Taping feet

[paninaro]

I'm currently getting physio for a couple of problems, one of which is pain around the back of my ankle and the point where the foot and ankle join on the front, the day after a long run. It's worse on-road but also occurs if I run off-road.

We've tried taping the foot, to prevent side-to-side movement and this provided a noticable improvement. I asked the physio if I should do the same when running off-road, as I thought you'd need to have more side-to-side movement then, but he didn't think it would be a problem.

Does anyone else have experience of taping feet like this, particularly when fell-running?

(I did search the forums/fora for this but couldn't find anything, maybe my terms were wrong)

Cheers

Matt

[philbrynmaen]

Does anyone else have experience of taping feet like this, particularly when fell-running?

Not sure how relevant this is but when I competed in orienteering I used to completely bind up my ankles on some races - usually when in forestry when needing to run across recently felled areas/brashings etc. It certainly worked, the main purpose being to remove any possibility of turning my ankle. Can't say it was hugely comfortable but it allowed me to continue racing hard during a period when my ankle was damaged/weak. But typically even the longest event would not involve more than about 90 minutes.

I used wide non-stretch tape and completely immobilised the ankle (like you'd do with a crepe bandage). I also tried the more modern technique of narrower more strategically placed tape - but found this didn't stand up to the rigours of race day.

I guess the only way to be sure is to give it a go. Might come down to the quality of the tape and taper!

[wheezing donkey]

A club mate who is a very competitive V50 always tapes his ankles for races. He uses surgical tape, maybe 25 - 30 mm wide.
Firstly he applies a "stirrup" under the heel-pad and up both sides of the ankles to maybe 75 - 100 mm above the ankle joint.
He then locks this stirrup in place by taping around his lower leg over that section of the stirrup that is above the ankle joint.
I hope that is comprehendible?

[Corniceman]

I'm currently getting physio for a couple of problems, one of which is pain around the back of my ankle and the point where the foot and ankle join on the front, the day after a long run. It's worse on-road but also occurs if I run off-road.

We've tried taping the foot, to prevent side-to-side movement and this provided a noticable improvement. I asked the physio if I should do the same when running off-road, as I thought you'd need to have more side-to-side movement then, but he didn't think it would be a problem.

Does anyone else have experience of taping feet like this, particularly when fell-running?

(I did search the forums/fora for this but couldn't find anything, maybe my terms were wrong)

Cheers

Matt

Matt. It sounds a very similar problem to one I have had now for some two years. I have had discomfort in the ankle joint at the front of the ankle where the ankle and foot meet in my left foot. I find it worsens during a run. For instance at 4 miles I am OK, but as I reach 5 and 6 miles and onwards the pain gets worse. Adrenalin carries me through races, but I always limp away and next day find the ankle is sore and difficult to run on. A days rest and itis usually OK again. On occassions if I am exersizing I might find the pain is sudden for insatnce if I am doing lunges, heal raises or something similar. I have tried tapping and for two yaers tapped for every race using stirrups as described above. I think this really made little difference and began to feel the problem was related more to fatigue during a run.
During recent consultations with a physio due to a 'Runners Knee' problem in my left knee, my physio looked at my ankle and felt that the manifestation of sore knee and sore ankle has a relationship. She has diagnosed that I have extremely tight calves and was surprised I wasnt having more issues given how tight and knotted they are. I also have very tight and sore quads and under use (dont recruit my glutes. Therefore I guess what she is proposing is systematic rather than just site specific injury. Although she has felt around in the joint, she feels that it is soft tissue rather than calcification of the ankle joint which I feared, and similar for the knee. (I havent confirmed the absence of osteophites, calcification via a scan. Certainly I feel that throuh a rehab programme focussing on the glutes, quads, abductors and calves plus mega amounts of foam rolling that I am heading in the right direction. its not a quick fix and very frustrating to be missing so many races and cancelled my BGR 55@55 this year but hope the whole systems approach is more fruitful than just focussing on the ankle or the knee joint. I dont know if any of this is helpful but I wish you all the best