Patient of the Month- Lauren Robinson

Published by Alex Uprichard at 16/07/2019

Tags

This July, our patient of the month is Lauren Robinson! Lauren is a local runner who came to Harris & Ross after failing to recover from a foot injury-

In 2018 I was suffering from a serious pain in my foot which was affecting me both when walking and running. It was causing me some concern as even with rest it was failing to subside. I continued trying to compete as I am an avid runner and was keen to take part in the Northern Cross Country championships. It has an undulating course, and unfortunately as a result I tripped, going over on my ankle. I then couldn’t put any pressure on my foot and was for the first time ever unable to finish the race I had started.

I went to my local physiotherapist who treated the injury as a soft tissue issue given that I had twisted it falling. However, after attending many sessions the issue was failing to get better, and I was referred to hospital with a suspected stress fracture.

There I had several scans including CT and MRI to try to diagnose exactly what was happening with the ankle and the foot. The MRI scan showed I had a bad stress fracture in my navicular bone, meaning I would be out of running for several months.

Unfortunately, a few months of rest went by, and I was still in pain- therefore my consultant put me in an airboot and on crutches to alleviate the pain until the healing process finished. After 4.5 months on crutches, I was finally discharged from hospital- however, I was not advised on any physiotherapy or rehabilitation and was therefore unsure as to when I should start running again.

Further to this, I was still getting pain in my foot and started to become increasingly worried. I had heard great things about Harris & Ross in the sports rehab area and decided to book an appointment with a physiotherapist there called Andy Renshaw. Unlike any other professionals I had seen to this point, Andy immediately identified that I had a pronation issue- which was more pronounced in my right foot- hence the injury due to repetitive strain on the bone. In order to rectify this going forward, Andy recommended me a pair of arch support insoles to be worn all the time- especially when running.

Andy took me from not being able to run or walk without pain and limping, to me now being able to run four or five times a week without any pain. I am now working onbuilding my fitness back up and aiming to be competing throughout summer 2019. I have already seen a great improvement in my strength and fitness, plus my overall performance as a long distance runner.