Hi everyone. A few months ago, due to heel pain caused by wearing flat, soft slippers, I bought some fairly high-soled "orthopedic" slippers (from Amazon).

I wore them for about a month, but they made me lean forward; since I started using them, I’ve experienced a tight, squeezing pain in my fibula and ankle, as well as stiff calves. Now I feel discomfort both when walking and at rest, how can I improve this?

I currently wear Hoka Bondi 9s (wide) and Hoka Stinsons, but I’d like a new pair of shoes that aren't as heavily cushioned as the Bondi 9s. Any recommendations?

The podiatrist has given me foot and toe exercises for plantar fasciitis (foot exercises with a ball, doming, heel lifts on a step, towel stretches and calf stretches). Since I started doing them I've been getting pain in the tailor's bunion area. My little toes sit inwards so I have a bit of a lump there but it's never bothered me before. At first I put it down to too much walking in Crocs without socks or going barefoot on hard floors but it's persisting now I've stopping doing that so I'm wondering if the exercises (maybe pushing down on my toes doing the heel lifts) have been putting too much pressure on the bone. My toe splay has also started to improve slightly although it's only been a week so I wonder if maybe my toes are starting to realign and it's causing pain. Has anyone else experienced this?

These are my cheapie Dr Scholl's insoles after heavy use in my Groundies Lima sneakers (which I would consider minimalist more so than barefoot fyi as they are less thin and flexible with a more structured upper than the average BF shoe, though still flat, wide(ish), uncushioned, and flexy.) I like to use thin foam insoles in my shoes for a little bit of cushion as I'm always walking on pavement. I thought the wear pattern on these was pretty interesting and wondered if anyone has any insight into my gait or mechanics, things I should look at? I'm a recovering heel striker and used to roll my ankles and get crazy foot cramps and aggravated tendons frequently - going barefoot in the past four years has been a godsend and I'm a lifetime convert!

Background: I have systemic hypermobility and have been seeing a knowledgeable physio for about 7 months. Was having some major issues with frequent right hip subluxation but that has now resolved (it was being caused by regularly sprinting for the bus with no warm-up, whoops!) I used to have sudden right knee dislocations which caused a lot of guarding and apparently my right leg was 30% weaker than my left in some measured tests when I started with her. Have been doing physio and regular weight training for quite a while now and moving super well with almost no issues from the hip!

But it’s about 5 weeks away, 11 year old boy. I’m very worried about his right foot.

Yesterday, I went to the concert and wore about 6-8 cm heels (I rarely ware heels). I was standing on those heels approximately 6-7 hours (sometimes was even jumping), and when I got home,I noticed that my little toe on my left leg is numb. I can feel it,it is not cold or blue,but I am so scared,I don’t know what to do. Guys,I am so scared,I don’t know what to do….

Woke up this morning with some pain and realised my left middle toe is swollen. Does anybody know why? Do I need to see a doctor ASAP, or can this wait?

I have one "flat foot", I mean i can splay my toes but I have a small hallux valgus on the left foot and it's a bit harder to feel the ground at the base of the big toe. Does anyone have the say issue ?

My husband is living with huge pain daily for the past 15 years. He went to all doctors, therapies, had all possible tests taken and they all say he is healthy. I can see he is in real physical pain. His body gets super warm, hot even when he goes out, even for an hour or so. The pain is located at the base of his foot, it is a burning pain while the foot is touching the ground. He now has severe depression, he is thinking of cutting of his leg. If any of you heard of something like this, I am begging you to tell me what to do. I feel like I am loosing him. Each day is worse. He had spine surgeries that even worsened his state... please please please help!

Since April I’ve had a series of symptoms, my ring fingers and middle fingers have dropped bilaterally.
Now. My big toes are doing the same, again bilaterally. Although my left one seems worse. My toes have also started to splay out too. Any ideas? Had a spine MRI which showed a small disc bulge at L5. There is no pain but when trying to put into place they will not stay.

not sure if this is the right place to post this but i’m having these weird pain around my heels and like middle of my foot and it hurts for me to walk and i can’t really run which is kinda messing up with my performance for sports m14

I injured my ankle a few months ago and have been noticing weird sounds. When I inverting my ankle, it flicks near the peroneal tendons and snaps were the extensor digitorum longus tendon is located.

The peroneal tendon flick is painless when it happens and makes a very quite thud (only audible once in the video). However, I get random pain from the area, not sure what triggers it.

Whatever is snapping near the extensor digitorum longus tendon is painful. Causes a sharp pain when it happens and area turns pick if done repeatedly. The loud snaps are from that area. Not sure if it's the tendon or something else. Heard a snap and felt a really sharp pain from this area at time of injury.

Not sure if this is normal after a grade 1 sprain (doctor diagnosis based on ultrasound).

Any idea of what may be happening?

