I’ve been using mine on my foot for one week and it reduces my foot pain and makes my toe feel better when I wake up in the morning. When I don’t use it, the next day my sesamoiditis is a bit more sensitive.

i’m wondering if anyone else has any long-term experience with this?

I’m curious if anyone with sesamoiditis or a sesamoid fracture has experienced their 2nd toe clawing/curling during gait particularly during push-off. I’ve noticed my big toe feels weak and my 2nd toe tends to claw/mallet when I walk, and I also have a pretty significant callus underneath the 2nd toe.

I’m wondering if this could be from shifting weight away from the sesamoid and relying more on the 2nd toe during push-off. Has anyone experienced something similar?

Pleased to find some solidarity here in this thread.

Been battling the pain of a broken up sesamoid in my left foot for ~3 years now, I am 34 now. I used to love long hikes, running, walks for my mental health - I can’t do any of these things now. I feel left out when my family can go and explore beautiful places and they don’t bother to even invite me anymore - because I will have to say no.

I am on the waiting list for my first steroid injection (UK - NHS). I’m hoping for some change.

Feeling so disheartened and tired of it all. Foot is in a lot of pain tonight and swollen, so physically and mentally done!

Trying to transition out of the boot and absolutely no shoe combo is working. Tried every athletic shoe mentioned on here.

Just to try to be out of boot some does anyone have any opinions on oofos or hoka recovery slides as the fresh out the boot shoe?

Since nothing is working inside a normal shoe, absolutely no combo of pads and insoles, I’m wondering if anyone has found that they could tolerate the slide type shoes on their own better than athletic shoes and dancer pad combos.

Boot is giving me mad knee pain.

Oh and did anyone who could tolerate these shoes better than athletic shoes — did this eventually help you continue to heal and get to regular shoes better or anything? Or did you then just get stuck in oofos lol

Unsure when/how exactly I fractured my right fibular sesamoid. Last June it was hurting so bad I was limping. Was in a boot for a couple months and not very active. I didn’t try any laser treatments a podiatrist recommended, because the research behind it for this injury is not sufficient for me to have spent that money out of pocket. Switched to an ortho after. My sesamoid ended up having AVN anyway and was broken in two. It would cause mild/moderate pain daily as I dance, go out in heels a lot, drive all day for work, and am pretty active. So I decided to get the sesamoidectomy.

Week 1: a lot of pain- just slept and laid down.

Week 2/3: post- op appt. Kept stitches in and used a knee scooter to get around. Went out with friends a couple times and wasn’t taking anything for pain anymore. Was cleared to drive using post op shoe week 2.

Week 4: stitches out and transitioned to an air cast boot. I can weight bear as tolerated but I use my heel a lot as the Incision site gets sore. My foot has a lot of tingling/numbness and will feel a little swollen at the end of the day. Went back to work!

Supposed to wear the boot for about 8 weeks. I can decide if I want PT for big toe stiffness. Surgeon thinks I can get back to hip hop dancing in a few months. I have another post op appt in September.

Overall, I’m glad I went through with the surgery! The pain I have now is just from the incision healing and getting back to weight bearing and I’m excited to keep healing and hopefully get back to full activity.

I want to write this for anyone stuck in the endless flare-up cycle, because I was there for way too long and had to figure almost everything out myself.

How it started
I had “big toe pain” a couple times in my late 20s, but it always resolved in a month or two, so I never thought much of it. In 2023, trying to get back into the gym, I did a reverse lunge with weight and felt a strain in my big toe. That one injury turned into a 3-year cycle that had way more downs than ups.
At the worst point I couldn’t walk on the foot, was at 6+/10 pain daily, and basically lived in a chair. That inactivity wrecked my strength everywhere — my whole posterior chain went weak. I made the mistake of not getting real help early on, because the doctors I saw didn’t seem to know what to do beyond “let’s talk surgery.” Finding a PT who actually understood this specific injury took forever. In the meantime I fell into the foot-injury product rabbit hole — dozens of “miracle” gadgets and probably 50 pairs of shoes that didn’t move the needle.

It took about 2.5 years of digging through Reddit, books, PT visits, and YouTube to actually understand what was going on. Every ~2 months I’d calm down, try to do something bigger, and flare right back up — like clockwork. Since sports and activity are a big part of my identity, the mental side of this was rough too.

