Alright, I hoping someone out there has some recommendations on my chronic foot pain. I’ve been dealing with this for about a year. Both feet hurt all the time. It’s mainly in the ball and first and second toes, but it can be the entire forefoot. I also have occasional spikes of pain and it feels like my toes are cramping. I always feel like I’m walking on the bones of my feet - as if there is no padding, I’ve been told there is little. I have extensor tendinitis. When I try to point my toes, I can’t.
Here’s the history. First went to a podiatrist and got old school orthotics. Those didn’t work, so I went to a chiro who told me not to use the orthotics. He tried all sorts of gizmos/treatments that didn’t really work. He said my feet were “designed for pain.” He said tight Achilles could be contributing. I then went to an ortho who put me in newer, more flexible, orthotics. They had me walk on a weight sensor and you could see that the pressure was focused on the first and second toes. New orthotics don’t work. Went back to chiro - more treatments that didn’t work. I’ve never really gotten a more specific diagnosis other than metatarsalgia.
Here’s the rub. I haven’t done anything for almost two weeks due to a weird virus, but my feet are still killing me. I’ve been trying Achilles’ stretches to no avail. Any suggestions or internet diagnoses? Thanks.
I have no experience in that area, although I’ll throw this out there. A friend of mine had something called morton’s neuroma. After dealing with it for some time and seeing docs etc, the solution turned out to be simple…he just needed wider shoes and it completely went away. The narrower shoes were apparently compressing his feet and causing the nerve problems.
I had very similar pain begin last year. Hurt to run, more of a numbing/tingly feeling while biking and hurt to walk on, especially in the morning. This pain started in conjunction with some Achilles issues. I did a bunch of internet research and was beginning to worry it was a neuroma. I went to a podiatrist who said not Morton’s Neuroma. Struggled for a couple of months with it. Began using a foam roller and “the stick” to roll out my calves before and after workouts and also switched my shoes to ones with a little wider toe box. The combination of these two, along with some reduction in training, seemed to correct things and eliminate the pain.
I found static stretches of my achilles at any point (before or after a run) seemed to contribute to the problem. Some active stretching before and after as well as the rolling of the calves has worked wonders.
depends on what is causing it - short term: ice, po NSAIDs, local corticosteroid injections all with help some. Metatarsal pad also likely to be of some limited help.
Playing the internet/triathlete law of likeliness though: you have a long second met, tried to forefoot or some such, tight calves (as was mentioned). In short, you are effectively “overloading” the 2nd MPJ and need to “unload” it.
i would second that possibility. i have a longer 2nd met and an extra bone in my foot and i was getting bruises on the bottom of my foot from my newtons when i raced longer races- half im, half mar, mar. just the way feet are made sometimes. my podiatrist taught me how to make my own met pads to put under my running shoe insoles. it has helped a lot. i also don’t wear newtons for anything long as they were aggravating the ball of my foot/forefoot area. no orthotics, just the extra padding under the insoles. good luck! hope you can find some relief!
How long did it take for you to notice the pain subsiding? I just recently have been having capsulitis and it’s driving me CRAZY!!! It hurts all the time and especially in the morning–like you said. I don’t understand why it hurts the worst in the morning when my feet have been off-loaded all night. I have high arches and am waiting for my custom orthodics to come in (hopefully this week). Reading your experience gives me hope, but I’m just wondering if I should use crutches or a boot or something to allow it to calm down. I can’t walk normally without feeling the tingling pain.
You’ve probably already done this… but have you tried rolling out your feet with a tennis or golf-ball? Roof seems like he’d know better, and from the previous posts, it’d seem that the pain isn’t caused by the foot, but it’s worth a shot. Or… maybe it won’t help? I’ve struggle with pain in my left foot, and the rolling has helped substantially. Mine started with barefoot running shoes though… and now that I’ve read a few posts here, I bet that my shoes were a little too tight in the toe-box too, as my left foot is a touch bigger!
