The last few weeks I’ve had a nagging problem with one of my feet.
Every time I power walk, I experience pain and discomfort in the ball of my foot where my second and third toes connect to the main part of my foot. At home, I have a hard time going sock foot, and have to put on my moccasins and slide, rather than walk. If I stay off the foot, the pain recedes; go for a walk, and I end up limping, unable to walk at all unless I put on my runners. So, of course, I Googled my symptoms.
The Mayo Clinic results indicate Metatarsalgia as the potential culprit. There’s a variety of causes, but the one that rang a bell with me was poorly fitted shoes without proper arch support. It makes sense, as the pain problem cropped up after I bought new athletic shoes.
Though I bought my usual brand–Asics–I bought a lower-priced shoe; the $100.00 cheaper Excite version, as opposed to my usual Cumulus version. So, thinking to correct my miserly mistake, I Googled best shoes for foot pain, and found an article sharing top athletic shoes for support, as recommended by a podiatrist: 13 Best Running Shoes with Arch Support. Asics topped the list, so off I went to my local Sport Chek first thing this morning.
Long and short of my athletic shoe-buying visit: the young man who helped me strongly suggested I visit my doctor before buying new shoes. You know, just to rule out causes other than crappy shoes. Sigh. Don’t these practical people realize I have better things to do than have a doctor diagnose my pain and suggest treatment options, when I can just do it myself using Google? Anyway…
I made the call, and surprise, surprise, my doctor had a same-day opening. Long and short of that doctor visit: x-ray and lab work. Oh, and a prescription for a topical anti-inflammatory, along with recommendation I wear my shoes in the house and rest my foot as much as possible until lab and xray results are in. If there’s no stress fracture in my foot, or inflammatory markers in my blood, then chances are the pain is the result of what I think it is: me cheaping out on shoes.
So, in keeping with this week’s self care theme, I’m resting my foot. Taking my vitamins. And planning to hit the gym tonight and use the recumbent bike to fit in my exercise that I very much need. Without a daily dose of exercise and stretching, my body gets very cantankerous, squealing and groaning and throbbing with pain.
At the moment, however, I’m basking in gratitude for the Sport Chek guy who nudged me to do better than to self-diagnose, my doctor’s office and the xray/lab facilities for fitting me in so swiftly, the pharmacist who whipped up my compounded anti-inflammatory in less time than it took me to use the blood pressure machine twice (excellent BP!), and the sunshine streaming in my office windows as I type this.
What are you grateful for today?
Deborah
I’m just a person trapped inside a woman’s body.
~Elayne Boosler
