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Foot pain that started on my recent hike

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
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Looks like I have an injury to my left foot.

Probably => Metatarsalgia ... pain and inflammation in the ball of your foot. ... It’s sometimes called a stone bruise ...

Noticed pain in my foot after about 10 days of walking. Figured I had bruised my foot on the rocks of the trail. We walked an average of 13.5 miles per day. First 7 miles were typically not a problem. From the half way point to perhaps the 10-11 mile point I was uncomfortable with pain radiating from the ball of my foot up through the big toe. The last couple miles I was typically in serious pain, loss of feeling in my toe, sometimes 2 toes.

Rest would eliminate the pain and problem.
After a couple hours of rest I was able to walk without pain around whatever village we were stopping in for the night. Overnight rest and my foot felt fine the next morning.

The pain would start up the next day at roughly the 1/2 way point.

Noticed far more/faster pain when walking on city streets, sidewalks, cobblestone, asphalt. Noticed far less problems when walking on fields, dirt paths, loose gravel paths, etc.

Now that we are done with the trip my foot pretty much feels a bit tender all the time. Not serious pain, but there is a dull pain that I feel most of the day.

Bought some very padded shoes which seem to make life better. Hoping that rest, anti-inflamitories allow this to heal. There are other treatments, including therapy and in severe cases surgery. Not sure that I need any of those. I'm not an athlete.

Going to see how this goes over the next few weeks and hope it simply heals with relaxation and a slower lifestyle. I have a trusted podiatrist that I will visit if necessary but really hoping to forego that visit.
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
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You can buy silicon tarsal pads in various shapes and sizes from Amazon. Might be worth trying.
 

tiredretired

The Old Salt
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Best of luck my friend. Foot injuries are a bear. Long and slow to heal. We must walk, so when we do, we aggravate it.

I know all too well. My years of running and a nasty ankle sprain which resulted in me falling down half a flight of stairs blew out my posterior tibialis muscle resulting in a fallen arch. A condition known as PTTD.

Resistance exercise of the muscle and expensive Podiatrist Orthotics are now my lot in life. Not to mention sneakers that now cost as much as a pair of Salvatore Ferragamos. :yum:

Good luck and don't be afraid to visit a Podiatrist. Those that self diagnose have a damn fool for a patient. That's the best advice I can give, sir.
 

Catavenger

New member
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foot1.jpg
Seriously that's my foot (I had reconstruction surgery after an accident) so I know that foot pain is pretty bad. All the best.
 

Melensdad

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Cat, not sure if sword canes are legal but that might be a fun way to heal myself.



You can buy silicon tarsal pads in various shapes and sizes from Amazon. Might be worth trying.
I bought a pair of ultra padded Hoka One One shoes. They have soles that are 2 to 3 times as thick and normal shoes and look like something Bozo the Clown might wear in his old age.



Best of luck my friend. Foot injuries are a bear. Long and slow to heal. We must walk, so when we do, we aggravate it.

I know all too well...
...
Good luck and don't be afraid to visit a Podiatrist. Those that self diagnose have a damn fool for a patient. That's the best advice I can give, sir.

Yup, hard to avoid walking. But for now I get to send the women folk out to do the yard work while I recover :brows:

Not afraid of the podiatrist. I actually think mine is one of the good guys in the medical field. That said, if I can reduce my activity for a bit, wear padded shoes, and self heal over the next few weeks that is certainly a better alternative and appears to be just as likely to heal my food as anything the doctor might prescribe ... he will likely toss in a little P.T. but basically tell me that rest, ice, elevation and padding are needed.
 

Melensdad

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FWIW I now have an appointment with the podiatrist. See him in 2 weeks.

Until then I have 2 new pairs of very padded shoes.
1 pair of Sketchers loafers with foam rubber soles that are nearly 1" thick.
1 pair of HOKA ONE ONE running shoes with foam rubber soles that are over 1" thick.​
Both look like clown shoes. The HOKA ONE ONE shoes are pretty interesting in that they are real athletic shoes, worn by serious athletes, apparently they started the clown shoe thick sole trend? Don't really know or care but they treat my left foot better than the Sketchers, which are, in my opinion, too flexible for my foot condition.
 

tiredretired

The Old Salt
SUPER Site Supporter
FWIW I now have an appointment with the podiatrist. See him in 2 weeks.