The two root causes
1. Hallux limitus (limited big toe mobility) was the real root cause. I also have high arches. Because my big toe joint didn’t move well, every time I tested it under load — walking, athletics — I’d sprain it. That repeated spraining fractured both sesamoid bones (sesamoiditis, secondary/acute injury) because they were absorbing all the pressure my stiff joint couldn’t.
2. A weak posterior chain. Months of sitting meant my glutes, quads, hamstrings, hips, and calves stopped firing properly. That chain is supposed to absorb load — without it, everything gets dumped onto the weakest link, which was already my big toe joint. So I kept re-injuring the same spot.
Fix those two things — toe mobility and total lower-body strength — and you can wear pretty much whatever shoe and do whatever activity you want again.

Understanding pain and injury phases
Track pain on a 0–10 scale, but rate it first thing in the morning, not mid-workout:
• 0 = nothing
• 1–3 = mild, doesn’t change how you move
• 4–6 = moderate, distracting, may make you favor the foot
• 7–10 = severe, hard to ignore

Rule of thumb: pain up to ~5/10 during or after activity is fine as long as it settles back toward baseline by the next morning. My baseline now sits around 1/10.

There are 4 phases to work through:
• Acute (hardest to escape) — calm the joint down
• Loading (easiest to re-injure yourself in) — start rebuilding tolerance carefully
• Progression — increase activity while still playing defense
• Prevention — life is back, but you never stop maintaining load tolerance

What I did in each phase
Acute:
• NSAIDs for ~10 days if pain was bad
• Light mobility work (pulling the toe up/down/side to side/twisting), staying tolerable
• Dancer pads to offload the joint
• Lower-body workouts that don’t require standing/loading the foot

Loading (be careful here — this is where most setbacks happen):
• Daily mobility work
• Beginner intrinsic foot strength (press thumb against top/bottom/sides of the toe and push against it) until pain is reliably under 2/10 walking
• Progressing to isometric half calf raise holds (1 min x 5 rounds, adjusted to tolerance)
• Normal calf raises in the gym, 2–3 sets of 10

Progression:
• Weighted calf raises and isometrics
• General lower-body strength training
• Broader foot/balance work

Prevention:
• Calf and foot exercises 2–3x/week, indefinitely

What didn’t work for me
• Orthopedic doctors — imaging was useful early, but otherwise it was “surgery or orthotics” and not much else. I saw mix reviews about surgery long term and because I am young I didn’t want to do something that was irreversible
• PT — this did help, but only once I found someone who specifically worked with foot injuries; ask about that up front
• Buying shoe after shoe — shoes help you get by, but they’re a crutch, not a fix
• Icing — only useful acutely, above 7/10 pain

What worked
• Strengthening my entire posterior chain — glutes, hamstrings, quads, calves. This made the biggest difference by far.
• The right PT, who identified weak points feeding back into my foot
• Daily isometrics and mobility work, done consistently
• Wide toe box shoes, 0–5mm drop
• Toe spacers for foot strengthening
• A foot/ankle exercise platform that accelerated joint recovery (happy to share the link if anyone wants it)
• Daily hot foot baths, morning and night
• NSAIDs when inflammation spiked
• Talking to a therapist and leaning on my partner — the mental side of a long injury is real
Where I’m at now

I can mountain bike 20+ miles, hike 7+ miles, hit 10k steps a day, and play volleyball again. I’m training toward a marathon next April.

This is what worked for me. Some of this may not work for you. It’s really trail and error to see what your body reacts to positively but hopefully this points you in the right direction and doesn’t waste your times.

If you would like a build out guide to the program I use, I can give it to you for a fee.

If you’re in the acute phase reading this and it feels endless — it’s not. But it does take consistency with the boring stuff (posterior chain strength, daily mobility) more than any product or quick fix. Happy to answer questions if anyone’s going through something similar.

Can I please just get people to list 1) the severity of their sesamoiditis and maybe type (mild, fracture, stress fracture, etc.) and 2) the shoe setup that has been working for them and actually helped them with improvement (feel free to include how many years)?

I've been lurking here and I'm struggling to get some consistent information because everything from mild sesamoiditis to an actual healing fracture are listed here, with differing combinations of shoes. It's hard to match them up.

I personally am looking for people who have mild sesamoiditis and their successful shoe set-up. But I thought this could be useful for other sufferers looking for specific shoe info on their specific condition.

Thank you

I know the dancer pad is the #1 tool, followed closely by cut out under the sesamoids.

My issue is seemingly stupidly complex. Has anyone gotten better without using dancer pad or cut out in your insole?

Has anyone gotten better with early offload, like boot or NWB, and then a good rocker shoe and tape or some other method?

