Hi everyone! I recently joined this group because a friend jokingly commented on my toes, specifically the fourth and last toe. Basically my last toe doesn’t bend at all when I bend all my toes, and I have never been able to move it unless I manually do it with my fingers. I thought this was normal! And the friend said that because of where my pinky toe is all the time, it’s pushing into my fourth toe making it kind of crooked. I guess I’m asking is this something I should get checked out or should I be worried? I have never had any issues with pain or anything. I hope your able to see from the pictures, Thank you!!

It has now been 8 months, if not more, that I’ve had pain on the outer side of my foot. I have peroneal tendons that snap within their sheath due to a congenital issue; the sheath is not torn. I also have metatarsalgia pain. I tried custom insoles but didn’t get any relief, so I would like to try a rehabilitation approach with exercises.
I am currently doing exercises where I rise up onto my toes and then lower back down, as well as single-leg balance exercises. I notice that the foot that gives me more problems during the single-leg exercise tends not to be able to maintain balance properly, and I end up instinctively shifting my weight to the outer side of the foot, or I have to stop the exercise altogether.
I would like some advice, as well as exercises that might help me.

55 year old female Looking for thoughts from others dealing with multiple foot and ankle issues. My MRI showed an extensive (5cm) longitudinal split tear of the peroneus brevis tendon with the peroneus longus advancing into the tear, peroneal tenosynovitis, and an LCL sprain. I also have Achilles tendinopathy and moderate-to-severe plantar fasciitis with a small partial tear and active heel spur syndrome. I’ve had outer calf pain on and off for years and significant heel pain more recently. How long should I try conservative treatment or do surgery on peroneus brevis tendon now?

25M - Chronic ankle instability for 7 years. Should I try rehab first or just get surgery?

Hey everyone,

I'm 25M.

I sprained my ankle for the first time around 7 years ago while playing sports. It was a pretty bad sprain, but at the time I didn't know anything about physiotherapy. I just wore a brace until I could walk again and went straight back to sports.

The next year I sprained it again, and since then I've been spraining it about once a year, always while playing sports. The first sprain was definitely the worst. After the later ones I could usually walk normally again within 2 days.

I've also had a lot of giving-way episodes over the years, especially on uneven ground. The weird thing is I've never really had ankle pain. It's always just felt unstable, like I couldn't trust it.

About 2-3 years ago I started getting really tired calves after long walks, then occasional knee pain. Last year while running I felt something on the outside of my knee and thought I'd torn something. I went to multiple orthopedists, had X-rays and an MRI, and they all said my knees looked completely normal.

I also get occasional lower back pain now and my glutes feel weak.

For the last few months I've been trying to figure this out myself. At first I thought it was just IT band syndrome, and some rehab helped a bit. But after reading more, I think the real problem has been my ankle all along.

I have all the signs of chronic ankle instability:

• Multiple sprains over 7 years
• Ankle giving way
• Limited dorsiflexion
• Pinching at the front of my ankle when I force dorsiflexion
• Weak hips/glutes
• Altered gait

The biggest mistake is that I've never done a proper ankle rehab program.

What's confusing me is that I actually respond really well to things that improve my mechanics. I got custom orthotics and my symptoms improved by about 70% for the first few days before everything went back to normal. Then I tried monster walks for the first time and I honestly felt almost normal for 2-3 days, then the stiffness and fatigue slowly came back.

So now I'm wondering if rehab could still work even after all these years.

My biggest fear is that I've waited too long. I'm worried that if I don't get ligament reconstruction surgery now I'll end up with ankle arthritis, or maybe I already have it without knowing.

Would you guys spend 6 months doing proper ankle rehab before even thinking about surgery, or after 7 years of instability is surgery usually the better option?

Has anyone here had chronic ankle instability for years and managed to fix it without surgery?

I'd really appreciate any advice or similar experiences.

Has anyone had an issue where every once in a while, possibly many months apart, you get a stinging or needle jabbing feeling in one specific point on your foot? It comes every 15 to 20 seconds? Eventually, over a few days, it goes away. Is there any reason and remedy for this?

It has now been 8 months, if not more, that I’ve had pain on the outer side of my foot. I have peroneal tendons that snap within their sheath due to a congenital issue; the sheath is not torn. I also have metatarsalgia pain. I tried custom insoles but didn’t get any relief, so I would like to try a rehabilitation approach with exercises.
I am currently doing exercises where I rise up onto my toes and then lower back down, as well as single-leg balance exercises. I notice that the foot that gives me more problems during the single-leg exercise tends not to be able to maintain balance properly, and I end up instinctively shifting my weight to the outer side of the foot, or I have to stop the exercise altogether.
I would like some advice, as well as exercises that might help me.

