Wednesday, May 27, 2009

neuroma, my foot!

Something is very wrong with my left foot.
And I think it has to do with wearing cheap crappy tennis shoes with no arch support.
I've either got plantar fasciitis or Morton's neuroma. either way, it means inflammation and constant pain in the bottom of my left foot- the ball of my foot and my toes, including under the nails.
I gotta say, when the feet ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

This usually happens to women who wear high heels. I don't, but I did recently get a pair of sneakers that look extremely cool but don't quite fit my left foot correctly, and don't have any support for my high arches. But they look cool...

I went to the podiatrist, who gave me some stretching exercises and suggested icing it as well. And gave me some vicodin Rx, which barely touched the pain. The ice helped a little, temporarily. But the minute i stepped on my foot, even for a second, i was in pain for the next couple hours, until about a half hour after i got off it and elevated it.

Notice I said that in past tense. I finally got some relief today, after going to the acupuncturist and then on the way home buying some aspirin. I needed something anti-inflammatory and the MD i had gone to before didn't want to give me predisone, since it might disrupt my lab tests and ongoing treatment of my autoimmune stuff. and I'm not supposed to take ibuprofen because of my history of kidney troubles.

Well it's easy to get stuck in problem-oriented thinking. Especially hen all my facebook friends are telling me they had these same problems for weeks, months, even a year. But finally it occurred to me that aspirin was not forbidden for me. So I got some relief tonight from acupuncture and aspirin, after almost 2 solid weeks of constant pain. My hubby also went out and bought me some fancy Superfeet shoe inserts from eastern mountain sports (at the suggestion of a couple facebook friends).

And at least for now (until I'm foolish enough to forget), I resolve that cheap shoes (and shoes that make me look cheap- e.g., high heels) are not worth the price. My inserts, which cost more than my "cool" sneakers, are now in my old "uncool" sneakers. And my cool sneakers still look really cool- in the trash can.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your last paragraph made me laugh - though I'm really sorry your cool shoes are in the trash. Your feet, however, will thank you for the fashion distruction.

Here's hoping you find something that is both cute and comofortable for your feet soon!!

- Miss Waxie
http://acomiclifeindeed.wordpress.com
a comic look at chronic illness - in a comic!

Carla Ulbrich, The Singing Patient said...

miss waxie i love your idea of putting your "adventures " (and lack thereof) into a comic! great idea.

to be accurate, i'm putting my cruel- i mean cool- shoes in the charity pile. the lupus foundation, God bless them, comes through every 6 weeks or so and picks up stuff off my porch (i sign up for the pickup. otherwise i'd be missing a shovel, and lord knows what else).

they're actually a pair of sneakers- DC skateboard shoes. some kid will be delighted. hopefully a kid with low arches.