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Pain In Bottom of Front Foot Behind Ball In Front Arch

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stephie2012
stephie2012

I have had a foot condition for 3+ years that is still a mystery to doctors. I have seen 8 "specialists" ranging from podiatrists, to neurologists, to bone & joint specialists. I have had surgery, shots, procedures, physical therapy, to no relief. I cannot be the only person out there that this has ever happened to!

The pain is in the front bottom of my foot, behind the ball, at the front of the arch (behind where you feel the pain for morton's neuroma but not far enough back to be arch pain). I first noticed this when getting off of an exercise bike at the gym. I was training for a half-marithon at the time, so I was running long distances every other day. I am not sure what actually caused the injury. It is burning as well as achy.

I eventually lost the ability to walk and was on crutches for a few months. After I thought I had healed, I started running again and ended up unable to walk again because the pain was so intense. 

I have had x-rays, a high res MRI, invasive high res neurological tests, and nothing has shown any damage other than from walking stangely to baby the area with pain. These tests have also proven all of the "diagnosies" I have recieved to be incorrect.

But the injury is so bad that the only way I can walk is to wear an orthodic that shifts my weight to the back of my foot and I can only wear tennis shoes. I still have pain, but it makes it so that I can at least bear weight.

Any help appreciated; I cannot be the only person that has ever suffered from this!

0 likes, 24 replies

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  • jp66967
    jp66967 stephie2012

    Posted

    Please list the diagnoses which you have received and the investigations performed to date.
    • stephie2012
      stephie2012 jp66967

      Posted

      Thank you for the reply. Here is what I can think of off the top of my head:

      Diagnoses (I should add that these all turned out to be incorrect based on tests): Tendonitis, PF, MN, Entrapped Nerve, Nerve Damage, Stress Fractures, Metatarsalgia, torn planter facia, broken bones, misaligned joints, tarsal tunnel syndrom.

      Test: X Rays, MRI,  Ultra sound, Nerve Conduction Study, EGG

      (1) regular doctor that thought it was tendonitis. (2) podiatrist, that claimed that it was PF, but only in 1 foot and proscribed insoles. Ended up unable to walk and that same podiatrist said it was an entrapped nerve and had steroid injections over several months. With no relief, I had surgery to cut the ligaments to make room for the swelling nerve. All of these diagnoses were without anything other than the podiatrist feeling and observing my foot. Absolutely no relief after surgery and podiatrist told me all the pain was from scar tissue even though the pain was the same and not where the incissions had happened. (3) Podiatris that said it was misaligned joints and stress fracures based on oserving and messing with foot specialty insoles proscribed that provided little relief, X Rays supported none of this (4) regular doctor that thought I had broken bones, X Rays proved otherwise, (5) Orthopedic sergion thought it was metatarsalgia and MN and sent for MRI which showed damage to foot from limping (bone marrow edemas and periodontis) but that is all. (6) Bone and Joint Specialists that thought it was a muscle spasm and sent me for 8 weeks of PT with no relief. After no relief thought it was tarsal tunnel syndrom. (7) Physical Therapist said it was permanent nerve damage. (8) Neurologist thought it was nerve damage until the nerve conduction study and EGG showed no damage.

    • jp66967
      jp66967 stephie2012

      Posted

      "Bone marrow (o) edemas and periodontis (I think that he meant periostitis) are both very significant positive findings. To attribute these findings to "limping" is nonsensical..
  • inger07187
    inger07187 stephie2012

    Posted

    WOW I read this and boy did it resonate. I have a similar case to you, it has been two years this week. I have been through two GP's, four Podiatrists, an Orthopeadic Surgeon and am now seeing a Rhumatolagist. I have had two MRI's, two bone scans and around 10 plain Xrays. Original diagnosis was for a stress fracture in the third metarsal left foot but as it never showed any healing it was ruled out. I was in the cam boot for many months. After a year it went away ( mostly) and then started in the same spot on the other foot three months after. any weight bearing caused a limp.. I have lived in Sneakers for two years. I was then diagnosed with Friebergs Disease or Rhumatoid Arthritis but current MRI is now not supporting this.??????. I too have that pain and burning under the ball of the foot, achy, swelling, I too was very sporty and the onset came during a period of peak excercise. I too wear Orthototics, I have just started with a new technology in Orthotics called BarefootScience, I got the recommendation from someone on this forum who had Rhumatoid in the feet and found she could run agin in this orthotic system . I am six weeks in and am having some success thus far. Time will tell. I also went into the roll sneaker which are unbelievable in helping my symptoms.

    Happy to share stories, I am very interested in your several diagnosis'.......

    • stephie2012
      stephie2012 inger07187

      Posted

      Thank you very much for the reply. I knew that I could not be the only person in the world with this issue, and it is debilitating! I should add that my foot is very sensative to touch of any sort, which probably resulted in some of the miss-dignoses. It is so sensative b/c I baby it so much.

      Here is a break down of the last 3 years w/ medical personnel:

      (1) regular doctor that thought it was tendonitis. (2) podiatrist, that claimed that it was PF, but only in 1 foot and proscribed insoles. Ended up unable to walk and that same podiatrist said it was an entrapped nerve and had steroid injections over several months. With no relief, I had surgery to cut the ligaments to make room for the swelling nerve. All of these diagnoses were without anything other than the podiatrist feeling and observing my foot. Absolutely no relief after surgery and podiatrist told me all the pain was from scar tissue even though the pain was the same and not where the incissions had happened. (3) New Podiatrist that said it was misaligned joints and stress fracures based on oserving and messing with foot, specialty insoles proscribed that provided little relief, X Rays supported none of this (4) regular doctor that thought I had broken bones, X Rays proved otherwise, (5) Orthopedic sergion thought it was metatarsalgia and MN and sent for MRI which showed damage to foot from limping (bone marrow edemas and periodontis) but that is all. (6) Bone and Joint Specialists that thought it was a muscle spasm and sent me for 8 weeks of PT with no relief. After no relief thought it was tarsal tunnel syndrom. (7) Physical Therapist said it was permanent nerve damage. (8) Neurologist thought it was nerve damage until the nerve conduction study and EGG showed no damage.

