Have You Considered Giving Up?

Today was my second opinion from another area doctor, one who openly advertises shockwave therapy as treatment for achilles tendinopathy. He made a few observations. I have good flexibility and range of motion in my feet, calves. I am still a comparative physical specimen. My gait, walking at least, has no perceivable issues. Nothing apparent shows up on a medical ultrasound. I have done everything that he could possibly suggest. He does not do shockwave therapy for non-insertional achilles issues. He doesn’t think an MRI is going to show anything useful. I might as well do it anyway at this point, I’ve never had an MRI.

He suggests I find a new hobby. He wondered if I might transfer my addiction (his word) to some other activity. Such as, I kid you not, race walking. Biking would also be acceptable. “You are likely genetically predisposed to achilles problems, just as you are predisposed to be passionate about running.” And then he gestured his hands palms up as though they were two sides to a scale, as I smirked at the reality of my conundrum. I wonder if I was wired for an unavoidable existential dilemma for a particular reason.

I did ask him what would happen if I started training, and ignored them once they started to hurt. My options in that case are rupture and calcification. He, for the first time, suggested that a rupture would at least be something different than what I have now.

He did drop the tidbit that a different group at Union Memorial (the group I went to the first time) does in fact do the low power shockwave for non-insertional pathologies. So that’s nice. I might end up doing the thing with my current guy, and forcing him to refer me to them. That’s plan one.

Plan two, should I be informed that shockwave is not for me, is to be my own guinea pig. I actually enjoyed thinking about outlandish things I could do to try to treat myself while I was running. It involved electricity, needles, and drastic slews in temperature, among other things. I can be my own clinical trial. I’d love to try whatever you might suggest. The idea gives me a sort of sadistic amusement.

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