It was great to see rooks getting some positive exposure on Nature of Britain. Watch the clip below.
The RSPB has requested I remove details of the whereabouts of the roost, since there is not the local infrastructure for large numbers of visitors.
Read more on the BBC website - you have to scroll down a bit to get to the rooks @>~
I’ve been having a nightmare with tendinitis in both my feet since the start of the summer. There’s a lot of information out there for Achilles tendinitis, but hardly any for the other tendons (posterior tibial, anterior tibial and peroneal tendons), which are the ones I’ve messed up. I thought I’d post here what I’ve found helpful, in the hope it might help someone else.
The image above shows all the tendons in the foot. I’ve messed up all of mine except the Achilles tendons. It was a classic case of going from no activity to ridiculously intense activity (killer rip currents jealously guarding swell I just couldn’t resist, as I only get one week in the surf a year). My feet went incredibly creaky afterwards, then became very painful to walk on, and subsequently swelled up massively. After rest, ice, Voltarol and elevation they eventually got better after a few weeks, but flared up again a couple of weeks later. I think standing in line at a theme park caused it, but I’m not 100% sure. I didn’t rest them completely as taking time off work seemed impossible, and within a few weeks I couldn’t walk at all. Then began my current obsessive quest - trying to get my feet sorted.
First off I tried acupuncture. My Mum had tennis elbow a few years ago, which is a form of tendinitis, and one acupuncture session was enough to sort her completely. I had several sessions which worked incredibly well to get rid of the muscle spasm and get the bloodflow going in my feet again. It also helped to get rid of a lot of the pain.
I then saw a physio who imparted a fantastic secret … ice bandages. You soak a crepe bandage in water, squeeze most of the water out of it and freeze it. You then wrap the frozen bandage tightly around the foot and ankle and elevate the feet for fifteen minutes. This gives compression, ice and elevation at the same time. The swelling in my tendons went down very quickly using this method, and I’m currently doing it four times a day. I follow this up with stretching exercises (with a latex strap), an application of Voltarol (anti-inflammatory) lotion, and gentle massage, to get the blood flowing again and get rid of any muscle spasm.
I’ve also invested in some neoprene ankle supports. As well as supporting the ankle, they improve bloodflow in the area they cover, promoting healing. I’ve been wearing them when I’m doing anything other than sitting with my feet elevated. I’ve also been wearing them when swimming, and my feet feel much stronger after the exercise than they did without them.
I started out just treading water really gently, and have been building up to very light swimming and some walking whilst supported with water in the pool. It’s easy to overdo it, but swimming seems the best way to get my muscles working again. I’m currently up to half an hour and am going every day, unless my feet are feeling strained.
That’s pretty much it for now, but I’ll update this post with any further tips if they arise. Please add any suggestions you might have by adding a comment.
The physio gave me some stretching exercises, which really helped to stop my muscles or whatever seizing up. They were:
I’m getting nowhere with my tendons. Perhaps I’ve torn or shredded them and am just going to have to have the surgery. I can’t walk on them anymore, not even when the majority of my weight is supported on sticks. If anyone has experienced anything similar, please contact me. I’m desperate now, and will still have to wait weeks for the specialist.
I’m pleased to report that my feet are finally on the mend. I basically bought some Crocs knee-pads and crawled everywhere and it seems to have given them the space they need to start to heal. Still resting them majorly, as I’m so scared of over-doing it, but swimming is helping, and at last I have some hope for the future.
I’m now back at work, and driving, and mountain biking. The feet are still fairly dodgy, and I can’t stand for more than a few minutes, and can’t walk very far or very fast, but at least I can get my life back to some degree, and with any luck they’ll make a full recovery. I’m convinced it was total rest (crawling everywhere) that gave them the chance to heal.
It was pretty clear that my feet (largely now just my ankles) were not going to be ready in time for the new term, so I took voluntary redundancy at the end of the summer. I figured this would give me around three months to get better before my money ran out. I really had no choice. Once I’d gone back to work, my feet got worse and worse. I was eventually given more physiotherapy, which really helped, but as soon as I do anything beyond walking on them for seven minutes then resting with heat for an hour or two, they get really bad again.
Last weekend I must have overdone it, and am back to crawling again. There’s clearly something very wrong still with my ankle tendons. I’m not going to fobbed off by anyone this time. I’ve already lost my job. If I don’t stick up for myself I’m going to end up losing my house fairly swiftly. Past experience has shown me that doctors, even specialists, don’t always know best, and it was listening to their advice (keep taking anti-inflammatories and walking on them) that caused this to drag on so long in the first place.