FLAT-FOOT

Management of Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction

Management of Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction

Introduction

Posterior tibial tendon dysfunction has been declared as one of the most frequent and commonly occurring issue of the foot and ankle, which causes problems in walking, running and might also lead to irritation, and thus it has to be treated properly at the right time. The issue mainly arises due to the inflammation of the posterior tibial tendon, and it might also occur if the tendon is torn. The deviance from the normal position generally results in inability of the tendon to provide stability and steadiness to the arch foot, and thus result in the flatfoot, which is counted as one of the major issues in the field of medical science, rendering individuals unable to maintain balance and stand still. Posterior tibial tendon dysfunction might be caused due to a number of reasons, including the injury and some of the age related issues.

Discussion

Researches and studies have shown that individuals, mainly adults who develop flatfoot, generally suffer from severe pain along the inside of the foot and the ankle, right in the place where the said tendon is situated. The pain might or might not be linked with the swelling in the area, which implies that the infected area might swell up to show the presence of issue or it might remain the same, providing no indication. In addition, high impacted and the high intensity activities also cause acceleration in the pain, which implies that the addition in acceleration of the activity would cause the patient to suffer from intense pain, and activities like running might pose additional pain. In addition, walking and standing can also prove to be painful at times. The same issues also contribute to the development of pain on the outer side of the ankle of the patient, and any incidences in which the foot collapses, the bone might shift to some other new position, thus posing difficulties in walking and making physical movement. It should be taken into account that the issue is commonly found in patients with arthritis, which increases the chances of arousal of the issue on patients who are already suffering from arthritis.

Along with many other reasons, there are hereditary causes that also lead to the development of the same issues and thus lead to Posterior tibial tendon dysfunction. The major hereditary causes of Posterior tibial tendon dysfunction, as highlighted by the researches and studies, are flat feet, pronation and the overweight or obesity of the patients. Flat feet generally result in extra load on the Posterior tibial tendon, which causes them to pull and thus develop swelling issues. It has been observed that development of flat feet generally causes the tendon to stretch more than the usual limit and thus get overworked in an attempt to prevent the arch from collapsing more. The stretching of the tendon, combined with its thinning generally causes additional exertion on the foot of the patient and thus results in production of inflammation and ...