[pct-l] permanent injuries from thru-hiking?

[chelin at teleport.com (Sharon & Chuck Chelin)]

Good evening, Pea,

Several years ago I experienced debilitating pain at the outer edges of my
knee joints due to running, and a sports podiatrist diagnosed the problem to
be caused by Morton's Syndrome, i.e. flat feet.  Poor arches cause the
straight-line load vector from the hip joint center to the flattened foot to
tend towards the outside of the hip joint rather than more directly straight
through the joint.   That causes a searing pain on the outer edges of the
knees.   The fix for that problem is usually arch supports, off-the-self or
custom orthotics.  I had immediate and apparently permanent relief, and I
have been running and hiking pain-free with them for about 25 years now.
Women seem to be susceptible to this problem even without flat feet because
of their inherent knock-knee tendency caused by relatively wide-spaced hip
joints.

Steel-Eye

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pea Hicks" <phix@optigan.com>
To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 1:00 AM
Subject: [pct-l] permanent injuries from thru-hiking?


> hi all-
>
> i'm wondering if anyone out there has any stories to share vis a vis
> permanent (or at least long-lasting) injuries sustained from the simple
> act of thru-hiking a trail such as the PCT. i'm not talking about
> injuries from isolated accidents or incidents- i'm more interested in,
> say, knee or foot injuries due to all that daily stress that linger well
> after the hike is over. it seems that everyone that attempts such a hike
> complains about various types of pain either sporadically or constantly,
> but i don't recall reading much about the consequences of continuing on
> day after day despite the pain... except, of course, in cases where the
> pain was sufficient to knock the person off the trail... but even in
> those cases, people generally report their eventual recovery.
>
> so, any stories of permanent injury? any particular types of pain that
> should be interpreted as real red-flags?
>
> also, when i hiked section A of the pct last year, the main issue my
> body had was illiotibial band syndrome on my right knee. i had pain on
> the outside area of my knee, and it was much worse on downhill than on
> uphill. my knee and hips remained sore for weeks after my hike- much
> longer than i had expected! i have an article with some stretches, etc,
> related to this problem, but i'm wondering if anyone out there has any
> advice, especially techniques or technology to help avoid having this
> problem in the future.
>
> thanks in advance!
> peanut
> (pct05 wannabe)
>
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