I mentioned briefly at the end of my second post Thursday about pain I've been experiencing on the top of my foot.
The pain hasn't really gotten any better or worse, but my fear of it has increased substantially. I fear that I did something wrong to my foot and now I won't be able to run for a few weeks or longer.
Of course, I've been known to play the role of Chicken Little before, so I'm not exactly looking for crutches or making arrangements for a walking cast. But still, the pain is there and Thursday was the day I felt it the longest.
On the top of my left foot, there is a constant discomfort/pain. It's increased in feeling as I didn't notice it much until recently. It's on the top of the foot, kind of behind the big toe.
I punched in my symptoms on Web MD and this is what it spat out (aside from 'You should go see a doctor') as possible ailments:
Broken Foot
Sciatica
Peripheral Neuropathy
Corns, calluses
Metatarsalgia
Stress fracture
Poorly fitting shoes
Lumbar spinal stenosis
Multiple sclerosis
Bone infection
Thoracic spinal stenosis
Shingles
Nice list. I can instantly eliminate several. It's not fractured (I'd be in much pain). I doubt I have a stenosis (blood vessel type of ailment) or that I have corns or calluses and my shoes don't fit poorly.
I'm actually worried that I have a stress fracture. Yikes. Again, this is me playing the role of Mr. Little. The sky is falling and it's landed on my first metatarsal. Stress fractures are pretty bad. They can knock you out of action for 4-6 weeks, and I don't need that right now or ever.
Now, the pain hasn't really lingered before Thursday. And even then, it's not something that is keeping me from walking or anything. I ran on my foot just fine on Wednesday. But the discomfort did not go away, hence the worries. Still, stress fractures can sometimes make walking unbearable, and I've been on my feet a lot these last... well, I'm always on my feet.
I suppose one thing I have going for me is the Lopers. With so many runners far more accomplished than me in the group, someone has to have had the same symptoms before and might be able to help me narrow down what I've got.
UPDATE: Okay, I woke up today (Friday morning, wrote this really late on Thursday) and felt dumb for having posted this, making it seem like I have a serious injury. I don't know what's wrong with my foot (I can feel it still) but it's probably not a fracture or anything too traumatic. I probably tweaked it somehow, got a bruise or something and it's just been lingering a little too long. I need to calm down about things sometimes :)
5 comments:
I love the list you got from WebMD. I'm not a hypochondriac, but I get freaked out every time I search symptoms for myself or someone in my family. It seems no matter what symptoms you have, they match some horrible disease. You find yourself wondering "Is this a head cold or do I really have hemorrhagic fever?"
I hope your Loper friends can give you some insight on what might be causing your foot pain. If not, maybe you should have it checked out by a doctor, just in case. I hope it gets better soon!
I'm surprised not to see diabetes on the list; a pain in his foot is how my husband found out he is diabetic. Is diabetes a possibility for you?
I hyperextended my "ring toe" on my left foot and I felt pain in the top behind it for almost 2 weeks.
Tats, I hope this isn't related to diabetes. We don't have a history of it in my family but I can't be for sure.
I just ran on it today, and my foot feels fine. I did feel it during the run and it felt like I'd tied my shoe too tight, but of course I made sure it wasn't tight at all before I ran. It didn't hurt and doesn't hurt but just a little discomfort.
I ran The Interval and then biked for 15 minutes and I came up with the conclusion that if this does get worse and I can't run for a bit: A) I'll be able to ride the bike to get my cardio and B) I'll hate it, at least at the gym.
LB, you may want to consider getting an X-ray. Years ago I fractured my foot kicking a friend of mine--it's okay, it was during Karate training.
Initially it hurt, but not so bad that I felt I should do anything about it. After about the fourth day of this mild pain I figured it couldn't hurt visiting the doctor, and was told there was a minor fracture of one metatarsals.
Some fancy taping and the constant use of an Ace bandage kept me attending classes, but technically I was supposed to keep away from high impact activities.
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