard situation even more difficult!

Erica

[Vantreesta]

Do you have any hobbies you can do instead of eating? I enjoy crocheting and when I am in the zone it helps me not eat so much mindlessly.

Thankfully I was not needing to lose any weight when I added the 15 lbs so it hasn't really posed any real health concerns for me, it's just not where I would like to be. Or rather, the soft roundness is not where I want to be! The weight would be okay if it was all muscle!

[Erica H.]

Originally Posted by Vantreesta

Do you have any hobbies you can do instead of eating? I enjoy crocheting and when I am in the zone it helps me not eat so much mindlessly.

Thankfully I was not needing to lose any weight when I added the 15 lbs so it hasn't really posed any real health concerns for me, it's just not where I would like to be. Or rather, the soft roundness is not where I want to be! The weight would be okay if it was all muscle!

I've heard that crafts help a lot with mindless snacking since your hands are busy, but I don't like crafts and am not good at them either.

I'm the same with the weight - right now my weight is fine and I don't have health concerns, but I work SO hard for where I am physically and hate to lose it. But I struggle with eating/exercise disorders so I am all over the place mentally and physically with any change in routine. I have no idea how to eat or exercise in a healthy way with a healthy mindset. I've been everywhere from underweight to obese. Whenever we travel or it's the holidays and my routine is messed up, I totally lose it and gain a bunch of weight (this will happen soon when we go on a long roadtrip to bring dd to college). It's only when I'm home and have control over my exercise and eating that I can maintain my weight and my sanity!

Erica

[Vantreesta]

Erica, you don't have to answer this and please know I mean it from a place of concern, but sometimes therapy can help with these issues. It's just a thought. Therapy helped me some with generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. But I also understand that there are financial considerations depending on your insurance coverage.

A non-craft hobby idea might be jigsaw puzzles if that would interest you.