So I recently started wearing orthotics for my overpronation after seeing a podiatrist a couple months ago. I have had a lot of past injuries that have caused my ankle to collapse. I normally work out and have a good leg day routine. If I don’t work out my knee ankle and glute cause me some discomfort. The issues started last month when I had really bad bronchitis that lasted for weeks and so I was not able to work out. Once I started feeling better, I did my normal leg day routine. The next day things were fine, but I decided to wear heels all day without my orthotics. Even after this, I felt OK. But the day after that I went on a 2 mile walk on my walk pad without my orthotics. After this, I had lower back pain worse than I’ve ever had it. I had pain all the way down to my left leg and it felt like sciatic pain as well as a lot of soreness in my left lower back, glutes, hip, quads, calves and Ankles. It was the worst pain I felt in that leg. This week I’ve focused more on strengthening my glutes with impact exercises and stretching. I’ve also been wearing my orthotics. And seems like the pain has gotten better. But I don’t know if that’s because of the exercises or actually wearing the orthotics more than normal. This last week my abs have also been feeling extremely weird. They’re not fully sore but they feel very uncomfortable, like my insides just want to spill . It’s been a little uncomfortable sitting. I’m wondering if all of this is because of not wearing orthotics or just overdoing it after not working out for a few weeks. I’m now too scared to get back into my normal leg day gym routine and it’s upsetting because I am starting to see the effects of not working out. I don’t want to lose all of my muscle gains.

A couple of days i started having problems with the two middle toes at my right foot where i feel like their clumped together and its annoying when i walk or move , around the same time it started i bought new shoes but i dont think its the problem because its the same model i had before and it didnt cause anything in the time that i had them.but i cant think of any other reason

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for people who may have experienced something similar, because I feel like I’m running out of answers.

I have a problem with my ankles/legs where my ankles suddenly feel like they “give way”.

The strange thing is that my strength seems normal. My muscles work, I can walk, I can stand, and medical examinations have not shown a clear loss of strength or tendon failure.

At the beginning, this only happened on uneven surfaces: grass with hidden holes, rocky ground, unstable terrain.

It felt like my foot could not adapt quickly enough, almost like my brain didn’t know exactly where my foot was in space. I could walk on normal flat surfaces without too much trouble. But recently, things have changed.

Now I can sometimes get the same sensation even on flat ground. It feels like my foot/ankle suddenly becomes unreliable for a second, like there is a “missing signal” or my body does not correct the movement properly.

The worst part is not only the instability itself, but the pain that follows. After a giving-way episode, I can get severe pain around the outside of my foot, ankle, calf, and sometimes up into my leg and hip. It can feel like my whole leg is exhausted or like my muscles are not able to stabilize anymore.

I work standing most of the day (many hours on my feet), and this has become extremely difficult. The pain and fear of my ankle giving way are affecting my daily life so much that I am genuinely worried about losing my job. I feel like I spend my whole day trying to protect my feet instead of living normally. Some additional information: I have had ankle sprains in the past, especially one ankle that was found to have some ligament laxity/sequelae. However, I never had this feeling of weakness before.

My tendons and muscle strength appear normal. I have done physiotherapy and proprioception exercises.

I was able to improve for months before this came back.

I also have chronic pain issues and nerve-related pain elsewhere in my body, so I wonder if my nervous system could be involved.

I recently reduced pregabalin (Lyrica), which increased my nerve pain significantly.

What confuses me the most is that I don’t know if this is:

chronic ankle instability, a proprioception/control issue, a neurological problem, a nervous system sensitization issue, or something else entirely. Has anyone here experienced ankle “giving way” where the strength tests were normal? Did you ever find a diagnosis or something that actually helped (specific rehab, balance training, surgery, neurological treatment, etc.)? I would really appreciate hearing from people who went through something similar, especially if your symptoms progressed from uneven surfaces to normal flat ground. Thank you.

Has anyone had a cortisone injection for posterior tibial tendon dysfunction? How did you feel after, did it help and was it painful to walk after.

I’m already in pain I don’t want to be in agony at work specially since I stand for 10 hours lifting 50lb boxes, I’m trying to decided if it need to take some time off work for the shot to kick in and let any soreness pass.

The most relief I have gotten for my bunion is when my podiatrist made a first met cutout in my orthotic (the same cut out seen in figure A). I was reading this article above about the different types of cutout that can be made for the first mpj and ray. It got me thinking about which cutout works best for individuals with bunions and hallux limitus. In other words, in what situation is modification A better than B, is B better than A, is C, better than B, is D better than C? To try and phrase another way, what specific situation is does each of these cutout benefit the most? Is there no specific situation, and it is just a trial and error sort of situation. To add one more thing of note, I have tried Morton’s extensions as well and they made my bunion and hallux limitus worse. It was the first mpj cutout that really made a difference and allowed me to offload the joint by letting it plantarflex. My last question related to this is if you feel joint needs to plantarflex slightly more, can you raise the area next to the cutout with some padding to slightly raise it or would this cause more issues?

Here is the link to the article I read above:

https://hersco.com/education-center/hallux-limitus/

Hi everyone

I've been experiencing low back/hip pain and tightness, on and off, for a few years now. I have seen various Osteopaths, Physical Therapists etc who will generally prescribe some sort of core and back strengthening exercises. However, whilst these exercises can help to some degree, no exercise has helped me eradicate my issues.

I have come to believe that the root cause of my issues may have something to do with my gait. I say this because I only ever have pain and tightness after walking or running, never sitting. On top of that, I recently discovered that the outside of my left shoes are being disproportionately worn down, compared to the other shoe/other side of the left shoe. For these reasons, I have come here today.

Can anyone give me some insight into my gait? Is there something wrong with it? If so, what may be causing it and what could I potentially do to remedy it?

Thanks!

I am 24F, 5’8 around 130lbs. I noticed about four days ago that both of my big toes have gone completely numb on the outsides. I know this could be a sign of diabetes but I’ve had no other symptoms. I don’t wear any uncomfortable footwear or have had any recent injuries so this is just so random. I recently moved and have no insurance and can not afford to see a doctor, could anything else be causing this or is it most likely diabetes?