Until then I have 2 new pairs of very padded shoes.
1 pair of Sketchers loafers with foam rubber soles that are nearly 1" thick.
1 pair of HOKA ONE ONE running shoes with foam rubber soles that are over 1" thick.​
Both look like clown shoes. The HOKA ONE ONE shoes are pretty interesting in that they are real athletic shoes, worn by serious athletes, apparently they started the clown shoe thick sole trend? Don't really know or care but they treat my left foot better than the Sketchers, which are, in my opinion, too flexible for my foot condition.

Very smart decision.
 

Melensdad

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Very smart decision.

Well I figured I better do something when, even after a few days of rest, my foot would hurt morning to night.

Besides, the lovely Mrs_Bob is thinking we will walk across Italy next summer. Probably a shorter trip. Italy has more hills so walking is harder, distances per day are shorter. Figured we covered 500+ miles on foot across Spain even after deducting for some short hops on bus routes when the lovely Mrs_Bob had foot/leg injuries.

The walk in Italy, if we do it, will either be from Florence to Assisi to Rome or maybe just Assisi to Rome? Maximum of 275-ish miles. But possibly about 1/2 that, which would allow us to use our time to get to other parts of Italy like Pompeii and Venice and Lake Como (using rent a car or public transport).

I was in Northern Italy long ago. The lovely Mrs_Bob has never been there. While it would be nice to walk from Florence to Rome, it would take 28 days based on the route I looked at, might be better to walk for 14, cover 1/2 the distance, and then use the other 2 weeks for more touristy stuff so we could use our time to get to other parts of Italy like Pompeii and Venice and Lake Como (using rent a car or public transport).
 

Melensdad

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Still waiting to get into the appointment (its not for another week or two).

In the mean time I have 2 pairs of ultra-thick sole HOKA ONE ONE shoes. A pair of their running shoes and a pair of their hiking shoes. They seem to help me, not sure if it is because the soles are so padded or if it is because the soles are a bit less flexible, or both?

I also found a pair a Altra trail runners on sale and ordered those from Steep & Cheap. They are the new Altra Lone Peak 3.0 Neoshell Trail Running Shoe model, I'm surprised it was on sale. I have high hopes for the Altra shoes because of the shape of the toe box, but I'm unsure about the flat foot profile. My hope is that these things help.

What I know is that my foot still hurts. Its nothing like the pain I was in near the end of my hike. But it still hurts.
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
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Hopefully you heal up. I know all about foot pain. Unfortunately, it seems the doctors I'm stuck seeing want to give me the race horse treatment; take me out back and get rid of me. :hammer: They are just beginning to learn how hard headed old Dargo can be! :biggrin:
 

Melensdad

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Hopefully you heal up. I know all about foot pain. Unfortunately, it seems the doctors I'm stuck seeing want to give me the race horse treatment; take me out back and get rid of me. :hammer: They are just beginning to learn how hard headed old Dargo can be! :biggrin:

While I wait to get in for my appointment I've been prowling the inter-webs that Al Gore so thoughtfully invented for us and from what I can tell, taking me out back and shooting me like a lame horse is not in the care protocol.

Near as I can figure rest, ice, padding seem to be the most common treatments.
 

Melensdad

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Well just got home from the food doctor.

Self diagnosis was correct. Basically I over-used my foot, caused swelling, and the resulting inflammation aggravated a nerve. Rest should help. Padded shoes should help. Will clear up over time. And its already better than it was when I made the appointment.

So I'm on the mend. But its likely that I'll be aggravating it again over the next few days in North Carolina as we are taking Melen back to college and planning to get in a bit of hiking while we are there.
 

EastTexFrank

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But its likely that I'll be aggravating it again over the next few days in North Carolina as we are taking Melen back to college and planning to get in a bit of hiking while we are there.

Melsdad, you are your own worst enemy. What part of "rest should help" don't you understand? OK, it's not life threatening but it's not much fun either. I think that if you ask Melen, she'd tell you to stay the hell home with your foot up. I completely understand that the lovely Mrs Bob wants to see you suffer. :yum::yum::yum:
 
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