Hello! Well, I wanted to share an update about my foot pain journey. After conducting extensive research, I’ve compiled a list of websites that might be helpful. It was quite challenging to find information specifically related to my foot pain, especially considering I suspect it might be a running-related injury. Most of the initial search results I encountered were about general foot problems, which weren’t quite applicable to my situation. In my quest, I also looked for a podiatrist just like this reliable podiatrist in Brisbane who could provide specialized guidance tailored to my condition.
PLUS some of them were scary and stressful!
Do I have gout?
Do I have toe cancer?!
Hammertoe??
Is that when you’re bitten in the foot by a Hammerhead Shark!??
* Scroll down for a link to resources for RUNNERS with Foot Pain. *
First… since this is my blog and my foot hurts and I have no friends to share this with – I’ll give ya an update on my foot.
Foot Injury Timeline Update
Check this post for My Foot Pain part 1 – we left of on Sunday.
Monday: Despite getting aggressive with the RICE method on Sunday – I woke up Monday and was in a lot of pain. It was very painful to walk. The ibuprofen, ice and elevation didn’t seem to help at all. My friend recommends me to try the pain relief medicine from an online clinic like EU Meds.
I called my doctor but couldn’t get in until Tuesday. And when I made the appointment they said there isn’t an x-ray machine at the office so I’d need a referral for that.
So I decided to go to Urgent Care.
At Urgent Care they took x-rays of my foot and didn’t see anything.
As in… I don’t have bones??!! I’m a slug?!
No.
I mean they didn’t see a stress fracture – which I knew was going to happen from my research. Stress fractures are really hard to see on x-ray in the little bones of the foot. Several websites said they often don’t appear in x-rays and I’d need an MRI.
The Urgent Care doctor said not to run and try other activities. If it still hurts in a week, I will need to visit a foot care specialist. Foot care specialist or podiatrist is a foot doctor who can treat conditions affecting the foot, ankle, and lower leg, such as bunions, diabetes, or sports injuries. If you need immediate pain relief, you may visit your trusted physiotherapy expert. The sports physio in Prahran will take extra care of you.
I limped back to my car… I was still in pain, couldn’t walk on it, no diagnosis and now I was also getting depressed.
I continued to Rest, Ice, Elevate my foot. I didn’t do the ‘Compression’ part of the RICE method because my foot was swollen and sensitive to pressure. As it is I needed to loosen my shoes as much as possible!
Tuesday: Doctor’s Appointment – I told my doctor about the x-ray and she agreed that it wouldn’t show a stress fracture. An MRI would be able to show more information about what’s going on inside my foot guts but it’s expensive and she felt like it wouldn’t change treatment.
Basically, she thinks it’s a stress fracture and we should treat it as such. I can’t do anything on my foot when I’m in pain so getting an official diagnosis wouldn’t that. I can’t run as long as it hurts. I need to ice it, wear a boot and rest.
I think it might be tendinitis though. (I also saw it spelled as tendonitis.) Unfortunately, most of the info on tendinitis in the foot is about Plantar fasciitis or Achilles tendonitis. So it’s been hard to figure out the difference between a stress fracture and tendinitis the top of the foot area. Moreover, if you’re suffering from plantar fasciitis and need specific insoles for your condition, then you may consider using plantar fasciitis insoles or getting custom orthotics.
Boo.
I continued to Rest, Ice, skipped Compression, Elevate. And I took Diego to my friend’s house because I can’t walk him right now.
Wednesday: I remembered a while back I went to acupuncture when I stubbed my toe twice in one day. OUCH. I thought I broke it and wanted all the help to get it back to 100% as fast as possible.
When I went to the acupuncture appt the practitioner used a tuning fork on my toe to see if it was broken.
I JUST REMEMBERED!!!
So I left a message on their voicemail to see if they still do that / the guy is still there that did that / can I get an appt? <- check back for that.
As of right now… I’m sad and stressed that I can’t run. But I’m trying to handle it with perspective and think about the big picture.
Yes, I have a lot of races coming up – it’s the Fall Half and Marathon season!! There are several races on my calendar!!
But what can I do?
I can’t run on an injured foot.
It wouldn’t really help me to force myself to run on it – since it would make the injury worse and recovery take longer. I’d rather not run for 2 weeks and get back to it with solid mileage than try to run again tomorrow… get in 2 miles and have to quit from pain… then run 4 painful miles this weekend and wake up with it worse the next day and extend my time off even longer!!
Yes, I need to train if I want to run the half marathon in October and full marathon in November.
But I don’t want to be injured. And I don’t want to fight with foot pain for the next 3 months dragging it out because I didn’t let it heal. I want this to be fixed so I can run a lot of races and put it in a good training cycle to run a faster marathon!
I think there are a few ways I can look at this situation:
A. You can’t run for 4 to 6 weeks. But once that time is up and you’re not in pain – you can start a new training cycle and choose a marathon at the end of that! Pick another race further out so you have time to train.
B. If you don’t run for 2 weeks you’ll lose fitness, gain weight, get slower and have to start over. Take a few days off and then try to run again asap!! You’re not going to be ready for your upcoming races!
And I want to focus on WHAT I CAN DO not WHAT I CAN’T DO.
- I can do strength training.
- I can do yoga. (That doesn’t hurt my foot)
- I can find a gym with a pool and swim.
- I can do some cardio crying.
- I can use the time I usually use for running for another hobby that makes me happy.
- I can consider starting a food blog called Meat Eat Repeat that’s all keto recipes?
My point is…
I’m still sad and stressed that I can’t run. But I want to be smart about how I’m handling it physically and mentally.
Posts Mentioned:
My Foot Pain part 1 (previous post)
What Finally Helped My Broken Toe
Healthy Toenails Tips for Runners
*I’ll be back soon with a list of the resources and websites that were helpful in learning about what’s up with my foot.*
I sometimes get pain in my feet wearing some types of boots, it must be something the boots are made of…. does anyone know of any type of socks I could wear that would insulate my feet and hopefully stop this reaction ??
I think you should get a wagon and have Diego pull you around in it like a sled dog. Walks and rest together!
Def not a doctor here, but I’ve had a stress fracture in my foot and it looks/sounds very consistent with what you’re dealing with (discoloration, significant pain & tenderness in a specific area, painful to put weight on). If it is a stress fracture, it will need 4-6 weeks of rest to completely heal (which sucks because it will probably stop hurting before then and you’ll be so tempted to get back to it). You’re being very smart by staying off of it and not pushing it right now. Whatever it is, I hope it heals completely and quickly! Hang in there! The pool is a great option in the meantime–pool running is good too!
I agree with pool running! I was just going to comment the same – its a great alternative when you are injured. Good luck – rest up!