With the summer sunshine out and perfect weather on the 10 day forecast, many of you are out about taking in all of the extra Vitamin D. After hibernating for several months though, your muscles may be out of practice for all of the physical activity you are wanting to do. Because of this, some of your muscles and your muscle tendons may become overworked from the new stress that is being put on them. This stress can result in small microtears in the muscle body or in the tendinous attachment to the bone. This can cause you to have anywhere from a dull to an unrelenting amount of pain in the area of this muscle. Some common locations for this to happen in the foot are on the back of your heel or on the inside or outside of your foot. These three locations are where some large muscles attach and their attachments can become inflamed from repetitive movements that they aren't used to anymore.

If you have been running, biking, swimming, playing tennis, beach volleyball or any other activity and you have noticed that you are having new onset of pain, you should seek the help of your local podiatrist. These injuries often begin minor, but if you continue to work out the injured muscle, you can eventually end up tearing the muscle or tendon. There are several different treatment plans that you can use for your injuries. One of these includes immobilizing your foot to allow the tendon to heal without it being further injured by stretching the tendon. Another option is laser therapy. Laser therapy is a treatment that uses low energy wave-lengths to stimulate the injury to return to an acute injury. By returning to an acute injury it is able to use the molecules that promote healing and restore the tendon to its original state.

If you have been experiencing any pain in your feet or legs since beginning a new workout route and you live in the Methuen, North Andover, Lowell or Tewksbury, Massachusetts area, our office staff would be more than happy to help you set up an appointment. Dr. Wachtel will be able to use imaging studies to determine the extent of your injury and what the best treatment plan for your condition will be. Before you know it, you'll be back out there enjoying the sunshine and all of the summer activities.