      Click here to view image

  • inger07187
    inger07187 stephie2012

    Posted

    I might add my new Podiatrist has her own name for this consition as she sees it often apparently, "Debilitating Foot Syndrome"
    • jp66967
      jp66967 inger07187

      Posted

      "Debilitating Foot Syndrome" is, of course, meaningless.
    • jp66967
      jp66967 inger07187

      Posted

      I am a dedicated foot-and-ankle orthopaedic surgeon.
    • inger07187
      inger07187 jp66967

      Posted

      When I first came out of the cam boot after two months I felt as though my 4th metarsal was fractured thus causing a limp and I felt compeled to go back into the boot. My original diagnosis was a left foot 3rd metarsal fracture which was identified by a bone scan (I have now come to know that a hotspot on a bone scan can mean several things and it is the notes on the doctors referal that lead them to the final diagnosis). I went to an Orthopeadic Specialist with a specialty in feet who did an MRI and said that I had Odema or is it Edema which is basically fluid in the bone on the 4th metarsal and this was caused by coming out of a long period in the boot. The foot had been so heavily supported that the third metarsal had resolved but has now placed some pressure on the 4th. He said there is no evidence of healing on the third metarsal so that meant there was never a stress fracture and what I actually had in the third and then the forth metarsal was infact a stress response that would completely resolve in 6 to 12 months. I am now two years in with the same issue and it is now in both feet. I have to say that fluid in the bone did cause me to limp it was very painful andwould swell terribly with weight bearing.
  • inger07187
    inger07187 stephie2012

    Posted

    After all my reasearch I think people who excessively excercise, sports people and dancers seem to be the victims of these issues. My reasearch into Freibergs Disease found that the second and third metarsal are not very flexible therefore  the brunt of things like running etc. There are many mirco tramas over a period of time they may go unnoticed that ultimately lead to all sorts of foot problems. Poor footwear is also to blame. The reason it takes such and long time to resolve (will ours ever resolve....I hope so) is that we have to continue to weight bear daily, maybe if we were on our backs for three months it would completely heal and go away.
    • jp66967
      jp66967 inger07187

      Posted

      You could take the weight off the foot by using crutches....:-)
    • inger07187
      inger07187 jp66967

      Posted

      Yes true, crutches were NEVER mentioned or suggested in the beginning , I was told as it was a non serious injury thr big black cam boot was enough for me to be able to go on with life as normal , I went to thr air boot three weeks later as the symptoms were worse as my toe could move in that, mind you they said that was not an issue but I knew it was making it worse this is when I got a new podiatrist and doctor. I then took a week off, was hard as it was Christmas by then. Do you see patients like us in your practice? What are your professional thoughts ??
    • jp66967
      jp66967 inger07187

      Posted

      Whilst I cannot be certain of your diagnosis from this electronic distance, I do see many, many people with similar complaints.

      However I am prevented, by the rules of this web-site, from being more explicit.

    • jp66967
      jp66967 inger07187

      Posted

      Freiberg's has, at least, a component of vascular insufficiency. It seems to be paralled in other parts of the body which do ot suffer similar mechanical loading.

      Agree that there are "load shifts" in the foot, some reasons for which have been explored in my book.These are not simple. For example there are many runners who have paralled your athleticism, but they seldom get Freiberg's. Freiberg's also occurs in non athletes and in adolescents.

       

    • stephie2012
      stephie2012 jp66967

      Posted

      I did want to note to you that I have been on crutches at two different points, once for 5 weeks and once for 6 in the last 3 years. Both times as soon as I needed to weight bear the pain came back. After my last time on crutches, I began limping 100% of the time so that I could get around. I had to confine myself to my desk at work and home on the coutch. I had a hard time even walking to the bathroom. When I got an orthodic shifting my weight to the bak of my foot, I was finally able to walk, hike, etc. I still cannot run; I used to run around 6.5 miles every other day.
    • inger07187
      inger07187 jp66967

      Posted

      What Is thr name of your book? I would be interested to read it.

      I uu

    • inger07187
      inger07187

      Posted

      Just to add another layer to the story, I had a severe back injury 15 years ago and have been plagued with back problems ever since. I strike with my left foot and my back injury was in thr right side so it may be possible it started a load shift in my gait, thr second foot (right) may have started a year into this situation cause it was favoured over the left foot due to original alleged injury. This is another theory of mine.
    • inger07187
      inger07187 stephie2012

      Posted

      I hate to say it but I think running is over for us and we need to accept that .
    • jp66967
      jp66967 inger07187

      Posted

      Are your legs the same length? This is a very difficult measurement, although many are cock-sure about their ability to measure leg lengths with tape-measures, X-ray and more.
    • inger07187
      inger07187 jp66967

      Posted

      Yes I believe so at the moment because I have had a lot of chiro and osteo work on my back, at times when I have not been having treatment they always mention there is a difference in leg length and the year I had thr alleged initial injury I had not Had treatment for 11 months as I was feeling good and felt no need. so that could have contributed???.
    • jp66967
      jp66967 inger07187

      Posted

      One way to measure inequality of leg lengths is to check the hem height of your jeans. If there is a discrepancy get an outside heel raise made by your local cobbler.
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