Foot pain

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txbandman
txbandman Posts: 78
in Fitness and Exercise
Has anyone experienced this and/or have some idea of what I have done and how I need to proceed?
I have some pain (about a 5 on the 1-10 scale) on the top of my left foot - in front of my ankle, but not really far enough forward to be over my arch. I don't even know when it happened. I ran 10 miles on Sunday (a very long run for me - only the second time I have ever run 10), walked about 4 1/2 miles with my wife on Tuesday, and then I ran nearly 4 miles yesterday morning. No foot pain during the run. Then yesterday afternoon, I started to notice a little discomfort which got progressively worse through the evening. Not much change this morning after sleeping and hoping it would go away. No pain unless I'm standing.
Someone please tell me that I just had my laces too tight and it will be fine - I don't want to have to take two weeks off from running!
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Replies

  • edack72
    edack72 Posts: 173 Member
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    It very well could be related to how your shoe is fitting and/or laced I can't remember where I saw it but there is information out there on different ways to lace sneakers to avoid problems ...I have had something like that almost feels like a bruise I have loosend up my laces and that seemed to help good luck and keep on running!!!
  • EEfromJersey
    EEfromJersey Posts: 219 Member
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    Hey, a couple of weeks ago I had pain in the same area after an hour workout that developed overnight and progressively got worst during that day then the next morning couldn't but any pressure couldn't walk the pain was excruciating had to go to the ER only to find out & was being treated for gout, which I never had in my life.

    I'm not saying it is or isn't but sounds very similar to what I went through, I also had no incident/injury during my workouts found it very strange I thought maybe I had a stress fracture until the hospital visit and was very surprised that it was the gout. So keep on eye on the pain google both, if the pain persist definitely get it looked at.
  • TheRunningGuppy
    TheRunningGuppy Posts: 651 Member
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    This link has how to lace shoes different ways for running.
    http://katierunsthis.com/2011/10/04/running-shoe-lacing-techniques/
  • centarix
    centarix Posts: 123 Member
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    Bump!
  • ElyseL1
    ElyseL1 Posts: 504 Member
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    i think the muscle is just sore.I usually do the elliptical but got my hands on a copy of wii ft and have been doing a lot of the aerobics on there and had a similar pain. i just massaged right above my ankle and the pain is almost gone. have you been stretching after your run?
  • Doodlewhopper
    Doodlewhopper Posts: 1,018 Member
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    Maybe you fell victim of the "Terrible Toos" - too much, too soon, too fast. Did you increase your mileage too much? The rule of thumb is to not increase your mileage by more than 10% at a time. Seems to hold true for me.
  • alfmaster
    alfmaster Posts: 29
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    It could be a number of things from a stress fracture to the shoe. If it continues to hurt, I would definitely get it checked out. Here is a pretty good site that helps identify various injuries with illustrations and suggestions on how to remedy them:

    http://injuredrunner.com/
  • queenbea77
    queenbea77 Posts: 404 Member
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    Ice it & rest it - can't hurt. I had tendonitis in my right foot about 4 years ago. It started as a "tight feeling" along the outer side of my foot near the base of the toes/mid foot. It got to the point where it even hurt to push on the gas pedal in the car. It started to run down along the outer side of my foot and wrap up around the outer ankle bone. I spent 6 months of air boot, physical therapy and no exercise except swimming. Better to rest it, ice it and if you don't have any luck with it feeling better get to a podiatrist. Personally, I'd rather spend the money having it checked out sooner than waiting until later and find it sidelines me for an extended time. I'm taking a break right now and icing my same foot - this time it's either capsulitis (as per podiatrist) or a "non-specific" bone fracture (as per radiologist). Either way it is "rest, ice & stay off it as much as possible". And this all came on only since the 25th of April. I go back to DR at the end of May and see what's going on. Good luck to you - I hope yours is a quick fix.

