Thursday, May 21, 2009

Os Trigonum Syndrome


What is Os Trigonum Syndrome?

Often, people don’t know they have an os trigonum if it hasn’t caused any problems. However, some people with this extra bone develop a painful condition known as os trigonum syndrome.

Os trigonum syndrome is usually triggered by an injury, such as an ankle sprain. The syndrome is also frequently caused by repeated downward pointing of the toes, which is common among ballet dancers, soccer players and other athletes.


Yes, it appears that I have yet another ailment, and the doc thinks it is the thing outlined above. My eyes rolled back in my head so hard they almost stuck in that position while I'm telling myself, "This is a joke, right?" For those of you who don't know, I've had a bad ankle ever since I missed a step going into our garage and ended up with a Grade 3 sprain some 11 odd years ago. Yeah, that one hurt. However, since I started running, my ankle has actually felt better. Go figure.

Now, fast forward a couple of years, or back up a few months, whichever floats your boat. My ankle has been bothering me for awhile (okay, maybe longer than awhile . . .), but it was never so painful that I couldn't keep running (said with absolute seriousness, hand over heart) - except for the times when walking down stairs I would catch my heel, forcing the toes down. I cannot even begin to describe the pain, except to say that it took everything inside me to not pass out or puke the few times I did this.

Anyway, decided to finally get it check out. Took three weeks to get into the ortho who was least likely to say, "No more running! You're going to ruin your knees! Or your hips! Or your uterus is going to fall out!" After lots of twisting, turning, and 4 (4?) x-rays, he pronounces os trigonum. The cure - first let's try a cortisone shot and no running for a week. The no running for a week is mentally hard, but I can deal with it. The cortisone shot - holy mother of flying monkeys!! The shot itself didn't hurt 'cause he injected a numbing agent first. But when that numbing agent wore off around 9:00 Monday night - !!!!!!!!!

So now we wait until Tuesday and I start running again. If the ankle is still bothering me, I will get referred to another doc who will more than likely discuss my only other option - shaving down the bone. Now doesn't that sound like fun? Suffice to say, half or more of my running year would probably be in the toilet. Somehow I don't think that doc would say, yeah, I just shaved a bone down, now go out and run 18 miles!

And as Leslie's World Turns, These are the Days of Her Life - stay tuned.

2 comments:

Dan said...

Oh, bummer. Let's hope the shot and rest resolves the problem. I know what you mean about the shot. I hade one in my finger last year and it hurt like H@%L! Good Luck.

rustyboy said...

dang, woman! This sucks. It's a huge obstacle, possibly, but know that my fingers are crossed that it's not too big of a deal.

(I ran Forest Park 50k today and thought of you when I crossed the trail where we met last year. I'd hit the wall HARD, for the first time ever, and had a good laugh about it).