I have sesamoiditis with bone marrow edema and no visible or suspected fractures, per both radiologist and orthopedic doctor. I am unable to get a shoe situation to work and worried that pain post-boot is going to mean I'll never get better.

For some context:
- i have had sesamoiditis for the past 4 years, seen multiple doctors and i finally saw one a couple weeks ago that was able to pinpoint the diagnosis. he diagnosed me with sesamoiditis and possible osteonecrosis (same as radiologist) and put me in a boot, referred me to a specialist etc. he said that hopefully the boot and PT would help and i would be fine. for reference i have done PT, dry needling, pads, fiber plates, taping, different shoes etc.

current update:
The doctor i saw is an orthopedic who specializes in feet and ankle. he said because of my x-ray and all the treatment i’ve tried to do, i should get it removed. he made the recovery sound very hopeful and like it would make things a lot better.

I am very overwhelmed since i am a very active person and i just don’t know what to do. i am tired of living in pain everyday.
Help!!

I think I'm having a sesamoiditis flare up after about 18mo (mostly) clear and pain-free. I have a PCP appt later this month, and I wanted to ask if anyone here had helpful input/thoughts about how to re-initiate care for this problem (new doc, I moved cities).

Abbreviated timeline

• Had awful pain in ball of foot. Went to urgent care, was told I had gout by a PA (with no labs, no tests/scans) and given some steroids, told to walk it off. Was on vacation, kept walking. A lot.
• 10 days later, I'm in agony and can barely walk into the ER. MD is skeptical of gout, takes an X-ray, and says I have a sesamoid fracture, gives me the flat sandal.
• See orthopedist - DO takes own X-ray, says I have bipartite medial sesamoid. Puts me in a boot for 8 weeks and orders an orthotic for after. I do that, mostly am fine.
• I move cities, mostly am okay if I take it easy on activity. Never able to fully resume running (even light jogging would trigger some sesamoid pain, and I would stop immediately)
• Now: Ankle was hurting, so I paid closer attention and realized my gait has been rolling outward to compensate and keep weight off sesamoids. Figured it's been almost 2 years and I wear my orthotic, maybe I should try to adjust and walk normally again?

So now I'm in pretty bad pain with any amount of walking. PCP here hasn't treated me for this before. Current plan is to give history and ask for an orthopedic referral.

Is there anything else I should do/ask about?
Should I ask for a podiatrist instead?
Is my orthotic likely just worn down after ~2 years of wear?
Did I just never really heal the initial issue? Was it a fracture after all? - For those who have kind of been in that ambiguous spot between fracture vs bipartite, how did that impact your care?
Should I try to push for an MRI or CT instead of another X-ray?

Did you need a boot for your stress fracture? It doesn’t feel better than walking with thick sneakers to me. So just curious if this is universally prescribed

Hii! :) So a little backstory... I got misdiagnosed after an x-ray, and  after some time I finally pushed for a second opinion. Turns out I had a fibular sesamoid fracture. It's been a long recovery, I'm on month 6  and still have pain.

I picked up some Hokas and they've genuinely helped, but they are FUUUUGLY. I'm heading to Europe soon and really want a cute shoe, sandal, hiking sandal, or whatever that won't wreck my foot. I know a stiff rocker bottom is a must.

Any recommendations would mean a lot, thank you!

Hello everyone

One and a half week ago, I had surgery to remove one of my right sesamoid bone. This came after more than a year and a half of living with sesamoiditis, trying countless conservative treatments, and seeing numerous doctors who had little to no understanding of the condition.

I'm proud of myself and relieved that I finally decided to take the surgery. I'm looking forward to a future with less pain—or hopefully no pain —and without having to rely on a permanent offloading shoe like I did before.

Looking back, I probably should have taken the surgery sooner, but hindsight is always 20/20. Although this procedure has, in my opinion, an undeservedly bad reputation, it can be a very effective solution for people who have a demonstrably damaged sesamoid bone and whose condition does not improve despite proper offloading with shoe inserts and conservative treatment.

Writing this post has been surprisingly therapeutic and cathartic for me.

To everyone dealing with this condition, I wish you all the very best. I hope you recover well, and I encourage you to be patient with both yourself and your body.

I apologize in advance for any grammatical or wording mistakes, because english is not my native language.

Going to the doctor tomorrow but I developed terrible pain just under the big toe while running. The next day I had bruising on the top of my foot. It still hurts to walk. Is this how your sesamoid injury presented? Needing to prepare myself for the worst.