    An after thought - after my foot got better the first time the DR said to be sure when lacing my sneakers to leave the laces loose enough so they wouldn't put additional pressure on the side of my foot.
  • EEfromJersey
    EEfromJersey Posts: 219 Member
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    I don't think it's the laces we're both friends on MFP so I know you do quite a bit of running, and if was sore the pain wouldn't persist it would just be sore, yea get it checked out to be safe, how bad is the pain?
  • passionflwr1
    passionflwr1 Posts: 31 Member
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    I'm glad you posted this. I'm not sure if you and I are experiencing the same pain but I was on a vacation in DC from Wed-Sun last week and the top of my right foot has been in pain ever since. We did an insanely extensive amount of walking.
    It really hurts if I position my foot upwards or downwards. Driving hurts because I'm changing the position of my foot from one pedal to the other.

    On the top of my foot, I noticed that I have a 'creaking' feeling when I bend it upwards and downwards.

    I did some googling today and saw that it might be a stress fracture. I really have no idea, but obviously I will need to go to the doctor if it doesn't get better.

    Last night it hurt pretty bad to the point where I was limping. Right now it hurts but not as badly as last night. It's pretty constant but some times of the day are definitely worse than others.

    I've also been experiencing pain in my left ankle. It was actually swollen after a long day while we were away last week. Now, the inner side of my ankle hurts on the left side. I'm not as concerned about this as I am with my right foot though.

    I'm having all sorts of problems!
  • txbandman
    txbandman Posts: 78
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    i think the muscle is just sore.I usually do the elliptical but got my hands on a copy of wii ft and have been doing a lot of the aerobics on there and had a similar pain. i just massaged right above my ankle and the pain is almost gone. have you been stretching after your run?
    Guilty. I stretch before my runs almost religiously, but I very rarely stretch afterward, even though I've read that stretching after a run is even more critical than stretching before. Will definitely try doing a little massaging around the area. Thanks!
  • txbandman
    txbandman Posts: 78
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    Maybe you fell victim of the "Terrible Toos" - too much, too soon, too fast. Did you increase your mileage too much? The rule of thumb is to not increase your mileage by more than 10% at a time. Seems to hold true for me.
    Probably guilty again. My longest run ever had been about 8 1/2 miles (mid April) until May 2nd. Did 10 miles for the first time then, and probably should have taken it easy for more than just the few days afterward before my second 10 mile run on May 5th. I was monitoring things pretty closely during that second long run, trying to be aware of little aches and such. When everything was okay for days afterward, I thought that I was in the clear. Would an overuse injury take nearly a week to manifest?
    Thanks!
  • txbandman
    txbandman Posts: 78
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    I don't think it's the laces we're both friends on MFP so I know you do quite a bit of running, and if was sore the pain wouldn't persist it would just be sore, yea get it checked out to be safe, how bad is the pain?
    Like I said, I would call it a 5 on a 1-10 scale; not anything that has me unable to walk, or even bad enough to make me walk with a limp. I hate to be too much of a sissy and panic from pain that I can deal with - I just don't want to do anything that would aggravate it if it is a real injury. Less than 24 hours right now, so how long does it have to continue before it would be "persistent" and something that I should get checked out?
    Thanks!
  • txbandman
    txbandman Posts: 78
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    I really appreciate everyone's help on this - some great suggestions/websites and encouragement. I hate reading things like "stress fracture", and I hope that it isn't anything like that. I'm definitely staying off of it as much as I can today and tomorrow - gonna do the "RICE" thing. We'll see how things feel Saturday morning - there is a local 5K that day for an organization in a small town 10 miles away, and I would hate to skip that, but if things aren't remarkably better, I will just send my regrets.
    Thanks again to everyone for their great help - it is much appreciated.
    Feel free to add me as a friend - I love talking running and value your advice!
  • txbandman
    txbandman Posts: 78
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    I'm glad you posted this. I'm not sure if you and I are experiencing the same pain but I was on a vacation in DC from Wed-Sun last week and the top of my right foot has been in pain ever since. We did an insanely extensive amount of walking.
    It really hurts if I position my foot upwards or downwards. Driving hurts because I'm changing the position of my foot from one pedal to the other.

