kick off my sunday shoes
For the last two years my left foot has been irritating me slightly. Not a lot, and not constantly, which is why i haven't pursued it more aggressively. For two years I cycled in trying to rest it and treat it gently, being pain-free for days or weeks at a time and thinking that I'd healed all up, and then doing something like running, or walking, or standing weirdly, and it would hurt again. I felt odd making a deal out of it, because it has always been at most a 1-2 on the pain scale, and what pain there is generally goes away after 10-20 minutes of sitting. Heck, that's normal life for a lot of people. But it's also keeping me from doing more physical activity, and things like running and volleyball are things that I really want to do again.
This month, with my latest big project wrapping up, I decided it was time for some action, and I called up UPMC Center for Sports Medicine and told them I wanted to see someone about my foot hurting, hoping to be able to find a doctor who would do more than just get me back to "daily activities" (since I'm already there) and also respect that "just stay off it" for a month really isn't an simple thing for me to do.
Last week, I saw a therapist (Pat Flynn) who put me through various strength tests and inspections and pokings and proddings. He commented on my very high arches and was unimpressed by some of my hip strength (but later amended it to say that it wasn't bad for someone who bikes and runs a lot). Nothing seemed amiss until he got to my second toe and bent it downwards and suddenly YOW THAT HURT. Unfortunately he didn't have an easy answer, although he theorized that it was a sprain, not a fracture, and recommended I see a physician.
This week, I met with a physician (Mark Sakr) who ordered x-rays. The good news is that the x-rays looked fine. The bad news is that it meant we still haven't really figured out the bug. He also commented on my high arches and suggested that was a contributing factor. His recommendation is that I try metatarsal pads for a few weeks to ease pressure on the area. If that doesn't help, he gave me a prescription for a custom orthotic. And if those don't help, we can get an MRI and look for more clues. He also suggested I primarily wear my athletic shoes while doing this, taking some regular anti-inflammatories for a while, and trying to do some running after a few weeks.
I like having a plan. This sounded good to me, so we shook hands and he sent in an assistant to give me a pad to try out. She came in and asked me where the pain was. I pointed to the top of my foot on the toe joint, and she went "ok" and stuck the pad on top of my foot. I went "uhhhh" and asked something like "how is that supposed to work" and she hrmmed a little and said "well, we are told to put it where the pain is, but most of our dancers report the pain on the bottom of the foot" so I looked at the package directions and she said "let's try the bottom" and switched it to there. We decided that would probably work better, so I put on my socks and shoes and headed into work.
Today I went online to learn more about met pads and realized that 1) the internet suggests wearing them differently a) stick to shoe, not to foot, and b) put it on foot in front of the pain, not right at pain, and 2) the manufacturer's website suggests a different size for me (high arch - M; she gave me S). I also had trouble finding more information about how to wear it properly for top-of-foot pain. So I am slightly disgruntled as I feel like I wasn't given enough information to make my experiment of wearing met pads a proper one, and since my pain isn't severe, I'm not sure if my trial-and-error is really going to work. I'm tempted to go head and get the orthotic done sooner just because I can, because it can't hurt to have one, because I have a script, and because then I can ask the therapist about how I should be properly wearing the met pads because he'll probably be more help than whoever that assistant was.
Damn bodies.
This month, with my latest big project wrapping up, I decided it was time for some action, and I called up UPMC Center for Sports Medicine and told them I wanted to see someone about my foot hurting, hoping to be able to find a doctor who would do more than just get me back to "daily activities" (since I'm already there) and also respect that "just stay off it" for a month really isn't an simple thing for me to do.
Last week, I saw a therapist (Pat Flynn) who put me through various strength tests and inspections and pokings and proddings. He commented on my very high arches and was unimpressed by some of my hip strength (but later amended it to say that it wasn't bad for someone who bikes and runs a lot). Nothing seemed amiss until he got to my second toe and bent it downwards and suddenly YOW THAT HURT. Unfortunately he didn't have an easy answer, although he theorized that it was a sprain, not a fracture, and recommended I see a physician.
This week, I met with a physician (Mark Sakr) who ordered x-rays. The good news is that the x-rays looked fine. The bad news is that it meant we still haven't really figured out the bug. He also commented on my high arches and suggested that was a contributing factor. His recommendation is that I try metatarsal pads for a few weeks to ease pressure on the area. If that doesn't help, he gave me a prescription for a custom orthotic. And if those don't help, we can get an MRI and look for more clues. He also suggested I primarily wear my athletic shoes while doing this, taking some regular anti-inflammatories for a while, and trying to do some running after a few weeks.
I like having a plan. This sounded good to me, so we shook hands and he sent in an assistant to give me a pad to try out. She came in and asked me where the pain was. I pointed to the top of my foot on the toe joint, and she went "ok" and stuck the pad on top of my foot. I went "uhhhh" and asked something like "how is that supposed to work" and she hrmmed a little and said "well, we are told to put it where the pain is, but most of our dancers report the pain on the bottom of the foot" so I looked at the package directions and she said "let's try the bottom" and switched it to there. We decided that would probably work better, so I put on my socks and shoes and headed into work.
Today I went online to learn more about met pads and realized that 1) the internet suggests wearing them differently a) stick to shoe, not to foot, and b) put it on foot in front of the pain, not right at pain, and 2) the manufacturer's website suggests a different size for me (high arch - M; she gave me S). I also had trouble finding more information about how to wear it properly for top-of-foot pain. So I am slightly disgruntled as I feel like I wasn't given enough information to make my experiment of wearing met pads a proper one, and since my pain isn't severe, I'm not sure if my trial-and-error is really going to work. I'm tempted to go head and get the orthotic done sooner just because I can, because it can't hurt to have one, because I have a script, and because then I can ask the therapist about how I should be properly wearing the met pads because he'll probably be more help than whoever that assistant was.
Damn bodies.