Peroneal tendonitis

[April G]

I am having some problems with the peroneal tendons in my left ankle(the tendons underneath and behind the bony malleolus on the outside of the ankle.)  My doctor called it tendonitis, although the pain first happened after rolling my ankle in a ditch.  I haven't been able to run for two weeks.  It is getting better and I can walk without limping, but still can't handle the impact of running(it hurts and majorly alters my gait).  I was wondering if anyone else had experience with this and if they know how long the healing process was, and any pointers to avoid re-injury.  I have done some research that indicates I am wearing the wrong kind of shoes.  I have tiny feet and very high arches, I supinate when I run, and have been running in trail shoes.

[Eric Day]

April, I'm in the process of recovering from a aquilles tendonitis. Not the same, but I'm sure a few points of healing process will/would apply to your problem.
First, stretching. Gradually and slowly. It should not hurt, but feel the tension. Need to find out exactly what stretching exercises would apply to you.
Second, ice packs. Use ice packs in the morning and at night.
Third, be patient and take it easy. Tendons are slow healers.
Try to do cross training if running is complicated...

[Josse]

I am a gal that has had and ran through many sprains.  All from rolling my ankle usually while running on a trail.  Each time I do this I come home and ice for as long as I can.  Then I usually work on it (massage or scraping) as soon as I can stand it.  Usaully after a couple of days.  This really helps the swelling and pain decrease, although it is very painful.  After the fisrt day I begin doing ice/heat alternating (this is really good in getting blood flow to an area to help heal the tendonitis).  I also sometime have to get my ankle put back into place.  This may be why you can't run on it, if it is out it causes alot of pain.  I usually don't have to take any time off, but can't run on trails for about 6 months.

[April G]

Thanks for the input Eric and Josse.  I am reading about the "scraping" thing on the internet since I wasn't sure what that was.  It sounds kind of painful but if it is helpful I am willing to try it!

[Josse]

I wrote up a thing on it, you can read about it here http://fastrunningblog.com/forum/index.php/topic,308.0.html