    On the top of my foot, I noticed that I have a 'creaking' feeling when I bend it upwards and downwards.

    I did some googling today and saw that it might be a stress fracture. I really have no idea, but obviously I will need to go to the doctor if it doesn't get better.

    Last night it hurt pretty bad to the point where I was limping. Right now it hurts but not as badly as last night. It's pretty constant but some times of the day are definitely worse than others.

    I've also been experiencing pain in my left ankle. It was actually swollen after a long day while we were away last week. Now, the inner side of my ankle hurts on the left side. I'm not as concerned about this as I am with my right foot though.

    I'm having all sorts of problems!
    Obviously, it's always better to be safe than sorry, but with all the walking that you did, it seems like that would be the obvious cause of the problem. Hopefully yours is just soreness and things will steadily improve. I really can't see a stress fracture happening from that, but I'm not a trainer, so who knows. Hope things are better tomorrow!
  • TheQueenofBee
    TheQueenofBee Posts: 5 Member
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    I've had trouble with plantar fasciitis (not like the pain you're having), and after going to a podiatrist and having it xrayed and getting no relief, I finally found a chiropractor that could treat it. He does a form of stretching called ART (active release technique) and graston on my foot and calf. It's taken a few treatments, but it's getting better! For anyone who isn't getting relief by going to a traditional MD, I highly recommend it. You can find a practitioner in your area by going to activerelease.com. Good luck!
  • queenbea77
    queenbea77 Posts: 404 Member
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    I don't have an issue with regular MD's but I'll go see a chiropractor or physical therapist in a heartbeat. I had an issue with my hand so I went to a hand specialist. I got an x-ray & it was confirmed as tendonitis. He asked what I've done in the past for tendonitis & when I said physical therapy he said "besides that". I don't understand it - bottom line is getting better, what does it matter how it happens?

    Good luck with your issue - you know what's right for you
  • Doodlewhopper
    Doodlewhopper Posts: 1,018 Member
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    OP keep us posted on your foot. I bet a day or two's rest and it's all good.
  • BradD13
    BradD13 Posts: 10
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    Well, have you ever had an ankle sprain before? If not then that's probably what it is and the pain's just radiating.

    And if you're pretty sure that's not what it is, than I would feel the area surrounding where it hurts most and if it feels like there's fluid there, then you could have fractured a metatarsal, but if it's not too incredibly bad, there's really not much doctors can do for you unless, like I said, it's you have multiple fractures on the same bone.

    It could even be a strain on any of the smaller ligaments or extensor tendons in your foot. If it becomes too painful, see a doctor, but I wouldn't be immediately concerned if flexing isn't overly excruciating. I personally use WalkFit to take care of my foot pain. It’s really simple to apply and use and the pain usually goes away after an hour of using it.

    But if it's just nerve pain and you haven't actually damaged anything, I'd give WalkFit a try. It's probably one of the only insoles that helped relieve my foot pain when all the other over the counter stuff didn't quite cut it for me. There's an in-depth review of it here: http://reviews.3dsvita.com/walk-fit-platinum-review-is-this-a-scam/

    Hang in there!
  • jonywags
    jonywags Posts: 1
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    I would recommend you not to wear shoes that are too tight across the top of the foot. Loosen your shoelaces in order to lessen pressure on the tendons on top of the foot as continual pressure on a particular area irritates the nerve and can cause severe foot pain. Icing, resting and switching to the right shoes will help you ease your pain. . I would further advise you to wear running shoes while running. Consult Foot Solutions experts if you find any difficulty in buying right running shoes. They will make sure you get the right shoes for your feet.

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