In January 2022, the tennis professional from Spain, Rafael Nadal was crowned the 1st player to win 21 grand slam competitions by winning the Australian Tennis Open. Nadal ended up being 2 sets down to Daniil Medvedev from the Russian Federation in the finals and then came back to win five sets to two. The thing that was very outstanding concerning this is that he had a significant foot trauma resulting in a four month rest from playing tennis in 2021 and also the two weeks prior to his arrival in Australia for the Tennis Open he was sick with COVID-19 for 2 weeks.
The foot injury which Nadal has was a disorder often known as Müller-Weiss disease or syndrome. This is a pretty uncommon sudden necrosis or absence of blood supply for the navicular bone in foot. Mller-Weiss Syndrome was initially mentioned back in 1927 and is also occasionally known as Brailsford Disease. The reason for this disorder isn't really known as it is not apparent exactly what does block the blood circulation to various areas of the navicular bone. The navicular bone is an important part of the top of the arch of the foot which is put through lots of pressure, especially in sports activities like tennis. Females are more inclined to be affected more than men.
The symptoms of this disorder ordinarily begin as a minor discomfort in the mid-foot that gets progressively worse over time if therapy for this is not started. A health care professional will often identify the pain to the area of the bone. There are some really particular alterations with the navicular bone on x-ray including variations to the density and shape of the bone. The look on x-ray can often be used to classify the stage of the disorder.
The first method of the treatment will be to restrict activities to ensure the strain is taken off the bone. Other pursuits such as swimming as well as biking may be used rather than weightbearing actions. Weightbearing movements will slowly but surely be added in as the pain improve. Foot supports will often be used very early to support the arch of the foot reducing the stress on the bones which support the arch of the foot. If the pain is really painful, then a walking splint might need to be used to minimize even more the stress upon the arch of the foot. As the symptoms get better, the foot orthotics must be used for the long term to keep those loads lower. In the event that these approaches really don't make a difference there are also some operative choices in the event the pain is severe. There are a number of various surgery methods that have been utilized including drilling of the bone, excision of the parts of the navicular as well as a fusion of the joints around the bone. There is no ‘gold standard’ procedure for the surgery and the results of every strategy can often be mixed which explains why a very good test with the conventional strategies are important prior to thinking of surgery. As Rafael Nadal’s case of Müller-Weiss Syndrome shows that the outcomes with the problem is usually good if found early and proper treatment applied.