Foot pain help
ariceroni
Posts: 422 Member
Hi all, I’ve been having some aches/pain in the top of my foot and was hoping someone here has experienced something similar in the past.
The long version- three weeks ago, I was staying with my family in the smokey mountains and ran a total of 37 miles on trails while there (over the course of 5 runs). It was all up or down hill, almost no flat spots, very different from what I’m used to running in chicago. I also noticed that my trail running shoes were a little on the small side (width), and that my feet would slide forward in the shoes on the downhills. This led to some soreness across the top of the balls of my feet, and even a small blister on the “knuckle” of each big toe. I got back to chicago and ran my 18 mile long run for the week (on 7/15) and had a little soreness in my right foot towards the end, but didn’t really think anything of it. Sometime during the following week, I’m not exactly sure when, I noticed that my right foot was still feeling sore across the top. I am able to walk and run without pain, it just feels a little tight for the first few miles of my run and then goes away. Afterwards though I feel an achey/burning pain across the top of my foot that persists during the day. I was very diligent last week about icing 3-4x a day and taking 3x800 mg ibuprofen to help with any inflammation I might have, but still followed my training schedule as planned (50 mile week with 20 mile long run). However, all the icing and ibuprofen didn't seem to make much difference, I haven't noticed any change over the last week. I can run and walk without really noticing any pain (just some tightness), but the rest of the day my foot aches while I’m sitting at my desk. There also is some pain if I press on the top of my foot, along the 3rd metatarsal. I’m 10 weeks out from the Chicago marathon right now, and worried that it could be a stress reaction/fracture, but everything I’ve read about metatarsal SFX says that it should hurt more while running, not less! I’m a graduate student with bottom of the line health insurance and very little income, so going to the doctor unfortunately isn’t really an option right now. I’m not really sure what to do going forward, whether I should take a week off to see if it improves, or continue training since it doesn’t really bother me while running and hasn’t gotten worse in the last week and a half that I’ve been training on it.
tldr- pain/ache in the top of my right foot for the last ~1.5 weeks. Can run and walk without really noticing any pain, it just feels tight for the first 2-3 miles running. Persistent dull ache/burning sensation when I am not running. Some pain present if I press along the 3rd metatarsal. Treated with ice/NSAIDs over the last week while still training; no improvement but it also isn’t getting worse.
Has anyone here experienced something similar? Or have any advice on what I should do as far as marathon training?
The long version- three weeks ago, I was staying with my family in the smokey mountains and ran a total of 37 miles on trails while there (over the course of 5 runs). It was all up or down hill, almost no flat spots, very different from what I’m used to running in chicago. I also noticed that my trail running shoes were a little on the small side (width), and that my feet would slide forward in the shoes on the downhills. This led to some soreness across the top of the balls of my feet, and even a small blister on the “knuckle” of each big toe. I got back to chicago and ran my 18 mile long run for the week (on 7/15) and had a little soreness in my right foot towards the end, but didn’t really think anything of it. Sometime during the following week, I’m not exactly sure when, I noticed that my right foot was still feeling sore across the top. I am able to walk and run without pain, it just feels a little tight for the first few miles of my run and then goes away. Afterwards though I feel an achey/burning pain across the top of my foot that persists during the day. I was very diligent last week about icing 3-4x a day and taking 3x800 mg ibuprofen to help with any inflammation I might have, but still followed my training schedule as planned (50 mile week with 20 mile long run). However, all the icing and ibuprofen didn't seem to make much difference, I haven't noticed any change over the last week. I can run and walk without really noticing any pain (just some tightness), but the rest of the day my foot aches while I’m sitting at my desk. There also is some pain if I press on the top of my foot, along the 3rd metatarsal. I’m 10 weeks out from the Chicago marathon right now, and worried that it could be a stress reaction/fracture, but everything I’ve read about metatarsal SFX says that it should hurt more while running, not less! I’m a graduate student with bottom of the line health insurance and very little income, so going to the doctor unfortunately isn’t really an option right now. I’m not really sure what to do going forward, whether I should take a week off to see if it improves, or continue training since it doesn’t really bother me while running and hasn’t gotten worse in the last week and a half that I’ve been training on it.
tldr- pain/ache in the top of my right foot for the last ~1.5 weeks. Can run and walk without really noticing any pain, it just feels tight for the first 2-3 miles running. Persistent dull ache/burning sensation when I am not running. Some pain present if I press along the 3rd metatarsal. Treated with ice/NSAIDs over the last week while still training; no improvement but it also isn’t getting worse.
