Having been fortunate to rarely sustain an injury to the lower extremities, it’s been of recent that I trashed my knee after one – 3.5 mile run in a bad pair of sneakers. Yes, I’m also aware that being built like the primitive, Neanderthal Man, I shouldn’t be running long-distance, anyway.

In the days preceding the injury, time was limited, despite the need to buy a new pair of running shoes. The indicators were a slight, transient soreness in the knee and some left hip discomfort, which are usually the 6-month markers prior to shoe replacement.

Just before leaving the house, I decided to change sneakers to a pair I rarely use, forgetting that they were meant to run on grass or sand, not on pavement. One mile into the run, pain was escalating while adrenaline and endorphins were kicking in. Thus, my perception to the discomfort was masked, only to end the run with the dire consequence of six weeks worth of rehab and healing from a patellar tendon tear (below the kneecap) and some chondromalacia patella (excessive cartilage irritation and wear).

Even with all of the modern and sophisticated therapies and treatment applications, every time I went for a run, the pain would return at varying degrees.

Until last week . . .

While walking through the vendor exhibits at the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians – Sports Science Symposium in Chicago, I was reunited with a guy I met about two years ago, Gordon from A-line Orthotics.

The long and short of it is that his understanding of foot mechanics and the application of support during the running gait was impressive. I was placed on this specialized platform while a laser clearly identified the corrections that were needed in my problematic leg (it also showed the normality of the right leg in comparison).

After the orthotic was placed in my shoe, pain began to ease almost immediately. Over the next several days, there was an 80% improvement, even after a couple of short runs.
I was fascinated!

Sudden RE-injury!

On the fourth day of my new orthotics, I went for an early-morning run.
To my absolute dismay, it felt like I was running with cement shoes. Not having offended any of the Mafia, I could not understand why my knee was becoming extremely sore (again). It felt like bone-on-bone as my joints were taking a beating and my muscles felt as if they were tearing. Something went gravely wrong.

How could that be?

If you’ve ever dealt with an injury that keeps rearing its ugly head, you can imagine the frustration I was experiencing.

In a complete quandary, all I could do at this point was to pull out the new orthotics and just stare at them …

Shocker!

A small piece of plastic that Gordon snapped onto the left, lateral underside of my orthotic had popped off (probably due to moving the one pair of orthotics from casual shoe to running shoe) and created a significant and improper shift in my running mechanics.

Having related this to Gordon, he quickly sent a replacement piece and a second pair so I don’t have to move the inset from shoe to shoe.

Blown Away!
I temporarily rigged my orthotic (prior to receiving the permanent piece) and went for a five-mile run. I am SO extremely fascinated at how an inexpensive and simple piece of material, when placed in the PERFECT spot, can remedy SO many exercise-limiting aches and pains. The basic orthotic that A-line produces is a technological work of art and, together with the right modifications, life is back to normal. Not to mention, I’m feelin’ like my bones aren’t as old as they felt a couple of weeks ago.

It quickly became important that I share a foolish, distressing and sore experience since, in all my years in healthcare, I never quite realized the incredible impact that a great foot support can provide.

Please feel free to comment and share your experiences with aches, pains, and orthotics.

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