Chronic foot pain - ongoing 3 years

Hi All,

I have an ongoing chronic foot pain which has been affecting my daily life for the past 3 to 4 years. The pain is in between the first & second metatarsal webspacing/junction & travels to under the arch of my foot (Right foot).

It all started 4 years ago when I was playing soccer & injured my big toe. I kicked the ground with my toe and at the same time I kind of tweaked my ankle. For days after that I rested & compressed my foot with ice. The big toe swelled up for a few days & went back to normal. I thought nothing of it as I always injured myself. I rested & thought it would be fine. 2 weeks had gone by, and my pain is still unbearable. There was no swelling anymore, and my foot looked perfectly fine. But I couldn't walk. So I went to the doctor. He did the usual. Sent me to get an xray, the xray came out clean. No sign of any fracture, no bone misalignment, nothing. 

After that he referred me to an orthopedic surgeon who also checked my foot out. He sent me to get an MRI. The MRI came out fine, except for small liquid around my joint in the big toe, which didnt ring any alarms of distress. He told me to relax and let it heal, it will take time. So I took his advice.... 2 months pass, 4 months pass, 6 months pass. Im unable to walk longer than 100 meters without feeling pain. I most certainly cannot run or carry any weight with me or it will trigger chronic pain. Resting and not putting any weight on the foot is fine, I don't feel any pain at all when not using it at all.

After 6 months had passed I booked to see another orthopedic surgeon, I needed to get this foot sorted. I love sports & I cant stand the fact that I was partially immobile. This new orthopedic surgeon was a foot specialist. He booked me in to get 3 MRI scans. One of the forefoot, one of the mid foot & one of the hind foot. Surprisingly all came out CLEAN. His only advice was, its a nerve issue. Go see a neurologist. So I went to a neurologist. He did a nerve conduction test, came out crystal clean. Absolutely no issues. He prescribed me Lyreca and said see how that goes. It kind of helped but not really (maybe only 20% help), however it also had side effects - it made me go slightly blind. I stopped using it immediately & ran out of ideas. The neurologist said something that really upset me. "You're either overly obsessing with this and there is no real issue, your mind thinks that there is pain but there isn't, or you're just going to live with it and get used to it". How can my mind make up such chronic pain.

Anyways I left it at that, 1 year had passed, 2 years had passed I just learned to get used to it. After the 2 year mark, my health started deteriorating, no running, no sports, no gym, absolutely nothing. Gaining weight, getting depressed, it was affecting my everyday life. (Im only 27 by the way!!!!!!!!!!! This all started at 24). So after 2 years had passed I booked in to see a Podiatrist, maybe he could help me, get me some inner soles etc. I booked in to see a Podiatrist & he had a look at my foot, my stance, the way I walk etc. He noticed that I have been walking on a supinating angle on my right foot, I started walking on an angle since the beginning of the injury. It kind of avoided the pain. He prescribed me inner soles and fixed my foot alignment. I started wearing them for a few months however it did not help with my pain. He injected me with cortizone in the affected area, but no luck, he started injecting anaesthesia on certain nerves to isolate nerve issues, still no help. He finally referred me to a Podiatric Surgeon, someone who should be the best of the best with foot problems. I went to see him, he saw all my previous MRI scans, XRAYs and made me do a CT scan. All came out clean. I also did a weight bearing Xray. Every single scan came out completely clean. 

I've come to a point in my life where this is affecting me so badly that I drink my depression away. I take painkillers on a daily basis & dont know what to do with myself. Im only 27 and I cant do anything. I cant work, I cant walk, I cant go up stairs NOTHING. Luckily I have a job as a Software Tester so I sit all day.

The exact point of location for my pain is in the webspaces between my first and second metatarsal of my right foot. Its right in between that junction of the 2 metatarsals. Sometimes the pain travels to the arch of my foot. (This is all in the right foot.) I try do a deep massage of the web spacings & sometimes I can get to a point where it hurts so much when I touch it. Its deep in between the 2 metatarsals, sometimes it feels like its under the 2nd metatarsal. Closer up towards the lisfranc joint. In between that junction of the 2 metatarsals. & sometimes it is in the arch of my foot, directly under the first metatarsal. When I do a deep massage I feel great sign of relief. However only when I massage it, When I stop massaging, the pain is still throbbing.

I dont know what else to do.

The pain is chronic, it hurts alot, it also intensifies during cold weather. 

Has anyone else experienced this? Or anything similar? Sorry for the long message however I needed to give my background on all the things I have done to date.

Im out of suggestions and turn to the general public for any advice.

Thanks all!!!!!!!!

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