My PTTD experience with shockwave therapy

A few months ago I wrote a post detailing my five year struggle with PTTD:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PTTD/comments/15bv38l/my_five_year_pttd_journey_so_far/

I've been in and around the subreddit a little bit since and have talked about my experiences with shockwave, so if you've been paying attention, what I'll detail below won't be a huge surprise, but for those lurking this sub for less than eight hours a day (amateurs), here is my most recent experience with PTTD.

I struggled with PTTD for five years and have, in the last six months, experienced a significant decrease in symptoms, to the point where I don't remember the last time my ankle hurt.

My injury emerged from running over-use and then extended to simply walking, where a walk of longer than about twenty minutes would result in pain later in the day.

Eventually, I discovered the option of non-surgical treatment that went beyond orthotics and RICE: shockwave therapy (ECST).

In the UK, the NHS does not provide shockwave therapy for PTTD, so I went private. I had about six sessions.

The treatment for these six sessions consisted of the shockwave therapy, electric acupuncture and a couple of stretches; a calf stretch and a soleus stretch, as well as band inversions.

I can't separate which element was the most effective form of treatment, however, I'm happy to say that after five years of struggling with PTTD, I think I'm on the mend.

Just a couple of points:

During that five years I put on around 100lbs/50kg, which means that running is inherently more risky, and apart from a mile here and there (read, once), I've not been back to running. I intend to once I've lost some more weight, but the risk of injury is too high with an ankle that I still interpret as fragile.

I was always super cautious with my ankle in those five years and was never tempted to over-do-it, nor did I have to stand on my feet all day. This injury can be extremely frustrating and the temptation to just grit your teeth and work in spite of your injury is one I avoided and one that can potentially worsen your symptoms. There is always lots of talk in this subreddit about stages of injury and if I had to guess, I would say that I was in the early stages of PTTD, so take my report with a grain of salt if your injury is worse.

However, I'd also caution lots of people in this sub against surgery. In my (entirely unqualified) opinion, I see a lot of people in this sub opt for surgery after the physio and orthotics aren't working. And, whilst I sympathise with that decision, it does appear to be a destructive option, with potential downsides and a questionable rate of success. My point here is not to upset people, especially those that have had surgery, but to demonstrate that, at least in my case, and for now, my PTTD has disappeared. A middle option of shockwave therapy may be worth trying before getting surgery, is my point.