Active Community: Message List - Foot Pain

Re: Foot Pain

guest — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:32:12 GMT

If you do have Morton's Toe, then you might find the following useful:

http://www.triggerpointbook.com/mortons.htm

Re: Foot Pain

guest — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:43:30 GMT

Thank you for the info about Morton's foot. My spending 10 minutes reading these posts and checking the alignment of my toes, helped me more than the hours I have spent at Dr, podiatrists, and PT in years past! I am 40 and have not run much in the past 1 1/2 yrs due to forefoot pain. I started running in jr. high and have ran many fun runs of various lengths, completed 3 half marathons and 2 marathons. A friend recently asked if I would do a 10 K trail fun run with her (begged actually), and I winced thinking of the pain it may cause my foot. As a good friend would, I registered for the run (now it is a commitment to myself and my friend!) and then looked at Med Tent on Active.com and found your post. I knew I needed to be proactive and not let this pain keep me from running. Thank you so much! I will be trying out your suggestions and will follow up after my run. -Returning Runner, hopefully pain free

Re: Foot Pain

guest — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:59:38 GMT

Thanks for the responses, they are really helpful.

I'm going to try relacing my shoes and loosening up the toe box. I do remember getting this pain back in my pre-kid days when I used to wear heels all the time. So I'm hoping that giving my toes more room will help.

Thanks again!

Re: Foot Pain

guest — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:27:54 GMT

Racing a Half within the first year of your running career is not too high a goal for most people. Unless you are running too many miles a week, your body should be adapting to a modest amount of exercise, with plenty of time to recover.

My best guess without further information is that there is something about the way your foot strikes the running surface that results in more pain in that one spot. It could be an uneven running surface (ie: slanted road), the wrong shoe, too many miles, foot structure, hip structure or biomechanics. There are also medical conditions involving the ball of the foot. Sesamoiditis is an inflammatory condition involving a tiny bone between the first metatarsal head and the skin pad that defines the main "ball" of your foot behind the big toe. Some people also develop necrosis of the bone tissue in this area or degeneration of the fat pad between the sesamoid bone and the skin.

Al of these things can be important to a diagnosis of your condition, but before it gets too far along, you need to identify why the condition has developed. I assume it was not an obvious problem until you were well into your exercise program.

At this point, it would be helpful to have your running form analyzed. Some gyms, running stores, and physical therapists offer this service. It usually involves shooting a video from a couple angles while you run on a treadmill. Some therapists offer analysis of these vids by e-mail. There are also biometric sensors that can be strapped to your legs and feet to produce critical data about the motion of your foot that is then analyzed by computer. Either way, it can provide important clues about excess motion, like pronation, that can overstress the ball of your foot. Some of these traits can be easily assessed by eye in a running store, or even in a mirror if you know what to look for, but detailed step-by-step analysis is most revealing.

If you have excessively high arches, or walk in shoes with an elevated heel, the problems created can roll over into your running. Another condition that I often write about is Morton's foot, which involves a short first metatarsal. This is easy to identify just by looking at your foot in good lighting. If you scrunch the toes downward it is easy to see if the "knuckle" of the big toe (over the ball of the foot) comes up short related to the knuckles of the smaller toes, which should all be in a straight line, regardless of toe length. A high percentage of people have this "short ball" foot structure - including me, so don't be surprised if you do too. If you do, it is likely to cause problems for running that many others on this forum have had to deal with as well.

Remember that padding for shoes can be a double-edged sword. It might make you feel less pain in the short term, but cause excess-motion injuries later. Some shoes and braces, that are used to provide support and prevent excess motion, can actually restrict the natural motion of your foot, and increase the chances of injury. Not all pads or devices are equal.

To summarize, foot structure, running form, shoes, and running surface are all very important if you want to run high mileage races and train for them. If you need professional help, you can expect to consult more than one specialist and spend out-of-pocket, unless you have very good insurance. Might be a good idea not to mention that you compete in sports if you want it paid for, lol. Exercise is widely prescribed, but many in the medical profession draw the line at competition. Meanwhile, you can get plenty of advice on everything I have mentioned (and more) in this forum.

The most important thing to do at this point, in my opinion, is to hold off on your racing goals until the condition of your foot, and your running form, have been properly assessed. Better to take a little break now for a brighter future, than risk months of injury for a long race that could leave you limping for a long time.

Re: Foot Pain

guest — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 23:46:48 GMT

You could have a neuroma. That's where the bones on your feet pinch the nerves that run to your toes. Over time the nerve gets inflamed and feels like a pebble under the ball of your foot. A podiatrist would try squeezing your feet to see where you get the pain.

There are other possibilities, of course, but neuromas are reasonably common. Try googling "Morton's neuroma" and see if the symptoms match.

Foot Pain

guest — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 22:26:35 GMT

Long time stalker first time poster. I usually get most of my question answered just by reading others posts. Now I have a question that I couldn't find an answer to so I thought I'd post.

I just started running last year. I graduated C25K in June and ran multiple 5K's, a couple of 10K's and some 4 & 5 milers between then and the end of the year. I am now training for my first half marathon in May. I did a 6 mile run on Sunday and at about 3 miles I started having this pain in the middle of the ball of my left foot. Tuesday and today I went for 4 mile runs and at around mile 3 the pain came back. It feels like a pebble in my shoe and it goes away soon after I stop running. Does anyone know what this could be or what is causing it?

Shoe history - I got fitted for shoes last May (Pearl Izumi's) and had really good luck with them, so when I started my half marathon training in January I just went out and bought another pair exactly like them.

Thank you!