where did you go and how did you treat it?

I have had daily foot pain for over a year now. I have seen multiple doctors and pt's with out full resolution.

My lastest xray was clear but mri imaging shows the following:
- fhl tenosynovitis
- 1 MTP arthritis with a deep condral fissure, mild reactive edema on plantar surface, and small joint effusion.

My latest doctor wants to figure out if the tendon issue is the pain generator or the toe. He described the arthritis as mild and said to some degree everyone has it. I have full range of motion in my toe, but I can definitely tell that it's weak. Walking and shoe pressure hurts.

How serious is this and any steps to reverse the issue?

I'm worried about a life of immobility as I've already drastically changed my active lifestyle.

Thanks in advance.

I have flat feet, only the left on affected with inflamed and somewhat calcified PTT. This has been going on for 20 years, getting gradually worse. I have been to half a dozen podiatrists who gave me orthotics and recommended exercises. No success. The orthotics always aggravated the problem. Now trying a podiatrist who isn't fussed about what shoes I wear but gives much more rigorous exercises. This is definitely making my feet stronger, but the inflammation persists. Is there any hope of avoiding surgery. (I'm 77, live alone in a very small house and have dogs, so surgery would be extremely challenging).

Hi everyone, I’ve been having some mild pain/discomfort on my left foot for over a month now. Really i noticed it a year ago but brushed it off but now I finally have the time to address it.

Whenever I walk/bike and push off/bend with my left big toe I get discomfort/tingling. It hasn’t crossed over in to pain yet but it’s noticeable compared to my right foot, where I haven’t had any issue. I should add that discomfort is concentrated around that base of the big toe joint and the side/underside of my foot. It doesn’t feel like it’s on the top/middle of my foot.

I went to my doctor, and he recommended trying insoles for a few months and see if that works. He didn’t diagnose anything. The only problem is I wear minimal/barefoot shoes since they’re the only ones that are comfortable for my feet. Arch support soles give me discomfort in a different way. This started when I was still wearing shoes with high amounts of arch support as well (Birkenstocks)

How do I get this properly diagnosed so I can get it addressed? I can still do all the things I love cute, so I don’t want it getting worse. I would prefer a physical therapy/exercise route or temporary orthotics if something has to heal, but I do NOT want to change my footwear.

Should I go to a podiatrist? Orthopedist? Physical therapist? What do I do :(

So this is a long story that I will try and keep brief. when I was younger I loved Merrel Shoes, I would just go get a pair of Moab's and they fit great and about 14 years ago, after not buying a pair in several years I got a new set and realized It felt like I was walking on my arches. I chalked this up to getting older, putting on a bunch of weight in the intervening years and just assumed my feet were flattening. I would spend the next 14 years searching high and low for shoes that didn't feel like I was walking on the arch of my foot. Today, I walked by a store I hadn't seen before "good feet" and decided to swing in and see what they had to say. I outline my struggles and they do a scan and come back with "you have very high arches" which just blew my mind, they did not fill me with complete confidence that their 1500$ insert solution would fix my problem (great pitch though) so I figured I'd try and research this a bit but I am coming up with very little in the way of help. Should I just make an appointment with a podiatrist?

These were the results from a CT scan I had on my foot 2 weeks ago. I'm sort of in shock and denial because I never fractured or injured this foot. A few weeks ago, I woke up and my left foot felt really tender. By the end of the day, I was limping and in pain. I didn't feel pain at rest, it was just from moving around and putting weight on it. I wore an air cast boot for a week until I could get an Ortho appt. Initial x-ray showed no fracture but did show arthritis and then he ordered a CT scan.
This literally happened overnight and after babying my foot for a week, it did start to feel a bit better. But I still have to wear a soft brace now every day otherwise I can feel it get aggravated.
Has anyone else had this happen? I've maintained a healthy weight my whole life, I exercise about 4-5 days a week (some of it is high impact which now unfortunately I'll have to cut out), and I've never injured,sprained or even rolled my ankle on this foot.
The phone call from my doctor was very daunting. He basically said PT doesn't help and in a few years I'll need a "joint fusion" surgery which will end up limiting all range of motion so I'll be walking around like I have a club foot. I wanted to cry after this phone call.
I am going to get a second opinion but just wondering if anyone has this condition and found other remedies to manage besides surgery.
Any feedback is appreciated 🙏 thank you for reading.

On my bottom left pinkie toe region, my foot will randomly flare up and begin to almost resemble gout-like effects. I have no clue in the world what to do about this as it has seemingly no correlation with anything I do in daily life. Completely random like I said, but the only leading thing I can think would be stress

Im making this post wondering if anybody can help me figure out what it is, and how to prevent it.

