Forums >Health and Nutrition>Thoughts on foot pain
Snowdenrun
About a month ago near the end of my run my foot started hurting. I finished out my run without much pain. The next day I could hardly walk. I took 2-3 weeks off from running and have been working my way back into it. I currently have been running about every 2-3 days. I can run, it feels okay, and the next time it doesn't and I'm walking home. The pain is on my second metatarsal area(the one right next to my big toe). I say area because I'm not convinced its a bone problem. Mainly the pain is about 1/3 the way up my foot on the top. The bone is tender in one area, but so are the muscles/tendons around it. When the pain is at its worst the pain radiates down to the tip of my toe. I was at the doc today for a completely unrelated appointment and asked about it and the doc was also not convinced it was a stress fracture since the pain is not isolated. The doc mentioned something called Metatarsalgia. Its the nerve getting inflamed. From some research this fits a lot of my description.
Basically I'm wondering if anyone else has had any symptoms like these and what you did about them. I almost never take IB Prophen. But the doc mentioned taking it for about a week. I think I may try this, at least for a few days and see if it helps. I have been icing it some, and have been stretching my feet as best as possibly and massaging it regularly. It is only on my right foot, left foot is perfectly fine.
When this first occurred I was upping my mileage. But nothing drastic. I was not overdoing it by any means. And by upping mileage I mean the basics, from 5-6 miles to 6-7 miles(in my opinion just growing as a beginner runner.)
Also, I wear 5 finger shoes, if that helps with anyone's ideas.
Thanks.
Also look into extensor tendinitis - that is what caused my top of foot pain.
I ended up with 3-4 weeks off before I could really run on it again. Iced it like crazy for that time - I even had an ice pack under my desk at work. When I started back up, I found that relacing my shoes to skip the x over the sore spot helped a lot. I ran with my shoes like that for at least a month when I started back up running - it wasn't until then that I felt comfortable lacing them back normally.
My wildly inconsistent PRs:
5k: 24:36 (10/20/12)
10k: 52:01 (4/28/12)
HM: 1:50:09 (10/27/12)
Marathon: 4:19:11 (10/2/2011)
I had very similar pain - 2nd metatarsal, some swelling of the general area and focal pain of the bone and pain of the tendons around it. Unfortunately, i had a 2nd metatarsal stress fracture AND extensor tendonitis. After 10 weeks in an aircast, the fracture healed, but I'm still battling the tendonitis 6 months later. I didn't do too much different to cause the injury - I was training for a HM, but my mileage had been roughly the same for months. I was running in Vibrams and NB Minimus at the time. I've since upgraded to a real shoe (Kinvaras) for a bit more support. I'm not sure if the minimal shoes were a factor, but after 10 weeks of not running, I wasn't willing to chance it again.
I've also had metatarsalgia (also while in Vibrams) but my discomfort was on the bottom/ball of my foot, so I can't comment about how it might relate to the top of the foot pain.
I avoided NSAIDs during my fracture as there is some evidence they can delay healing. I iced a lot and of course was fairly immobilized in the aircast.
If there is any doubt, I'd talk to your doc about further diagnostics. My stress fx showed up on X-ray from day one (though they often don't). A bone scan or MRI can help get a firm diagnosis for you.
Thanks for the thoughts. I did a little research on extensor tendinitis. That's also something very likely. My doc was a little hesitant to say it was metatarsalgia since that is normally on the bottom up the foot, although not always. Both the home treatments are basically the same for both. I think I'm going to go with this for a while, add a lot more icing. If I still don't see change in a few weeks I'll probably drag my butt in to the doc's office. I live in a poor location for specific medical care. If I went in it would result in an x-ray, possibly physical therapy but the nearest peoditrast is a plane flight away. Neither of which I can really afford, but if it's something I can't fix there aren't many options.
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Thanks. At first glance, looks like a helpful site. I'll have to bookmark it and look at it after work.
About a month ago near the end of my run my foot started hurting. I finished out my run without much pain. The next day I could hardly walk. I took 2-3 weeks off from running and have been working my way back into it. I currently have been running about every 2-3 days. I can run, it feels okay, and the next time it doesn't and I'm walking home. The pain is on my second metatarsal area(the one right next to my big toe). I say area because I'm not convinced its a bone problem. Mainly the pain is about 1/3 the way up my foot on the top. The bone is tender in one area, but so are the muscles/tendons around it. When the pain is at its worst the pain radiates down to the tip of my toe. I was at the doc today for a completely unrelated appointment and asked about it and the doc was also not convinced it was a stress fracture since the pain is not isolated. The doc mentioned something called Metatarsalgia. Its the nerve getting inflamed. From some research this fits a lot of my description. Basically I'm wondering if anyone else has had any symptoms like these and what you did about them. I almost never take IB Prophen. But the doc mentioned taking it for about a week. I think I may try this, at least for a few days and see if it helps. I have been icing it some, and have been stretching my feet as best as possibly and massaging it regularly. It is only on my right foot, left foot is perfectly fine. When this first occurred I was upping my mileage. But nothing drastic. I was not overdoing it by any means. And by upping mileage I mean the basics, from 5-6 miles to 6-7 miles(in my opinion just growing as a beginner runner.) Also, I wear 5 finger shoes, if that helps with anyone's ideas. Thanks.
Hi,
I am a walker and the exact same thing happened to me in early December, but on my left foot! Stretching, ice, elevating the foot, anti-inflammatories and massage did little to relieve my pain. In the past I have been plagued with shin splints and plantars fasciitis ( and 1 bout of Achilles tendonitis many years ago) but they are kept under control now by an intensive stretching program every morning. When the pain became almost unbearable I looked on the web to see what to do. I found the answer on youtube. I put in "top of foot pain" and I found a video (I believe it is the 4th or 5th one and it has made a MAJOR difference in my life!
The woman on the video found that re-lacing her shoes took the pressure off this tendon - you need to see it, it's too difficult to put into words! She also stressed the importance of a cushioned sock. I went to my running store and purchased a pair of Feetures light cushioned socks and I comfortably walked two miles with no pain! More importantly, my feet feel the best they have ever been! I wear NB 1080v2's and they are a neutral shoe, but this re-lacing was a life saver! I know that the type of shoe you are wearing may be comfortable but I believe that you need a new shoe and a cushioned sock, that is just my humble opinion! I hope this of some help!
Take care,
Lisa