Today was rest day number two in Tehachapi with a few more errands thrown in. In the morning, I made a plan for the next section – from Tehachapi to Ridgecrest where we’ll take another rest day and do some more planning for the Sierra.
After looking at the maps and water sources, we decided on a 5 day schedule to get to Ridgecrest and so we needed 5 days of food. Back to Walmart and Albertsons we went to buy food.
I had ordered new insoles, some metatarsal pads and leukotape so I picked that up at UPS and sent some ahead to Kennedy Meadows. The Sierra will be even more demanding than what I’ve already done so far, so I want to make sure I have all the things I need.
I went to see Blaze again today – an amazing physical therapist who operates out of a van and visits with hikers along the trail both through telehealth and in person. She is a thru hiker herself and is extremely knowledgeable about the various injuries hikers get at specific points in the trail. She has a sweet golden retriever named Honey who will attend your appointment as well. I’ve been having pain at the back of my foot in my heel for awhile that’s been getting worse despite the new shoes. I have extra bones in my feet which limits my range of motion, and have now developed Haglunds Deformity – extra bone growth at the base of the Achilles tendon. It can be caused by tight calves – and I have very tight calves. At my last few appointments, Blaze did some cupping to loosen the muscles and had given me some exercises and stretches to keep my calves looser. They help briefly, but then things often tighten back up again. Today she did more aggressive cupping which helped a bit, and then did something to me called “Voodoo flossing” – basically taking a very thick elastic band, tightening it around my calf and then flexing the ankle to stretch the calf muscle. The tight band does something to the muscle fibers to cause pressure and helps them stretch more. This seemed to loosen things up a ton, which was a good sign.
Haglunds deformity can sometimes require surgery, or the cessation of the repetitive activity causing the bone growth – such as thru hiking. Blaze told me that she didn’t see any issues with the tendon itself and didn’t think I needed to stop hiking yet, but that it would be good to get an X-ray of my ankles once I get to Bishop. I have X-rays of both ankles from not that long ago, so if I can get the CD and bring it to my appointment then, they can see how much the bone may have grown recently. She mentioned getting a steroid injection into the joint to reduce the inflammation. She said there was the possibility of a tendon rupture, but that it was very unlikely with low impact things like walking. After doing the voodoo flossing, some of the pain subsided, so it’s possible that keeping my calf muscles less tight could help prevent the heel issue from getting worse, or that the extra bone may not actually be symptomatic. She gave me an elastic band so I can do the voodoo flossing to myself. It’s a bit heavy, but worth it to be able to keep hiking.
I have had issues with the os trigonum in my ankles and os navicularis for awhile – I grew up doing ballet, ice skating, soccer – the common sports that cause those conditions and since my neck issues had gotten better and the severe pain there subsided, my ankle pain had been getting worse. It’s like my brain could finally deal with my ankle pain. I saw an orthopedic surgeon about my ankles a few years ago and he was kind of shocked I hadn’t come in earlier given how big the extra bones were. Those were the least of my issues for a long time. The recovery for the os trigonum surgery does take awhile – so I kept putting it off, but I’m assuming I’ll need to do something about it after this thru hike. I’m just hoping this Haglunds thing doesn’t force that to happen sooner than I was expecting.
Blaze said she was going to try some more aggressive measures to loosen my calves and kept asking if it hurt. I said yes but it was fine – I have a high pain tolerance. Honey came over and started giving me kisses and Blaze said it must actually hurt for Honey to do that. She said everyone said they had a high pain tolerance, but she actually believed me.
Truly weird feet, truly high pain tolerance. I’ve come this far with this many obstacles in my way, but I refuse to give up. I’ll do whatever I need to do to get as far as I can. I need to accept that my weird feet may take me off the trail, but until then, I’m going to keep walking.
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