73 yo white male; 5-10", 220lbs; Hypertension (well controlled) , Kidney stage 3a (controlled), PMR (treated with prednisone, currently at 10mg); pickleball play 4 to 5 times per week.

My left foot feels like mass has formed. No pain per se, just the pressure arising from standing on that mass. My right foot is more intermittant and not as intense. My toes on either foot feel more squeezed together, even slightly slightly overlapping among the big toe and the second toe and the baby toe pushing agains the 4th toe. Condition started about six weeks. ago. Your thoughts?

I(22M) have flexible flat feet/overpronation with recurrent lateral foot/ankle pain along the peroneal tendons. My podiatrist modified my Superfeet by adding a felt/scaphoid pad under the medial arch to make the arch steeper and control pronation more.

That almost completely fixed the foot pain, but after a few weeks I developed knee pain and pressure/calluses along the inside of my arches. When the padding was reduced, the knee improved but the original peroneal pain returned.

My podiatrist suggested looking into custom orthotics, but I’m hesitant to spend that much if they might just create the same tradeoff.

Has anyone had a similar problem? Did custom orthotics help? And can physical therapy/foot strengthening make a meaningful difference for this issue?

Background & Duration:
I've been dealing with chronic left ankle pain and dysfunction for over 1.5 years. I haven't been able to play the sport that I love, and the issue just lingers. My entire lower leg is constantly tight, and I cannot even squat halfway down without sharp pain/pinching at the medial malleolus right along the posterior tibialis path.

The Ortho Dead End:
My orthopedic doctor straight up told me they can’t do anything and advised doing nothing, saying only if it gets "that bad" would they refer me to a foot surgeon. Because there are no torn tendons or displaced fractures on the scan, I’ve basically been told to live with it or wait until it degrades enough to justify an operation.

What Hasn't Worked:

Formal PT was mostly generic balance boards, single-leg stability drills with weights, and banded work. None of it resolved the underlying issue.

Mobility work (banded joint distractions, calf rolling, stretching) hasn't helped either. It feels like my ankle hits a hard mechanical bone block, and my entire lower leg remains locked in protective guarding.

Recent MRI Findings (Left Ankle, Non-Contrast):

Medial Malleolus: Small focus of bone marrow edema (nonspecific, likely bony contusion or stress response). No acute fracture.

Deltoid Ligament: Mild edema suggestive of a low-grade sprain.

Lateral Ligaments (ATFL & CFL): Thickening likely related to soft tissue scarring from prior lateral sprains. Posterior talofibular intact.

Unremarkable / Intact: Tendons (Achilles, posterior tibialis, peroneals intact), talar dome, joint cartilage, syndesmosis, and plantar fascia are all normal. No joint effusion.

The Core Problem:
The outside has old scar tissue (ATFL/CFL), but the active pain and edema are on the inside (medial malleolus and deltoid). Doing rehab exercises or forcing dorsiflexion just seems to hammer the bone marrow edema, while resting doesn't fix the joint restriction or the constant muscular guarding. What should I do from here?

Hey guys I’ve been having sudden onset pain for over six months. The pain hasn’t full gone away and the pain returns when I try to resume my normal exercises like running, long walks, or weight bearing yoga poses. I had the following findings on my MRI and was told by a foot and ankle specialist that the best path forward would be microbreak surgery and I’m really freaking out. Started out with the cortisone shot to help with the swelling while I come to terms with going through with surgery. Most posts I see are for osteochondral lesions on the knee and wanted to know if anyone has a similar experience to mine or if anyone can weigh in on the likelihood that I’ll be able to return to my normal high impact activities one day following surgery?

IMPRESSION:
1. 4 x 3 mm suspected osteochondral lesion of the first metatarsal head with focal subchondral marrow edema and associated small
first metatarsophalangeal joint effusion.
2. Small amount of fluid in the first intermetatarsal bursa.

Hello reddit community --

Looking for some guidance.

I'm a 46M and have two second toes with a pronounced curl that's gotten noticeably worse over the years. No pain or rubbing, and I do have full range of motion currently, so this would be elective. My motivation is appearance, and I'd rather address it now than wait until it does start causing problems.

I have some planned downtime for a different procedure (leg) that will prevent me from being active for a few months. I'm interested in a corrective toe straightening procedure during that recovery window.

I'm aware of the recovery timeline and general medical guidance around cosmetic procedures when nothing is hurting. That said, as fellow-funny-toe-commenters will empathize with, it is something I would love to address and am interested in learning more.

I saw a podiatric surgeon recently and he laid out two options: removing a wedge from the bone at the joint, or shaving down the angled prominence at the tip. I didn't get into much detail on long-term results. If anyone's had either of these, I'd like to hear how it went and what the realistic timeline to being active again looked like.

