Foot Injury from long run.

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May 17, 2019 at 11:44 am #22129

curriespencer
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Did a long run and everything felt fine until the next day. I had a achy pain near the top of the pinky toe metatarsal. No swelling and redness in the area. It’s been about 5 days since then. It’s getting better but now there’s a bit of minor crunching when I walk. The area is tender when I press on it. I’ve been using hot/cold alternation on it which seems to help.

I haven’t run and have just been biking instead. If I put on tight shoes the area bothers me a bit more as well. Does anyone know what it might possibly be. It’s been getting better so I’m holding off on heading to the doc or physio.
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Posted In: Injury & Rehab

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Pete Dickinson MS,PT on May 19, 2019 at 6:24 pm #22200

curriespencer,
Pain on the top of the 5th metatarsal with running can sometimes be caused by upward movement of the outside of the foot. This can happen due to a forefoot varus alignment which causes greater pronation of the forefoot dropping the inside, and pushing the outside up. Of course there is a lot of shoe interplay here either helping or hurting this process. Sometimes a simple metatarsal pad can be used to support the forefoot before getting into more involved orthosis. As always, review your training progressions to look for errors in over-enthusiasm. Rest will help and I hope you are down the road soon!
Cheers,
Pete

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curriespencer on May 23, 2019 at 12:35 pm #22423

Thanks for the reply. The pain has ebbed and flowed the last week or so. It seemed like it was going away but then came back again yesterday. I’ve just been cycling and no running for now.

I’ve been running/hiking with barefoot shoes for years and this is the first injury I’ve had with them. I did buy a pair of Altra’s to break up the miles between shoes.

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davidorti on June 21, 2019 at 10:37 am #23776

Hi curriespencer,

Maybe this has already (apparently, at least) healed for you. I hope so. After having same symptoms for some weeks, I had some troubles recognizing it at first attemps with professional advice. It’s been around 10 months and I am still recovering, even using regular shoes. Pain is almost gone but it rebounds quickly if I don’t take enough care. In the process I have learned a lot:

– Take care of your load, don’t accumulate too much suddenly. If so, avoid too much running on hard surfaces/shoes. (Maybe here Hoka One One, stability and cushioned running shoes can help: Arahi for road, Speedgoat for trail).
– Now, cushion is your friend. Even in your daily life.
– Maybe you are going to need some custom insoles.
– Apply loads slowly: try some 20-minute easy run and take 2 days to evaluate pain.
– If you can’t run, you still can do some bike (as you do). Maybe you can walk uphill (tradmill too), and even do some elliptical bike.
– Warm/cold contrasts can help, done daily. NSAIDs too.
– Do not walk barefoot, nothing, even at home. Seems like not, but it can even fracture the stressed bone.
– Corticoid infiltrations can even worsen this situation, as they get the fat surrounding your 5th metatarsal bone reduced, eliminating the “natural cushioning” of your foot.

Maybe it is a good time to go to a good chiropodist, specialized in running if possible.

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