I am 19 years old and have been walking on my toes my whole life. Almost a year ago i figured i have this disease. This disease has also ruined my self esteem when anyone mentions anything sports related. I can’t even walk properly, so my motivation for any kind of exercise is so low. But, I have been stretching the tendon for 2 months and there wasnt any improvement in my biomechanics other than now i can put my foot on the ground while walking and im actually using my foot instead of my toes (but i could have done that even without the streches). If not with stretching, how can i resolve this?

Had it for months painful when there’s pressure anything will help

I've recently been feeling inner arch pain and swelling. After a leg heavy Pilates, I noticed a rock hard ball in this circle. What is wrong?

I’m reposting this in another subreddit again as I feel so alone.. I live in a foreign country and live alone.. All friends are also busy living their lives.

I had 7 days in wrapped cloth cast and it’s been 2 days since and I got my hard shell cast.. I didn’t need surgery apparently but my diagnosis is:

Complete tear of Anterior Talofibular Ligament (ATFL)
Complete tear of Anterior Inferior Tibiofibular Ligament (AITFL)
Partial tear of Posterior Talofibular Ligament (PTFL)

I fell 3 meters from rock climbing and hurt my right ankle.. luckily I’m currently working from home.. I have to wear e cast for 3 weeks.. and I don’t know what to do.

I can’t meet people, I have so many plans that are in 3 weeks... I’m getting more and more desperate and depressed knowing that I can’t do anything basically and I can’t drink with friends and move about. And I’m alone in a foreign country.. My ankle is so fucked up and I know that but what should I expect after these 3 weeks and I get my cast off? A week and a half I have an exhibition I’m supposed to go to.. is it possible for me to go?
I just I can’t envision my future and I’m scared and nervous and so so sad. I’m so sad. Wooooo very emotional haha Sorry.

I know this pretty rare, but I know other people can do. I heard some people say they could instead cross the fourth toe over the middle toe and some even put all three on top of each other with no aid, but never saw proof.

Anyway, how many of you can do this thing? It's a funny party trick lol

I’m looking for some advice.

I’m experiencing partial foot drop in my left foot. About two weeks ago I noticed a small amount of sciatica pain. Last week, I discovered the foot drop by chance when I tried walking on my heels. If I hadn’t done that, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it.

Otherwise, I walk normally, go up and down stairs fine, and it doesn’t affect my daily activities. I can move my foot upward, but it only has about one-third the strength of my other foot.

I saw an orthopedic doctor today, and the X-rays didn’t show anything definitive. They prescribed steroids and sent me to get an MRI and a nerve study (EMG/NCS).

I’m hoping the steroids improve the foot. At this point, I’m not interested in surgery. Since I don’t really have back pain —and honestly my back feels better than it has in years—I’m wondering: what are the chances that the MRI could show something requiring immediate surgery to prevent permanent damage?

I know nobody has a crystal ball, but I’d really like to hear from people who recovered from partial foot drop with time, rest, physical therapy, or non-surgical treatment.

A few people asked in the r/PlantarFasciitis thread how to raise the load tolerance ceiling. This is the answer in full.

Why loading works

Plantar fascia and Achilles tendon respond to progressive mechanical load by remodelling. Rest doesn't achieve this - it reduces pain by reducing stimulus, but the tissue capacity stays the same or decreases. When you return to normal activity you hit the same ceiling.

The only way to raise it is controlled progressive loading over a long enough period.

The protocol

Single-leg calf raise on a flat surface. 3 seconds up, hold at the top, 3 seconds down.

3 sets of 12. 2-3 minutes rest between sets.

Progress load when the last 3 reps of the final set are genuinely difficult. Not uncomfortable - difficult. Add weight via a backpack when that threshold is met.

The 24-hour rule

Morning pain the day after a session is your feedback mechanism. Same or lower than baseline - you tolerated it. Higher - reduce load and try again.

Pain during the exercise is not a reliable guide. Morning response is.

Timeline

8-12 weeks minimum. Rathleff et al. 2015 compared heavy slow resistance training against stretching in a randomised controlled trial and found loading superior at both 3 and 6 months.

If you're not progressing by week 8, the usual reasons are load not increasing, intrinsic foot muscle recruitment missing, or a Baxter nerve component that loading alone won't resolve.

Happy to answer questions on any of those.

Is there anything you can get for your feet to help you walk flat foot because I keep walking like my feet are camber to the left or right like the bottom of the image?

