Ohhh, my foot hurts

Dear Foot Blogger Chick,

Ohhh, my foot hurts!  It started out not so bad but has been getting worse.  The pain seems to be between my 3^rdand 4^th toe on the ball of my foot.  Make it go away!

                                                                                                                                            Sharona

Dear Sharona,

This is so exciting!   Your name actually rhymes with what it sounds like your problem could be!  How rare is that?  All I can think of that rhymes with Foot Blogger Chick is “give a dog a lick” and I am not doing that….

I digress…

It sounds a lot like you have developed a neuroma.  I usually say it is aroma with a “n”.(get the foot connection? Aroma=smelly feet???  I crack myself up)

I digress…

A neuroma is painful.  It can feel like you are standing on a pebble or that your sock is scrunched up under your feet.  It can cause a sharp burning pain in the ball of your foot.  Your toes can even sting, burn or feel numb.  A neuroma is a thickening of tissue around a nerve in your foot due to the bones rubbing together.

Here it the thing about neuromas that I like.  They give you warnings to behave yourself.  You just need to heed the warning.  So, if your foot starts to hurt in the way described, try and figure out what caused it and stop doing it.

Often times the cause is (Da Ta Da…) ill fitting shoes.   If you notice pain after wearing a certain pair of shoes, stop wearing those shoes.  I don’t care how much you paid for them.  Stop wearing them.  Also, if you have another foot problem like a bunion or hammer toe or flat feet, these will make it more likely that you will develop a neuroma.  Sometimes runners or people who play “court sports” like basketball or volleyball will develop neuromas due to the repetitive motion.

If you ignore the pain, neuromas will get worse and will sideline you for awhile.  By not alleviating the pain, the tissue around the nerve thickens and it will hurt more and more.  If you continue to ignore it, the changes will become permanent and a much bigger problem.  The initial response to the problem is to rest the foot and change shoes.  If you can tolerate ibuprofen, that may help with the pain.  If that doesn’t work, then you need to go see your friendly local podiatrist.  Your podiatrist can examine your foot.  This is not a problem that can be found on an x-ray.  If there is a question, you need to have an MRI. Because of the specific nature and location of a neuroma, it is most likely that the doctor can tell by massaging your foot.  If needed, the doctor may give you an injection to relieve the pain and shrink the neuroma.  The doctor may also fit you for custom orthotics to help relieve the pressure.  If you have ignored the problem for a long time, you could end up with surgery being the solution.

The lesson here is to pay attention to the message from your feet.  The quicker you pay attention, the easier the solution.

                                                                                                                          Your Pal,

The Foot Blogger Chick