Dear LPG,

In February of this year I was on holiday when I suddenly developed an excruciating pain on the inside of my ankle.  I had no recollection of turning my foot or of any reason for the sudden pain.  It felt like a nail being inserted into my foot each time I put it down.  Every shoe I tried rubbed my foot on the inside of my ankle and no matter which shoes I tried the pain seemed to get worse. 

Upon returning from holiday I made an appointment at my doctor’s.  He sent me for an x-ray which revealed no sign of arthritis or injury.  Still the pain continued and eventually I was prescribed painkillers, which didn’t seem to do much.  In sheer desperation, I made an appointment to see a local Podiatrist who was very sympathetic.  She said that I had ‘fallen arches’ otherwise known as ‘flat feet’ and that I probably had tendonitis.  She recommended wearing trainers with proper arch support or of buying arch supports to be worn inside my shoes.  I asked her about exercise and she said that I could continue swimming but that I should not try to walk any marathons (not that I could at that stage). She suggested returning to the doctor again to see if he could try giving me a steroid injection which might relieve the condition.  I followed the advice of the Podiatrist and bought some very expensive trainers with the correct arch support and which have memory foam inside. 

Realizing that it wasn’t going to go away, I did make another appointment and the doctor took a bit more notice of me this time.  He said that he would give me the steroid injection but also added that it may or may not help.  He told me not to walk on the foot too much for 48 hours and to see how it went.  Well I am happy to say that the injection did seem to work, though I noticed that I did have a slight relapse when I decided to wear flat soled shoes this summer so I have returned to my expensive trainers.  The doctor also referred me to the physiotherapist who spoke to me over the phone and sent me some exercises to do which might prevent a further repetition of the condition.  Get it sorted!

Nb* tendonitis of the ankle may occur in different parts of the ankle and it may occur in the heel or other areas of the foot.  I am not a doctor and this is not a medical report so please do go to the doctor if you have a pain in your foot.  Although an x-ray may reveal no problems in your foot an MRI scan might.  If my condition continues to trouble me I shall be visiting the surgery again.

JL, Rustington.