Has anyone here experienced something similar? Or have any advice on what I should do as far as marathon training?
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Replies
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Cut and paste from the main thread: "While your foot may not be getting any worse, taking pain killers may be masking things, and is a good way to make any injury worse. Get it seen to and let an expert tell you what your best course of action should be. I talk from experience - I did the same thing and wound up with a stress fracture that put me out of action for a couple of months."
It sounds like it could be tendonitis...that's pretty much all there is across the top of the foot, but I'm not a doctor, I'm no expert, and you should really get it seen to by someone that is both of those things! Best of luck.
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@ariceroni - I haven't had your symptoms, but between PF in left foot and then prescribed orthopedics creating tendonitis in my right knee I am becoming an recent expert in running injuries
Agree with above advise from @garygse - best to see a specialist to rule out a stress fracture and get the proper care, etc. Link below details much of what you described (i.e. tight shoes and/or lacing may have created the issue/continuing the problem. Summary does say one way to see if it is either tendonitis or a fracture is by pulling your toes outwards and if it creates pain, it might indicate a stress fracture.
If a visit to podiatrist isn't in the cards immediately, then rest. If tendonitis, it may get worse if you continue to run on it and ultimately may make the injury worse and delay the healing and add to recovery time later on. :
(i.e. I tried coming back to soon on my knee - not a good move). Also, you might consider alternative lacing techniques to relieve pressure on the top of your foot.
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/foot-heel-pain/extensor-tendonitis1 -
I’m sitting here with a small hard rubber ball under my foot at the moment, doing a little self massage. I do this after most runs, especially long ones, to release all the tight spots. Hurts like hell, clicks disturbingly loudly, feels amazing afterwards. Try it - a tennis ball will do.0
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I had a stress fracture in my metatarsal a few years back. It hurt to walk and running wasn't even a possibility. After spending 6 weeks in a boot, my podiatrist recommended that I use OTC orthotics in my shoes. She gave me the Pro Step brand and I have been using them ever since. If I try to run without them, I experience some slight pain in that foot, so I guess they are doing the trick. Although we believe that the stress fracture was a result of prolonged use of prednisone (unrelated issue) she also thought it could have been brought on by running too many steep hills, which I was doing at the time.
I hope yours is not a stress fracture and that you get it worked out. BTW, sometimes it's very hard to diagnose a stress fracture. They are usually not seen on x-rays and often require an MRI for a definitive diagnosis. Initially, she wanted to put my foot in a cast without doing an MRI. My insurance paid for the MRI (they are pretty pricey), so I went ahead with it. The results of the MRI were inconclusive, but suggested that a stress fracture could be present. Since it was not severe, we went with the boot rather than the cast.0 -
Thank you for the feedback everyone! Some great suggestions here. I've been resting my foot up the last few days; no running, no biking (it hurts a little), and as little walking around as possible. The PT place near me does free injury screenings, so I went there yesterday evening to get things checked out. They said there is noticeable swelling on the top of my foot, and the pain unfortunately is on the bone, not the tendon as I had hoped. Likely not a full-blown stress fracture, just the very beginning stages of one. Of course they can't actually diagnose anything, but suggested that I stay off it as much as possible and get it checked out by a podiatrist ASAP. The Chicago Marathon is 9.5 weeks away, so there's still a chance I can run the marathon since I caught this early, though I'll have to put my BQ goal on hold for now.
