by Terry
(Berkeley, CA)
I have had terrible feet my whole life and wear orthotics that are periodically updated. I am very athletic and do a lot of walking in the hills and work out at the gym. I'm 63 years old and although both feet have a good bit of osteoarthritis, only the right foot has been symptomatic, with pain on the top of the foot near the inner ankle.
Last year I spent a lot of time on a boat and do not wear shoes on the boat. In March I spent two weeks on the boat. When I returned, I took a twenty minute walk and by the end could hardly walk at all. I had acute pain on the bottom of my left foot around the outside, continuing to the back of the heel and on around to the inside. I went to my podiatrist who said it was "probably" some sort of plantar fasciitis. But in reading about that, the pain does not seem to be explained by it. I read your information on tendonitis and think that sounds more like it. Although the pain sometimes gets better, if I take a half hour walk, it really responds badly. What do you think? (By the way, I found your website incredibly informative).
Hi Terry,
I agree, it does not sound like plantar fasciitis to me. The pain distribution suggests a couple of different problems. It seems, obviously, that it is all the result of walking barefoot for a long period of time.
I would recommend an x-ray just to rule out any pathology such as an arthritic flare up or perhaps stress fracture. If the x-ray is negative then you have a soft tissue injury from lack of wearing orthotics.
Since this pain is now three months old I think some treatment would be indicated. This would include a regimen of anti-inflammatory medication as well as physical therapy and perhaps a different form of exercise for a while to take pressure off the foot, such as an exercise bike or other nonweightbearing activity.
If none of this alleviates your problem, the next step would be an MRI.
Marc Mitnick DPM
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