Okay, I come to you guys before anyone else when I have a question, and you never have failed me!
For some time I have had pain in the knuckles of my 3rd and 4th toes of my right foot. But now I am having pain underneath my foot, in the "ball" of my foot. Over 12 years ago I was very successfully treated for Morton's neuroma there, with cortisone and ultrasound treatments. I stopped wearing heels then and never went back. Somehow this feels different. I feel like when you have a stone in your shoe, whenever I step down. There is nothing visible to the eye except my foot seems a bit swollen on the top - not my toes.
What say you old wise ones?
I know that's a common RA problem that has something to do with the fat
on the bottom of your foot shifting. I learned about it in RA school
last month. Unfortunatly, I retained very little of it so that's all I can tell you. I think it's a
problem that can be address with orthotics. Or it might be a ganglion.
I know that stone in the shoe thing pretty well...It does not take much swelling in the toe joints in the ball of your foot to cause a great big ouch, each step you 'roll' onto the ball and then push forward to take the next. They are tiny joints with a huge big job.
I have tried metatarsal pads in my shoes just behind the ball of my foot to take some of the load off but didn't help that much. Tried stips on the bottom out side of the sole - they didn't do enough either. Cortisone inj helped when it was just horrible! Heavily padded soles (soft padding) on Merrell Mocs is my every day solution. Don't like shoes with heels any more, wedge shape is better.
That's a real 'hurts donut'. I'm sorry you have that pain. It always seems to take a long time to get the 'stone' out just like plantar-fashia heel pain.
I also had morton's neuromas in each foot but had to have them surgically removed (oddly enough-that began my journey with RA-they actually found synovial fluid in one of them).Thanks guys, I didn't know that it might be an RA thing - of course right now I'm only considered OA. I haven't purchased the upgrade yet!
Go to see a podiatrist. This is how my foot started. I waited too long and in Jan had to have my big toe joint replaced it was totally gone. My reg doctor thought it was just bone spurs but he was wrong. Do you ever have pain in your arch? It is worth checking. My reg dr also thought I had chipped a bone in the top of my foot cuz most of my pain was in the top of my foot and my arch. Also had a pad on that foot.
I have joint space narrowing in the joints in the balls of my feet. I have severe pain on walking that is totally alleviated with Lidoderm.Hey this is right up my alley. I have about 6 things wrong with my feet--all casued or related to RA. Check into metarsalgia, and I think your old friend Morton might be back. Here's a quote from the Merk site-
Early interdigital neuralgia often produces an occasional mild ache or discomfort in the ball of the foot, usually when wearing a specific shoe. Neuralgia is usually unilateral. As the condition progresses, the nerve thickens (Morton's neuroma). The pain becomes worse, often with a burning or lancinating quality or paresthesias. In time, patients are unable to wear most shoes. While walking, patients often falsely sense a pebble in their shoes, which they take off for relief.
Here's a link including treatment info:
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec04/ch043/ch043d.html
Hope it helps
K-Lynn
Hi,
I have PA and my feet are bad at the moment. Because of the inflammation the bottom of the balls of my feet cause so much intense pain. I regularly have cortisone injections which they put in between my toes and kind of wiggle the needle to try to get all of the joint area as well as the joint space - pure agony for a few minutes while they inject and it hurts in a different way for a few days then magically the pain disappears - for months and months! I don't see much swelling on my feet but when I manage to look at the sole of my foot I can see it red and a bit swollen. I think because my feet don't get really fat that my Dr originally dismissed the pain until I saw the Rheumatologist. I still can't wear heels but have bought some smart black trainer-shoes for work and find I can wear pretty ballet style flat pumps for going out now!
I hope you find what it is and get some relief!
KT
Thanks everyone - you've done it again for me. I love you guys!
I think going back to the podiatrist is probably the way I will go. I don't mind trying another round of cortizone shots to see if that will help, and it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have an xray to see if anything has changed in my foot over the years. Until then I will switch back to my Crocs (I haven't been wearing them during the winter) and see if that helps.
I appreciate everyone's input!
Karen
Just thought I'd throw in my two cents here...I had a Morton's Neuroma surgically removed in '99. Dr. said it was the biggest one he'd ever seen. Mine felt like I was walking on a railroad spike rather than a pebble..I am just curious about the connection since many of you have had this.
Still waiting on a dx.