If it is Morton’s Neuroma, I’ve had some success with alcohol injections. At first I wasn’t sold, because it didn’t seem to get better, but we realized that most of the impacted nerve was dead, but the neuroma was further up the foot than normal. A couple of injections slightly higher in the foot (1/4-1/2" and the pain seems to be getting better).
I’d suggest finding a better podiatrist or ortho that specializes in feet. Sounds like your guy just wants to sell expensive orthotics. My first foot guy had me walk on the sensor but never cast my foot… The second guy cast my foot. My physical therapist (specializes in feet and he did Ryder Hesjedal’s orthotics in his bike shoes) said both were just trying to cover up the issue while he is trying to fix it with some exercises and stretches. I guess the first guys orthotics were crap (sensor ones) and the second (actual casts made) were better but not the best possible setup for running.
I’m going to get bike specific orthotics from him and keep running in my existing cast set for about a year. Next year I’ll have him do a running specific set. I’m hoping these along with the alcohol injections and foot exercises/stretching gets me back to zero pain when I run.
May I ask: How old are you? Do you have a high foot arch? Are your feet rather inflexible compared to others? Have you been told that you have arthritis? Ever break any bones in your feet?
I’ve been battling a similar issue (although not quite as severe, from the sounds of it) for the last 6 years. I have very obvious Morton’s Syndrome (short 1st Metatarsal) and possible hypermobility of the 1st Metatarsal. I’ve tried various met pads, three pair of custom orthotics (general, running & cycling), PRP injections (which did work for a couple of years), etc. When my pain started back up after being mostly a non-issue due to the PRP injections, I started looking for new solutions. I would have sworn I had a Morton’s Neuroma. And I thought I was looking at surgery (or at least more injections). That’s when I came across the above website.
While I’ve only been trying it for a couple of weeks now, I believe the simple “Toe Pad” he describes is actually doing the trick. I wish I’d have found that info sooner.
How long did it take for you to notice the pain subsiding? I just recently have been having capsulitis and it’s driving me CRAZY!!! It hurts all the time and especially in the morning–like you said. I don’t understand why it hurts the worst in the morning when my feet have been off-loaded all night. I have high arches and am waiting for my custom orthodics to come in (hopefully this week). Reading your experience gives me hope, but I’m just wondering if I should use crutches or a boot or something to allow it to calm down. I can’t walk normally without feeling the tingling pain.
Thank you!
I stopped running and biking for a week. I also tried to avoid walking around barefoot or in flip flops. I had nice new cushiony shoes beside my bed for when I woke up. The pain and tingling was greatly reduced within that first week. I then kept my runs at a half hour each in length for a couple of weeks and only did easy bikes trying to ease back into it. I think my stiff carbon bike shoes with narrow toe box was one of the bigger contributors to the problem.
ok. It sounds like mine might be more severe than yours. I’ve been battling posterior tibial tendonitis and have just recently started to get pain in my forefoot. My podiatrist said it was capsulitis. I’m trying to keep off of it, but am not convinced that just resting it is doing the trick. I guess it could be Morton’s neuroma, it sounds similar, but it doesn’t make the classic “click” sound that a neuroma makes. Anyway, I am wearing shoes ALL the time. I can’t walk normally and not feel it, which makes me think I should use crutches, or something to keep from injuring something else as I compensate for the capsulitis. It just feels frustrating that it doesn’t seem to be responding to ice, or rest, or really any treatment.
i bought some podiatric felt and cut the size i needed and placed it in all of my shoes. you could have your podiatrist show you how and have him/her make a couple to start you out. then, keep one as your template to use for when you make your own. huge difference for me. just what i need- no more, no less. good luck!
OP here. Thanks for the link. This is a bit of a blast from the past (August), but I’m still having the same problems. Working on stretching and some strengthening exercises. To answer some of the questions, I’m 40yo. My feet are very inflexible in the sense the the extensor tendons are very tight, but when you manually work the bones, they are very loose – it that makes any sense. No mention of arthritis. No broken bones. Thanks to all for the suggestions.