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Hallux Rigidus

JasonBJasonB Posts: 303
in General Chat
Hello,



Does anybody know or had any experience of the title? Which is arthritus in the big toe.



I have had it for many years, but now I am getting frustrated. I used to be able to do 6:30 m/mile, not I am pushing to get under 8 m/mile running. I am fit as hell, but cannot get full movement of the big toe, so run off side of foot, and there is no proper kickback. So cannot get quicker to match fitness levels. Ahhhh!!



I have heard that an operation can be done which will give back virtually all of the movement if succesful. The operation is called Cheilectomy, where they chip the bone away.



Now, I know it won't get any worse, but if I trully want to improve in triathlon, and general things then I need it done...I think.



Has any body had this done, and does it work? How long is it before I can start training etc? What is the operation like?





Comments

  • madnursemadnurse Posts: 782
    JASON - Cant tell you much you dont know (am a pscyhi nurse not a surgeon) buit should I be in your position I guess I would try to weigh up the pro's & con's. The problem with proceedures like this is that there are no absolute guarentees that it will have complete sucess and on top of that you would obviously be out of all training for a while at least not just your running. I would have thought it wuold be worth seeeking professional specialist advice to see what gains you might make in the long term. IN the short term rather than allowing the frustration to overwhelm you & thus hamper your tri-fitness maybe focus increasing efforts upon your swim & bike whereby you can continue to make improvements in ability and hence speed. My abilities within tri do not lie in the swim in fact it is my weakest by a massive proportion so much so it has almost caused me to bin triathlon. I found however by working with what I had ie the run & the bike & building on my swim I was able to start to acheive a reasonable total time despite my swim. Ironically as my swim eventually began to pick up I inccurred a number of injuries such as shin splints as well as illness along the way. The ability of the mind to overcome potential pitfalls is what sets us apart ...... not one but 3 events back to back so much can go wroong in competition as well as in training ... it is how we overcome these that determines our position and completion in a triathlon in a similar way as we do (or not) in life.



    i am sure you will find the best way through this



    madnurse
  • JasonBJasonB Posts: 303
    Well I was treating this year as a build up to next year anyway.



    I have read forums where people have started training after 13 days of the procedure, and haven't seen anybody yet say it has not been amazing to be able to have the movement of the toe as from before.



    Further to that I could train on the bike, weights etc. I think seeing as I am preparing for next year, then that would give me plenty time to build up, recover, and hopefully sort out times.



    I think the frustration got to me when I did a five miler on Friday. I was bored at work, and thought I might go for a 10K race this weekend. I found a race that was happening in two hours, so low and behold two hours later I was racing a 5 miler. Considering I had done about 1 mile of training in the pool in the morning, and was not nutritionally correct for the race. I thought I would treat it as a training session.

    Well I got overtaken by virtually everybody and his milk flloat. From Female 60+ vets, to fun runners. This really knocked me, and I believe the reason is I cannot physically gain full foot rotation. Therefore am always going to be working twice as hard as anybody else. One foot moves the other shuffles.



    I think the only think stopping me is the fear of needles lol.

  • madnursemadnurse Posts: 782
    it sounds like you know what you want & need to do .... by the way i dont truely believe you that scared of a needle. i am confident i havent hurt one patient with an injection yet ... myself with a few training sessions yeh ... the pics from chesire tri will back that up



    see you racing if not this then next season



    phil
  • JasonBJasonB Posts: 303
    Well madnurse,



    I should have listened to you. Doctor said to me that it would be mad going for surgery, and thank god I am not rich. Because it can make things a hell of a lot worse. He being a keen cyclist who said he does 10mile tt in 29 mins. Said I will never be a fast runner again becuase of the lack of movement on the big toe, so concentrate on building up swimming and cycling. So I shall.



    I got my new tri bars yesterday, and with loads of motivation to speed bike times up, knocked 5 mins of PB.



    Anyway thanks for the advice and I will listen next time.

  • JasonBJasonB Posts: 303
    Ohh another thing he said which I liked.



    Runners complain of bad knees, cyclists complain of bad bikes.

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