Achilles Tendonitis

Just those words seem to make me hurt.  What do you think when you read them?

I wrote about my kids and husband training for a 5K.  Their training started last week, as I was laid up on the couch with bronchitis.  I told my husband what they were supposed to do for their training.  It didn't quite work out as I planned.

My 9 year-old daughter came home from their training complaining that her heel hurt.  She complained for a couple more days.  She would only complain when I would ask her to do something.  I started to pay attention to her walking.   She would limp even when she would have no reason to be thinking about it.  I hoped she could walk it off, but it wasn't seeming like she was going to.

Yesterday, she asked me if I would bring her to the urgent care.  I am not a fan of going to urgent care unless I know something is wrong.  Since I had seen how she was for a few days, and not seeming to get better, I relented.  We went to the urgent care.

The doctor ordered x-rays since there are growth plates in the heel after pressing on her heel in different places.  He told me what he thought it was, but wanted to be sure she hadn't cracked any bones in her growth plates.  The good news is that she didn't crack any bones.  The bad news is that she has achilles tendonitis. 

This is not her foot :)

The doctor asked her what shoes she had worn to run in.  She pointed at the shoes on her feet.  They were flat church shoes.  Apparently she wasn't able to find her running shoes.  Running in flat shoes is a bad idea.  It doesn't give her foot the cushion or the protection it needs.   It causes extra strain on your achilles tendon.   These are things that I learned yesterday. 

She was ordered to wear her running shoes for the next few days, even to church.  She got to wear them everywhere, even to church.  Her running shoes have Hello Kitty on them.  They are cute shoes.  I prefer her to wear running shoes for running and dress shoes for church though.  She was also ordered to ice the heel.  She has done that a few times.  She was given a reprieve from running for a few days.  I think she will resume training on Wednesday. 

My 10 year-old son didn't like the idea that his sister didn't have to run.  When he was stung by a wasp a couple of weeks ago before we went to the playground, he didn't have to do a lap running with his dad.  While we were in the van yesterday, he stated that he wanted to get stung by another wasp.  I guess he hasn't caught the running bug yet.

I really hope that one day my children enjoy running.  I know it took me a little while to enjoy it.  I think it will be something fun to do together.