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Brief dog story: Once upon a time in the dog park, my dog was trotting along quite happily when for no reason she pulled up lame. She limped over to me and held up her sore paw, with a look of utter confidence that I could make it better.
Well, I'm doing the same thing: limping over to my blog hoping someone out there knows how to make it better.
Ever now and every then, the ball of my foot starts to hurt. This has happened before, with different shoes, different trails. It even happened last year. (See? If I hadn't been blogging, I wouldn't have remembered. )
Sunday I was trotting along and wham suddenly the ball of the foot starts to hurt bad. I slowed to a walk, and after a few minutes the pain went away and I could jog again (slowly). Afterward, I did the ice and vitamin I. The foot felt swollen, but not painful.
Then, I was just walking along and again, ouch. And again, then the pain went away.
Now I'm sitting here and I can feel the foot is swollen, it's tender, but it doesn't actually hurt. Maybe I can run on it and it won't get mad at me. Maybe if I run on a trail rather than that mean nasty concrete? Maybe if I promise it ice and ibuprofen and a lolipop it'll be okay? Maybe...
Is this something that can be cured with magical stretching exercises? I mean, it keeps coming back regardless of the shoes I'm wearing, so it must be something I'm doing wrong.
Argh.
Exercise du jour: 2 miles jogging. Maybe.
Fail. The foot doesn't hurt, but despite all the I & I, the swelling isn't going away. I'll try again Wednesday.
Wednesday: Fail. Foot actually hurts if I don't pamper it. Just my luck, a foot that thinks it's a primadonna.
Thursday:
Done! Finally. Ran on woodchip trail and the fancy what's-it stuff that Nike uses on its track -- some kind of rubber from the soles of shoes. When the damn foot hurt, I walked. When it didn't, I jogged slowly. At the time, I thought there was a lot of walking, but looking back it wasn't all that bad a pace.Now off to reward myself with a glass of red wine and an ice pack. (I figure it's good to apply pain killers internally as well as externally. Be thorough, that's my motto.)
11 comments:
Here I thought you were giving me a treat of some kind. Sheesh.
Haven't had this issue before? Roll a tennis ball around with your foot? Scrunch up towels with your toes? Beats me...these are just some foot related exercises I've heard people do in the past (not counting big toe handcuffs but that was in my S&M class).
But Nitmos, isn't my blog treat enough?
(Whaddya mean 'no'?)
Thanks -- I'll try the ball on the ball of the foot technique. And I'll look for toe handcuffs :)
a common running injury is plantar fascitis which can be painful and is basically an inflammation in the foot. usually you will find it hurts more in the morning with that. i use a ball that i found at a running store, about the size of a golf ball but with tons of little nubbins on it. also the dansko shoes (the cloggy ones that nurses wear) are my "miracle shoes" whenever my feet get a little finicky. don't know why or how but they work. and definatly stay off the concrete if that hurts!
I thought you were going to tell us about some fabulous new shoes. I'm sorry I don't have anything helpful to suggest.
I was thinking massage too but I hadn't thought of the tennis ball which is a really good idea. Of course I recently decided that paying a professional to beat the crap out of you while using scented oils is a very awesome use of extraneous income.
Not relevant to your problem, but the title reminded me of the time when Stony got a treat stuck in his paw. It fitted right between the pads when he stepped on it (poor dog often manages to miss the cookie on the first try) and he searched and searched all over the floor until I saw him limping and figured out what had happened. I am a cruel dog-mama: I could hardly stop laughing long enough to get it out for him.
You would have noticed if you had a piece of chocolate stuck to your foot, surely?
Mary Anne in Kentucky
Don't think it's plantar f.
I found this with google:
http://www.foot-pain-explained.com/metatarsalgia.html
using specifics of your symptoms/biomechanics (e.g. do you have high arches?) perhaps that might zero in on it.
Might want to keep to softer surfaces (if that helps?) until you figure out the mystery..
..body-as-machine sometimes requires debugging 8)
-p
I'm not sure what to suggest, but I hope you find a solution soon. Foot pain is no joke.
Mary - Do you have "The Good Feet" store where you are? If so, get thee there ASAP. They will be able to fit you with custom-made orthotics that will help you immensely!
Normally, plantar fascitis is in the heel - not the ball of the foot (I've known two people that have had it).
Read about Morton's neuroma and metatarsilitis. You probably have one of those. If so, see a podiatrist. "Ball of the foot" is not planter faciitis, that's closer to the heel. If you have been running on hard surfaces or with poorly cushioned shoes you could have either of the things I mentioned.
(still laughing at Mary Ann from Kentucky's comments)
But I'm not laughing at your predicament. I admire your perseverance to work through the pain/swelling; you're a trooper. But maybe you could hold off exercise walking/jogging until you get it checked out. Otherwise, the problem could become worse and chronic.
I currently am dealing with plantar fasciitis (extreme heel pain -- not the ball of the foot). I'm not suppose to exercise walk until I have a week without pain. No flats nor flip-flops. I have to wear supportive shoes all the time (I look lovely for church). :P
One of my treatments is to roll a frozen water bottle with my foot to massage and have cold-pack-therapy at the same time. I wonder if that would help your foot.
Just take it one step at a time.
(sorry...i had to)
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