Injury update - my new doctor!

I met yesterday with Dr. Chin from The Running Institute, recommended by my coach, Jenny Hadfield (who also happens to be a writer for Runner's World magazine, so she knows what she's talking about).

I'm so happy I went there! The first podiatrist I saw, back in July, gave me about 5 minutes of his time, told me to buy inserts, and that was that. In contrast, my visit to Dr. Chin involved an extensive history so they could understand the likely causes of my injury. My foot was then thoroughly examined by hand. Then he did an ultrasound and was able to see that I didn't have plantar fasciitis at all, but a muscle contusion. My plantar fascia tendon was not inflamed, but normal size. But there was a knot of muscle that should not be knotted when I flex my foot, and we could see it on the ultrasound as I flexed my foot. Very cool! I forgot to ask if it was going to be a boy or a girl, though.

Then Dr. Chin taped the arch of my foot with this super-sticky athletic take, Leukotape, that would help spread the impact of my foot across the whole arch as it struck the ground. Then he had me run on a treadmill and filmed it, so we could watch my gait in slow motion. We could see how my foot hit the ground and what my shoes were doing to/for my feet.

As it turns out, Fleet Feet didn't give me the right kind of shoes for my feet, which surprises me, given their supposed expertise. They'd given me stability shoes, when Dr. Chin said a neutral shoe would be best. My previous shoes were apparently giving me too much support in my arch. Thankfully the new pair of shoes I bought are still within the 30-day window, so I can return them. Then when my foot is healed, I can get the right kind of shoe for me. He gave me a list of shoes specifically for me.

My healing regime is three-fold. 1) Tape my foot up every day like he showed me. 2) Massage my foot, especially the heel, to work out that knot. 3) Stretch out my calves, which are apparently fairly tight. I now have a sort of rocking chair cradle for my foot that I stand on that helps me stretch out my calves, one at a time. I'm supposed to do this ten times for each leg, for 20-30 seconds each time. And if I do all that, I should be 85-90% healed in the next two to three weeks and can start running again.

I've got a follow-up visit in a month so Dr. Chin can evaluate my progress.

All in all, I was very pleased with the amount of time and attention that Dr. Chin gave me. In retrospect, it's clear that the other podiatrist I'd been to didn't want to spend the time to properly diagnose me and give me the right advice. So, if your doctor isn't doing everything that Dr. Chin did, find another doctor!