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Achilles tendonitis

Achilles tendonitis is going to be on the back of the heel and when you see this, you really should think of another cause, particularly spondyloarthropathies, fluoroquinolone antibiotics which are commonly used for urinary tract infections Achilles tendonitis, achiles tendonitis, achilles tendinitis, achilles tendinitus. These antibiotics have been associated with Achilles tendonitis, among other tendonopathies, and it can occur very quickly and these patients can actually go on to rupture Achilles tendonitis, achiles tendonitis, achilles tendinitis, achilles tendinitus. So if you have a patient on a fluoroquinolone and they develop a tendonopathy, probably get them onto another antibiotic. Particularly Achilles tendonopathy. The amount of stress that is on

That’s why we have a field of podiatry because these problems are very very common. One of the areas, the plantar fascia, can be involved with plantar fasciitis as it inserts into the calcaneus and also the Achilles tendon as it inserts into the back of the calcaneus. These are very common problems. If there is any sense that it is chronic inflammatory in nature and there are other systems involved, really think of a spondyloarthropathy because these areas are very commonly involved with things like ankylosing spondylitis and the like. But I do see patients occasionally and that’s all they have. They just have Achilles tendonitis or plantar fasciitis. Sometimes you can even get bursal inflammation although it’s very difficult to differentiate from direct tendon involvement. But plantar fasciitis, again the most common situation I see is someone who walks a lot. Mail carriers. They start out with a 50 pound bag of mail and it’s hard on their feet. They just walk around and deliver mail all day. But anybody who is on their feet a lot, walking, carrying extra weight, and the pain is usually in the sort of medial aspect of the bottom of the calcaneus. It’s not dead center, because that’s not where the 

When you examine you can put a stress on the plantar fascia either by pushing on the forefoot up, or just putting your thumb right into this area of the insertion. It will usually be tender.

Treatment generally involves antiinflammatory drugs which often work quite well. Sometimes just modifying the shoes a little bit, getting some inserts. You can buy them in a drug store or sporting goods store. Sometimes a podiatrist can design an orthotics - or an orthopedic surgeon can design orthotics - that would help to relieve the strain of this plantar fascia. Corticosteroid injections can be useful. I don’t like to do them repeatedly, again because this structure has a tremendous amount of stress on it. So I’ll do it once, maybe twice. A lot of times that’s all you need. Sometimes patients do need ongoing antiinflammatory treatment if they continue to do what it is that caused the situation in

Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common thing that we see. The symptoms are pain and burning in the wrist and hands. Often it is not that well localized. Patients don’t read their neurology textbooks. They don’t know where the median nerve goes versus the ulnar nerve. Often they complain that the entire hand is numb. The pain may radiate up to the arm, even up into the neck if it is very severe and very acute. Paresthesia and numbness are classic. Symptoms are very prominent at night, especially if the patients just happen to fold their wrists in a certain position. They may actually wake up with their hand asleep and have to shake it out in order to get the feeling back into it. Also, clumsiness. They don’t have - even if they have normal sensation on exam - they don’t feel the dexterity is there in their hand. Physical findings; the Tinel’s sign. I find that that’s by far and away the best. You can do this with your finger, just like when you percuss or even with a reflex hammer over the carpal tunnel, which the best spot is over the area between the thenar and

The hypothenar evidence marks the location of the carpal tunnel. If you tap there and the patient has pain, either radiating into their hands somewhere, their thenar evidence or their fingers, or up into their forearm, I consider that a positive sign. The Thalence is not quite as good. That’s where you bend the wrist, either flex it or extend it for the reverse Thalence and then let it sit there for awhile. I don’t find that is quite as useful. I don’t feel like wasting a minute, having them sit there if the Tinel’s sign is positive, that’s good enough for me. You may have abnormal sensory findings, occasionally weakness or even atrophy which is, in my experience, very unusual. Probably a hand surgeon or orthopedist see this a lot more. This just shows you the difference in nerve distribution, the median nerve is generally the first three-and-a-half fingers. Although it is very rare, I have

The other thing to remember is that carpal tunnel syndrome, like ulnar entrapment or tarsal tunnel syndrome, can be associated with certain underlying medical conditions. Diabetes is a big one. Hypothyroidism. I have picked up a few patients with hypothyroidism that were before undiagnosed. Occasionally gout, acromegaly because of changes at the specific sites, the wrist joint, pregnancy - obviously, that will resolve - synovitis at the wrist, particularly in RA, systemic sclerosis or scleroderma big time. These patients have severe problems and often don’t even respond to surgery. Amyloidosis is another one that can be very resistant. Chronic renal failure on hemodialysis they can get amyloid deposits with Beta 2 microglobulin as opposed to

The treatment includes, if they have an underlying condition like thyroid disease or diabetes, treat the hypothyroidism, that will often help. Rheumatoid arthritis, treating the synovitis with an injection in the wrist or maybe systemic treatment. That may help. Antiinflammatory drugs may help. Wrist splinting will help, particularly at nighttime. Keep the wrists in good position so the patients at leas won’t wake up with the feeling that their hand is falling asleep. Cortical steroid injection into the carpal tunnel is very useful. If a patient does not respond to these things or they have significant motor involvement - really any motor involvement - I just refer them for surgical release. If I think a patient needs surgery, that’s the instance where I will get an EMG with nerve conduction study. Otherwise if I have a clinical diagnosis and I am just doing these rather simple treatments, I don’t even bother with the study. My personal thing, it’s just a waste of time and money. Very few patients enjoy having these studies done. If any of you have ever had it done - and I have as part of an experiment - it’s annoying at the

This is the standard, this is a 3M splint, very similar to the Futura. It has a metal stay in the bottom of the wrist and you can take it out and wash the splint. It’s pretty hardy. The only problem is that you can’t switch it from left to right. It’s really for