Pain in big toe for nearly a year

Hello,

I have pain in my left big toe which started in June 2017.  It doesn't hurt at rest, but it's painful when I put weight on it.  When it first started, it was so painful that I had a limp for a few weeks.  Then it reduced to a lower level and doesn't affect my ability to walk anymore, but it's always there when I put weight on it.  Sometimes it's worse than other times, but it hasn't caused me to limp or anything since it first started. 

I have full range of motion in the toe, so I guess it's not hallux rigidus, and it's not gout.  I don't think it's a bunion, as it doesn't look any different to my right foot, which is totally fine (although bunions do run in the family).  There wasn't any trauma or anything that could have caused an injury, and I was fairly inactive until this year, so it's not from overuse.

I saw a doctor back when it first started, and he didn't think it was anything to be concerned about.  I'm 36, so he said it's probably not arthritis (and I have full range of motion in the joints as mentioned).  He said maybe it was tendonitis and suggested ibuprofen gel, which didn't really have any effect. 

That was last summer, and the condition has not gone away.  A couple of weeks ago, I started taking tennis lessons, and although it hasn't affected my ability to play yet, it does sometimes get more painful on my walk home from the club (it's about a 20 minute walk).  I'm concerned that it might be an issue that will eventually stop me playing, but I don't know what it is, and I don't want to go back to a doctor only to be brushed off again.

Has anyone had anything similar?  Pain when putting weight on a toe, but no visible oddities, no initial injury, still fully able to move and bend the toe (although doing so is sometimes painful), and now going on for nearly a year?  The onset was quite sudden, but then it got milder and has stayed the same for months.  What could it be?  I'd expect tendonitis or a fracture to have healed by now.

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