I have an appointment tomorrow with a podiatrist who specialized in sports injuries. I'm assuming he'll poke my foot a bunch, order an x-ray (nothing will show up, of course), suggest an MRI (I will decline, insurance only covers half of it), and call it a "stress reaction". I'm kind of thinking it will just be a waste of money, but at least he can give me guidelines on how long to take off based on the severity, and how to start training back up. Also if there's any chance of still running the marathon. If I were doing things on my own, I'd probably just wait until it stops hurting, take an extra day or two, then jump right back in and re-injure it
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Thank you for the feedback everyone! Some great suggestions here. I've been resting my foot up the last few days; no running, no biking (it hurts a little), and as little walking around as possible. The PT place near me does free injury screenings, so I went there yesterday evening to get things checked out. They said there is noticeable swelling on the top of my foot, and the pain unfortunately is on the bone, not the tendon as I had hoped. Likely not a full-blown stress fracture, just the very beginning stages of one. Of course they can't actually diagnose anything, but suggested that I stay off it as much as possible and get it checked out by a podiatrist ASAP. The Chicago Marathon is 9.5 weeks away, so there's still a chance I can run the marathon since I caught this early, though I'll have to put my BQ goal on hold for now.
I have an appointment tomorrow with a podiatrist who specialized in sports injuries. I'm assuming he'll poke my foot a bunch, order an x-ray (nothing will show up, of course), suggest an MRI (I will decline, insurance only covers half of it), and call it a "stress reaction". I'm kind of thinking it will just be a waste of money, but at least he can give me guidelines on how long to take off based on the severity, and how to start training back up. Also if there's any chance of still running the marathon. If I were doing things on my own, I'd probably just wait until it stops hurting, take an extra day or two, then jump right back in and re-injure it
good decision on your part to get expert advise. Wishing you the best of luck/news.
FWIW - If you are able to resume training relatively soon, while Chicago may not be in the cards for a BQ 2019 run....close by and 13.5 weeks out is the Monumental Marathon in Indy and 14.5 is Madison Marathon (more hills however) to maybe set you up for Boston 2020 ,which has a better ring to it anyhow
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Thank you for the feedback everyone! Some great suggestions here. I've been resting my foot up the last few days; no running, no biking (it hurts a little), and as little walking around as possible. The PT place near me does free injury screenings, so I went there yesterday evening to get things checked out. They said there is noticeable swelling on the top of my foot, and the pain unfortunately is on the bone, not the tendon as I had hoped. Likely not a full-blown stress fracture, just the very beginning stages of one. Of course they can't actually diagnose anything, but suggested that I stay off it as much as possible and get it checked out by a podiatrist ASAP. The Chicago Marathon is 9.5 weeks away, so there's still a chance I can run the marathon since I caught this early, though I'll have to put my BQ goal on hold for now.
I have an appointment tomorrow with a podiatrist who specialized in sports injuries. I'm assuming he'll poke my foot a bunch, order an x-ray (nothing will show up, of course), suggest an MRI (I will decline, insurance only covers half of it), and call it a "stress reaction". I'm kind of thinking it will just be a waste of money, but at least he can give me guidelines on how long to take off based on the severity, and how to start training back up. Also if there's any chance of still running the marathon. If I were doing things on my own, I'd probably just wait until it stops hurting, take an extra day or two, then jump right back in and re-injure it
A podiatrist is exactly what I was going to suggest. There are a lot of different parts in the foot, and the proper treatment can vary depending on exactly what it is you hurt. There are non-intrusive treatments for stress fractures, and non-intrusive treatments for tendinitis; but they are *different* non-intrusive treatments. You pay the podiatrist for his expertise in finding the root cause, then you grumble because what he tells you to do about is something you think you should have figured out on your own. Except you *wouldn't* have figured it out on your own.0 -
The bad news is I have a stress fracture in my 3rd metatarsal and will be stuck in a boot for at least the next 3.5 weeks. The good news is that the stress fracture showed up on the X-ray, so at least I didn't have to worry about an MRI 2
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The bad news is I have a stress fracture in my 3rd metatarsal and will be stuck in a boot for at least the next 3.5 weeks. The good news is that the stress fracture showed up on the X-ray, so at least I didn't have to worry about an MRI
3.5 weeks isn't forever. It will only feel like forever.0
