3.14.2010

The Green Girl Tapes For Posterior Tibial Tendonitis

The Green Girl has been struggling with issues with her right foot ever since she sprained her ankle last year.

When I twisted my ankle, I damaged the posterior tibial tendon. This injury made it very painful for me to flatten my right foot when I walked. My podiatrist (also a runner!) diagnosed me with posterior tibial tendonitis and recommended prescription orthotics.

The posterior tibial tendon helps hold your arch up and provides support as you step off on your toes when you walk or run. I tape my arch when I run to give the posterior tibial tendon additional support.

I always use Mueller M-Tape® but I would assume any brand sports tape would do the trick. I use sports tape instead of kinesiology tape for my posterior tibial tendonitis because it's much more supportive.

This is how the I tape for posterior tibial tendonitis:
  1. I take 3 approximately 10" strips of sports tape and I stick them from one side of the ankle bone to the other. Make sure your foot is at a 90° angle when you are taping. You want the tape to be snug but not too tight. This will be one of those things you figure out by trial and error. If it's too tight, you foot will start to throb.


  2. Here's the second 10" strip:


  3. Here's the third 10" strip:


  4. The next step is to wrap sports tape around the ankle to secure the 3 strips. If you do this too low, you will find it pinches your skin with each step:


  5. The final piece of tape will wrap around the arch once more. Start the tape to the side of your leg and 'figure 8' it down around:


  6. And 'figure 8' it back around the ankle and then cut the sports tape:


  7. Your wrapped foot will look like this:


I am hoping by taping my foot and icing religiously, I'll be able to successfully train and complete the Athens Classic Marathon with the Sole Runners in October.

7 comments:

  1. Awesome to hear you finished a marathon, even with PT tendinitis! My ultimate goal of the year is to finish the Hartford Marathon in CT in October, so this gives me hope that I'll be able to accomplish that goal :-)

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  2. Thank you for such a wonderful post! A post that helps the 97% of us runners that eventually need to tape this or that on our awesome hard working feet that carry us to far!

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  3. Brandon, I actually have not yet completed a marathon since I got injured. The furthest I've run is a half.

    Rad Runner, I'm glad you found my post helpful!

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  4. I used to do this back in High School when I played basketball. The worst part was what it did to my leg hair. Ouch!

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  5. Ouch is right! I've discovered if I wait to remove it in the shower, the warm water helps loosen up the tape.

    The funny thing is that I perpetually have adhesive remnants on my ankle. I had purchased some adhesive remover per my orthopedic surgeon's advice but I decided I'd rather have some funny looking tape marks on my ankle than exposing myself to some potentially toxic chemicals on a daily basis.

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  6. Thanks for posting! I was just diagnosed with PT tendonitis and I don't want it to completely keep me out of dance and karate classes. This taping looks like it'll be great support for when I have to go barefoot/wear ballet slippers for classes.

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  7. This really helped me, but it is a bit uncomfortable. Basically, gently massage the inquiry in the opposite direction of the muscle. You may want to google this for more specific information. 
    http://www.footcentersofnc.com/common-foot-problems.html

    ReplyDelete

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