Be Careful Movin...I hurt myself.

From my blog... Somehow I have hurt myself.   For the last couple of days, I have been having pain in the bottom of my left foot.   It almost feels like a rock bruise sometimes, but mostly feels like an actual pulled muscle in the bottom of my foot.   It hurts like a sore/strained muscle running right down the center of the left sole of my foot.  It gets worse during and after my walks.   It has not been too bad the first couple of days.  Today it is not going away and is hurting even now to the point that I am almost limping around the house.   I put my symptoms into webmd and the most likely diagnosises that sounded right to me were plantar fasciitis (straining the ligament that connects the toes to the heel of your foot) and/or sciatica (pain, tingling or numbness in the nerve roots that lead to the sciatic nerve).   All of the other diagnosises were either far-fetched or have already been ruled out (vitamin deficiencies, multiple sclerosis, etc).  The two I have listed above were the most likely culprits as far as I am concerned.   I suspect it MAY be plantar fasciitis because that condition is "the most common reason for foot pain".  It is also common among people my age.  It can be caused by walking, standing or running on hard surfaces for prolonged periods of time.  (I walk on the road for an hour almost every day.)  I have been overweight.  I also have somewhat high arches.  I suspect is MAY be sciatica because of past symptoms I have had (that have since gone away) that lead me to believe may have been related to this.  Sciatica is pain, tingling or numbness in the ner roots that lead to the sciatic nerve.  It is usually caused by a bulging or ruptured disc.  That set off a few alarm bells with me because I was having a problem recently with numbness in my left leg.  I went on a vitamin B complex that helped alleviate that symptom.  But it still seems like an odd coincidence to me that now the left foot is having pain in it.  Sciatica can move downward from the back to the leg(s) and finally to the foot(feet).  Dr. Baker's first suggestion when asked about the numbness in my left leg was an MRI to rule out a slipped dis****il I told him I had no pain.  However, my own research shows that a BULGING disc (as opposed to a slipped or ruptured disc) may produce NO pain in the back - only discomforts (such as numbness in one or both legs and/or pain in the legs/feet).  So that is why I suspect maybe sciatica. The treatment for EITHER of these is relatively easy.  BOTH recommend ice packs on the foot and taking NSAIDS (which I will not do).  But the rest of the list is pretty doable.   So... I may not be walking every day for a while - but I will try to stay movin somehow.  I'll get in the pool or something.  Or maybe I'll do situps or pushups or something. 

When I used to work 12 hours as a CNA at the nursing home, there were many times that by the end of shift I would have horrible cramps in and around the arch of my foot, and it would feel like a pulled muscle, I would have to take my shoes off and try to do rounds in my socks (it's a good thing I worked midnight shift, because if it was daytime I would get in trouble).  But it would just hurt so bad, every once in a while it happens again whenever I am on my feet all day long, like when I went to the concert they hurt so bad I could hardly walk and was hobbling to the car afterwards trying not to cry.  I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks!

Yep had them last summer with all the walking I was doing.  I had to get shots from foot doctor.

AB

Yea I saw that that was one of the treatments (along with surgery in extreme cases).  But I'm only 2 or 3 days into this.  Granted, it definately IS getting worse.  But I'm not desperate enough to let them stick a needle into my foot yet (and certainly not desperate enough for surgery)! Didn't that hurt????

Yep, sounds like plantar fasciitis. I think you can rest up at this point and get it feeling better but it may take a long time to resolve on its own. Stay off it for a couple days and see if it helps, otherwise I'd see a Dr. at some point. My mom has this and I know it is really painful.

Hey,

Don't rule out lower back strain.  When my back flares up, the first place I feel it is in the bottom of my foot and big toe. 

Hey Wen, I had plantar fasciitis for YEARS.   When I woke up in the morning I would walk like a 90 yr old until the ligaments loosened up enough to be comfortable. I did my very be not to sit down at work or social events because it just meant the ligaments would tighten up again and I'd hobble around for 15 minutes or so.  The pain was in the bottom of my foot from the heel to the ball of the foot. I went to more than one doctor who told me various solutions from insoles to cortisone injections. Finally, an orthopedist told me that he had it himself and one day it just went away.  Sure enough, one day it did. It was like a miracle! Hope you find  solution that works for you.  The tingling thing does concern me, hope it's not a disk problem, that wouldn't be good at all! Take it easy

i also had plantar fasciitis for years.  I went to surgeon after surgeon after doctor.  Finally, a chiropractor helped me.  What I think finally healed it was wearing either Birkenstocks or very supportive tennis shoes at all times except when I was in bed.  I did this for three months.  If you think this is it, give it a try.  and I mean nothing else...no flip flops, no dress shoes, nothing but birks or tennis shoes that have great support.  I may seem expensive, but it's better than doc bills. Eliza