Ow, ow, farging ow!

[jducoeur]

Bitch, whine, moan. Woke up this morning with a new and distinctive pain. It's a little hard to describe, but if you imagine that someone had taken the front of your left foot and attempted to clumsily snap it off -- it's something like that. A nasty, strong, interior pain, running across the foot between the ball and the arch. (Such as it is.) Seems to hurt mainly in ordinary walking: the act of rolling from the heel to the ball is what really sets it off.

The really annoying part is that I have no idea what caused this: I was fine when I went to bed, AFAIK. But it's been hurting like blazes since I got up this morning, and the usual painkillers only help a bit. Hopefully it'll go away on its own within a few days, or I may have to actually consult the doctor on it: dancing on this isn't an option. (Even walking without a pronounced limp takes a real force of will.)

Comments

[mindways]

Even if it lets up on its own, might be worth a consultation just to find out some possibilities as to what it might have been / what might have caused it.

#include <standard exhortations re: taking care of yourself, getting pain checked sooner rather than later, etc.h>

[querldox.livejournal.com]

Does the area of the foot seem at all inflamed or swollen? Was there any stiffness you recall from the previous evening? Has the pain been building up?

Hate to say it, but my first guess is that it might be gout, something I've got. Any history of it in your family?

[jducoeur]

No, none of that. If it was swollen I'd worry about a stress fracture or something like that. And if it had been building up I'd be worried about any *number* of things. (Although AFAIK there's no gout in my family at all.) But it was quite sudden.

Seems to be less intense today, which is a good sign -- hopefully it's just something muscular that got abruptly set off...

[eclecticmagpie.livejournal.com]

I can't compare it to gout, but it sounds similar to Plantar Fasciitis (Bane of Dancers), or something in that family, as well. If it is PF, then heat should make it feel better (but not make it *get* better) and anti-inflammatories are supposed to both make it feel better AND get better (but never did anything for me) and gentle stretching (runner's stretch) and massaging (with a foot roller or a tennis ball or some such) should both help it feel better (we're talking immediate relief) and get better (a few days/weeks, but with immediate improvement).

PF, and similar problems, tend to hurt most in the morning and get gradually better through the day.

Hmm. rereading your post, you say "across the foot, between the ball and the arch", which I interpreted as "along the foot, from the ball to the arch". So, while it could still be a related ailment, that makes it sound less like PF in particular. It also means that the particular stretch I mentioned might not be the right one.

By the by, if you decide that medical attention is called for, I recommend (highly!) the Sports Medicine division of Children's Hospital. They're expensive, but not as much as going to a variety of different doctors who don't understand a thing about dancing and its effect on the feet.

[camilla-anna.livejournal.com]

agreed.

That's how my PF started. NSAIDS helped the most. You want to get it diagnosed, as you may want to get orthotic insoles for it. Wear supportive shoes that don't let your feet wobble sideways.

I also buy "Superfeet" which are available in some hiking shoe stores. Non-prescription orthotics.

[doubleplus.livejournal.com]

I don't recall exactly how mine started, but it isn't necessarily an ongoing condition. I get it every eight months or so. When it's bad enough (which it definitely was the first time), I get my foot taped at the doctor's, which provides temporary support and limits the motion. A lot of the time it hurts for a day or two, but not bad enough that I actually do anything about it before it goes away.

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

PF (which I have) hurts further back on the foot, mostly in the heel and arch. However, I had something similar to what you're describing about 7 or 8 years ago, and it was an inflammation in the ball of my foot. I couldn't feel it when I prodded the area, but a doctor could. The cure--a tiny pad taped to the inside of my shoe that took pressure off of the inflamed area and totally eliminated the pain.

I'd recommend seeing a doctor sooner rather than later. No matter what it is, you don't want to exacerbate it, and if you can get quick relief, why wait? And if I'm wrong and it is PF, let me know. My doctor gave me the sports medicine cure rather than the traditional medicine cure, and from what I've heard from other folks with PF, this cure works a hell of a lot faster than the traditional one.

[jducoeur]

Interesting data -- thanks! (As I mentioned above, I've got PF, and as you say, this seems to be further forward than that...)

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

Good luck. Foot pain is just flat-out no fun.

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

...it sounds similar to Plantar Fasciitis...

That's what I was thinking; my recollection, however, is that the pain was in the heel-to-Achilles-tendon area. But it's (mercifully) been a long time, and I could be misremembering....

[jducoeur]

Actually, I've had fairly bad PF -- it's why I rarely do buffens any more, and why I try to be strict about using dance shoes nowadays. (With my lack of arch, barefoot dancing turns out to be a Really Bad Idea.) This is rather forward of that. And yes: it's laterally *across* the foot, rather than along it.

Thanks for the recommendation, although my first course of action (if I decide it's warranted) will probably to see the orthopedist who diagnosed my PF several years back...

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

From your description, it sounds like more severe PF to me, but maybe I'm reading you wrong. I highly approve of making an appointment with the orthopedist. And sooner, rather than later.

I haven't read all the other comments, but...

[patsmor.livejournal.com]

Sounds exactly like the symptoms of Plantar Fascitis. Typical diagnostic symptom is severe pain when you stand up in the morning.

The doctor can give you a recommendation for an orthotic; the most important things for me have been lots of hamstring stretching exercises, remembering to sleep, etc, with my toes pointed at a 90-degree angle from my ankles, and sometimes icing my feet.

I have a related bone spur that looks like a churchkey can opener coming off my heel, where the fascia has pulled on the bone strongly enough to reshape it. No fun.