Hi,
Anyone out there with problems like these??

I am 27 years old. My feet have significantly changed shape since injuring my ptt three years ago. I spent a year on crutches, and during that type my achilles tendon tightened up BIG time, which caused my foot to start to flatten out/deform. The weight of my legs now falls on the inside of my feet, and my feet flare out (the left foot is worse than the right).
I also have hypermobility syndrome, and was told I might have a variant of Ehler's - Danlos syndrome. making things much more complicated.

The diagnosis: I most likely should expect problems with my ptt in my left foot with time, and my right foot is so loose it may need surgery.

Jump, welcome to the board! Adult acquired Flatfoot is usually caused by a failure of the posterior tibial tendon. The condition is called PTTD. You can research online and find tons of info on it. There are many people on this board that have this. PTTD causes over-pronation of the foot which leads to tightening of the achilles and calf muscles. I would see an orthopaedic foot and ankle surgeon ASAP for evaluation. Unfortunately PTTD is a progressive condition and it progresses much quicker for some than others. I would suspect it is your PTT causing the achilles problem, not the other way around. I had PTTD surgery in which they did a tendon transfer to replace my PTT as well as a calcaneal osteotomy where they cut my heel bone off and moved it over to improve the alignment of my foot.

I'm sorry you have already spent a year with foot problems. Keep us posted as to how you are doing.

Hi again,
this is a follow up to my first post yesterday.

I have hypermobility syndrome (in other words, I have VERY hypermobile joints in all the joints of my body) I never had a problem until 3 years ago.
when I went walking around Boston for the day in some very rigid shoes.
I developed ptt in my right foot and what ensued was a long battle of findind a doctor that understood me, while not being arrogant or brushing me off. I was hyper-scared as well, which didn't really help me in the long run. I ahve been to 9 different doctors (five podiatrists and four orthopedic surgeons).I finally found a doctor who I felt comfortable with, trusted, and that I could move forward, without feeling like my concerns were treated as unimportant. He is in Boston at New England Baptist Hospital.

Anyway, the long and short of it is-my left foot is flattening out and I am beginning to feel all my weight bearing down on the inside of my foot-instead of on the whole foot, the way it should be. The doctor told me that I will have problems with my ptt in the future. My tight achilles tendon contributed to the problem. And my hypermobility made it worse. My future may hold surgery.

I had a subtalar joint implant put in my left foot 1 1/2 years ago. But it wasn't the right treatment for me. i.e., it didn't slow the progression of the deformity. My new doctor told me that my foot flattened out right over the implant, and that the implant was never a good option for me because it wouldn't work on the type of foot I have..

My question is:

Is there anyone out there who has hypermobility?

And is there anyone out there who's had a calcaneal osteotomy and/or tendon transfer --having hypermobile joints--and did it work?

I guess I should say - growing up my feet always had arches when I wasn't standing on them, but as soon as I stood on them, they would flatten out. BUT, I never had any pain or problems until the past few years..


Thanks for your advice...


Hi,
Anyone out there with problems like these??

I am 27 years old. I spent a year on crutches, and during that type my achilles tendon tightened up BIG time. So much so that now my foot is flat. I am told by the podiatrist that tight achilles tendon lends itself to a progressive flatfoot deformity. I am so hypermobile that my foot flattens out quite quickly-compared so "most" people, I'm told... For most, it takes ''years'' for it to flatten out the way it has mine. My doctor couldn't believe it-how quickly it had flattened out, when she saw me recently. (in a time span of months, not years..) The only thing it was attributed to was the tight heel cord.

I'm lookng for any encouragement, thoughts..etc.
It has been So hard. Has prevented me from doing normal household things and very often causes pain in my posterior tibial tendon..
Thank you so much. Jessica[/QUOTE]