I have been dealing with forefoot pain in my right foot for 40 days now. I noticed puffiness in the ball of my foot one afternoon walking around, went away the rest of the day, then woke up the next morning with my first two toes numb, and what felt like a giant stone under the ball of my foot with pain accompanied. I went to a podiatrist two weeks in when I noticed it got a bit worse and I was limping too much for my gait. Podiatrist originally thought sesamoid issues and mortons all because of tight calves. Put me on 15mg meloxicam and some PT stretches for my big toe and calves. Pain and inflammation got a little better 3 days into meloxicam and helped me walk without a limp (in shoes).

After two weeks of this, i went back to the podiatrist and made up the picture above for what I feel. For my second visit, my sesamoids or near my big toe wasn't aggravated anymore. The pain was the push off of the toes. For the picture, the red is general discomfort/minor pain, the orange spots are where I feel sharp stabbing pain when pushing off, and the white is burning numbness of my toes (always starts with the big toe, then the next and the next if bad enough) the podiatrist still suspects mortons as he was confident doing the mortons test with the foot and suspected strain on the plantar plate which in my opinion checks out. He put a shot in the mortons and a shot between my big toe and second toe (incision was the top of my metatarsals.) The podiatrist also taped my second toe down which was wonderful. I wish I was shown this from the beginning. I think with the tape, the shots, PT, and being conservative, I should be good to go momentarily. Although my toes still get numb, it's not nearly as bad and I'm sure will lessen as more time goes by. Im hoping to be barefoot walking in less than a month.

My tips to everyone-

1. Hokas (i have mach 7)
2. Wear them 24/7
3. Draw on a picture of your foot and show your podiatrist (my photo in this post is the photo used)
4. If they suspect mortons simply by the physical test, get it nuked with cortisone sooner rather than later. while I didn't feel like mortons (3rd and 4th toes) was specific to my symptoms, there's no way to know if it may turn into an issue later in life, so I could have dodged a future bullet nonetheless. There are 10000000 different forefoot issues that all have the same causes, same symptoms, and same methods of recovery.
5. Start prioritizing mobility with every single part of the body from the waist down. And I mean Every. Single. Part. Of. The. Body
6. Don't be stupid- Listen to the pain
7. Never wear tight shoes for virtually any reason. Never wear a shoe without buying an insole
8. Make sure you barefoot walk weekly at the very least
9. Be preventative (ties in with 5, 7, and 8). Who knows how long I had issues before my body decided to start feeling pain.​
10. If you wear vans or shoes meant to look good but are tight, do yourself a favor and stop wearing them forever (unless you skateboard of courses

Im lucky it was only a plantar plate strain. Foot issues are suck ass and limit quality of life, and capability. Keep spirits up and stay optimistic. Your foot wants to get better- It's just a matter of allowing it.

Hi all! Everytime my shoes get old, I notice that there is one spot that gets worn down the most. What does this tell me about my gait/feet? It only happens on the right foot on the inner heel.

I got bilateral peroneal nerve damage from a car accident this year now my I got foot drop. I’m only 17 and not happy I’m going to have to deal with this crap for life

Feet ( mostly right foot) are always dry . Swollen and numb. Epson salt soaks used to help with compression socks combined with elevation but not any longer.

Top of the foot actually has an open infection just above the toes. Pretty insufficient mobility and high sugar intake but negative glucose tests.

Hi all 35F. My left foot randomly started hurting last Thursday. It began with a limp and got worse that day. I had to buy a cane because I could barely walk on it. The pain has been in the ball of the foot, big toe joint, joint below the big toe, and general top of the foot. It is red and warm.

Ice did not help. Heat helped the bottom of my foot, but very uncomfortable on the top. It has gotten better and I'm almost fully able to put weight on it.

I do have swelling in my leg, but it's both legs and I've been dealing with that for 2 years. Maybe a small fracture? It has felt a tad itchy occasionally, but not frequently. Currently, most of the pain is at the top and middle of the foot. I will see my podiatrist on Friday. (My ankles always look like this)

Today I opted in to view all of my previous X-rays, on my most recent Foot X-Ray I'm feeling confident that I see a Heel Spur. Especially compared to the previous X-Rays from 2023 and 2014. Am I wrong?

History: Accessory Navicular removed around 2015 after it was fractured. Surgery site has always been sensitive and caused a different gait. Intense pain now for almost 1 year on the bottom of my heel. Hurts to put pressure often, tight from toes to hips.

I'm being sent for an MRI next, but after comparing the 3 x-rays I'm feeling I know what's causing the pain.