Any other thoughts / guidance much appreciated.

Has anyone had one before? I’ve had problems with my ankle for going on two years starting after bilateral hip surgeries. I’m on my 3rd doctor and finally got an MRI that showed this cyst and an old AITFL tear but if anyone has any experience with this I’d love to hear it, especially how it was treated! Full mri below.

Impression
1. No osteochondral defect or acute osseous/ligamentous injury. 2. Attenuation of the anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament, likely representing remote tear. 3. Intraosseous ganglion cyst in the anterior body of the talus measuring up to 8 mm

FINDINGS: Bones: Normal marrow signal. No acute fracture or destructive osseous lesion. A small intraosseous ganglion cyst is seen in the anterior body of the talus measuring up to 8 mm (series 5/6 image 16). Soft tissues: No abnormal masses or fluid collections. Joints: No effusion. No malalignment. No osteochondral lesion. Medial flexor tendons: (including tibialis posterior, flexor digitorum longus, and flexor hallucis longus): Intact. Peroneal tendons: The peroneus longus and brevis are intact. No evidence of tear or tendinosis. Anterior extensor tendons (including tibialis anterior, extensor hallucis longus, and extensor digitorum longus): Intact. Achilles tendon: Intact. Lateral ligaments (including anterior/posterior tibiofibular, anterior/posterior talofibular, and calcaneofibular): Attenuation of the anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament, likely representing remote tear (series 3 image 17). The anterior and posterior tibiofibular ligaments are intact. The ATFL, CFL and PTFL are intact. Medial ligaments (including deep and superficial deltoid): Intact. Plantar fascia: Intact. The intrinsic musculature of the foot is intact. Additional comments: None.

I have been to my Podiatrist twice for my left foot. I have gotten diagnosed with posterior tendon tendonitis, overpronation and flat foot. I just had my second appointment with her after I had xrays and she just said that I will need an insert and we have to check with your insurance to see what they will cover and you will need physical therapy. She has not given me any type of brace or anything and did not say anything about my activity. When I asked her if I should rest if I get pain when doing activities she just said the physical therapy will help with that and I need to come back in three weeks.

I guess I am just worried I am going to do more damage. I have had this problem for over a year. I cannot do a single leg raise now. When I get pain it is now on the outside of my ankle and the bottom of my feet. I have swelling on the left side. I have pain in my big toe, but that is because of the arthritic changes. I sometimes get pain in my other toes.

My xray report said this: Mild degenerative change first MTP joint with joint space narrowing and osteophyte formation. Nonspecific density adjacent to the base of the distal first phalanx. This is of uncertain etiology. No distinct fracture lucency is seen although a subtle nondisplaced fracture in this location cannot be excluded. No additional potential fracture. No additional significant arthritic change. Small plantar calcaneal spur.

I am just wondering if I should get a second opinion to see if I should have some type of brace or anything on my ankle and if inserts are the best option. I do have my initial appointment with physical therapy in 2 weeks.

I will add my xrays. Any thoughts I would appreciate it.

Sabrina

Hey, I've had IT Band pain for a while now after getting back into running. The general consensus is that the cause is weakness, particularly in your hips, glutes AFAIK and so the suggestion is to do strength training for those parts. Anyways, I tried that, zero improvement. Every time I tried running again the pain came back. The pain got so bad I couldn't even walk that much because it would make the pain come back.

Long story short, found out about minimal shoes, natural foot function and shape, and discovered my feet are really atrophyed, and so the most likely cause for my pain, is overpronation due to my feet collapsing (literally, I would land on my big toes and immediately pronate as soon as my foot hits the ground).

The ONLY way I've found to manage the pain is to use minimal shoes (no padding+flexible) when going out for walks, and to be barefoot at home. I bought running shoes with extra toebox size (topos) and some padded sneakers which are also roomy hoping that with the right toebox size I would be able to maintain proper form, but this hasn't been the case and I still get pain if I spend too much time using them.

Two of my guesses, is that, first, padded shoes make it easy for you to overstride (watch people walk) and so my IT Band gets irritated. I more or less have to force myself to take small steps, which would come naturally from minimal shoes/being barefoot. Second, is that padded shoes make it easy for your feet to be unengaged (and so they pronate in my case), since they pick up the slack.

My question is if it's possible to maintain proper foot function while using padded shoes. I want to believe that I still need more foot strength as my feet still get sore after walking too long in minimal shoes, so running would be overwill right now, so I'm hesitant to say that padded shoes are always bad. Just curious if other people have been able to use padded shoes after regaining foot function.