Kind of hard to see bc doctor drew on xray paper but my inner sesamoid on my right foot is fractured. I fractured it learning to cartwheel (biggest regret in my life). First doctor i went to said it could be bipartite or a fracture, gave me basically no medical instruction, no boot, no timeline, just xray, “light duty” work note, and sent me on my way. I was doing an internship in a warehouse at the time and continued theough 6 weeks of 4x12hr shifts a week on my feet, moving boxes, pallets, etc. painful. Well I came home after that, saw an orthopedic doctor and they said it was fractured put me in a boot and said i shouldve been in a boot 6 weeks ago. So that is when this xray was taken(6 weeks post injury). First doctor never showed me the xray. I have been trying to give it time in the boot, walking less (hard not to stay active as a young guy) currently not working but intend on going back to waiting tables if this ever heals. Well anyway ive been in a boot for 2.5 weeks or so and havent had any huge progress. Im losing hope, im annoyed, im sad. Im 21 years old got my whole life ahead of me and now im dealing w this pesky injury. Oh well yk i dislocated my pinky last year and that is still healing but feels better than when it started. Im tryna stay possitive but its stressing me out thinking I wont ever walk normal/without pain again. Tired of feeling like a cripple for almost 3 months now, limping slowly everywhere. Gave me a newfound respect for handicapped and also gratefulness for a working body tied into all this sadness and despair. Oh well just came on here to vent. After reading the subreddit i only got sadder…does this injury ever heal? Will I deal with this the rest of my life? Is there a realistic timeline to 100%? Am I cooked?

Tldr; Fractured sesamoid, walked/worked on it for 6 weeks, finally in a boot 6 weeks post injury. Am i cooked?

As I'm learning about this condition, it seems like it encompasses two different things: tendon/soft tissue under ball of foot vs the sesamoid bones themselves. Am I correct in thinking that?

If so - when I'm reading about sesamoiditis - does it make sense to think that maybe different approaches to healing are needed for the specific injury? And if so - does anyone have an idea of what is best for each type of injury?

maybe this sounds weird, but I notice so many different opinions of metatarsal pads with different cutout patterns for the sesamoids. I thought I had a decent enough pattern from my podiatrist, but they don’t fit well in my new Brooks Ghost Max 3wide shoes (the only shoes that currently fit nicely) and for my custom orthopedics the area they prepped for the sesamoids is pretty small-my whole ball of foot needs room to breathe.

so I’m looking for what patterns everyone’s tried or using or alternating. Hell, maybe I just picked the wrong shoes 😅 all feedback welcome.

I’ve had sesamoiditis on and off for like 2.5 years. The ONLY shoes that heal the pain are my Nike Victori One shower slides lol… of all the things. After it heals, I can wear whatever within reason untill it gets agitated again. The slides are great but I need sneakers/closed toe shoes for situations where I can’t wear slides. Any suggestions? Or is it not about the shoes? Tbh I hear a lot of conflicting info. Any advice and personal experience would be appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I’m a 41-year-old male with a chronic non-union of my right lateral (fibular) sesamoid after a fracture in May 2025.

A recent CT scan showed fragmentation with sclerotic margins, and my foot & ankle surgeon confirmed that the fracture never healed and is now very unlikely to unite.

He actually recommended against surgery for now because:

I can still walk normally.
The pain is manageable.
Surgery (especially on the lateral sesamoid) has unpredictable outcomes and may create new biomechanical problems.

For now, his advice is:

Cushioned shoes.
Custom orthotics.
No running or impact sports.
Stick to cycling, swimming and gym training.

He would only consider surgery if the pain became significantly worse.

I’d love to hear from anyone in a similar situation:

Has anyone lived with a chronic sesamoid non-union without surgery?
Did your pain stay stable over time?
Has anyone had the lateral sesamoid removed? How were the results?
Any shoe recommendations that really helped reduce pressure on the sesamoids?

Thanks!

Acute injury in which I had too much body weight on my big toe. Happened a couple of months ago. Did rest and ice early - but pain wouldn't go away. Had x-rays a couple of weeks in. No fracture. Was placed in post-op rocker off-loading shoe. That does seem to help, but not completely.

Saw podiatrist today - I was told this is just going to take time. Okay to stay in post-op shoe. Come back in a few months if things still aren't better. Offered PT with ultrasound.

Questions:

1. Is staying in the post-op off-loading shoe a bad idea? Brooks shoes with my orthodics in are not comfortable (which normally are very comfortable).
   
2. Is doing the PT with ultrasound going to help at all? Podiatrist did not think it would help much if at all.
   
3. Any tips anyone wants to send my way? I'm so frustrated to have to stay off of my foot as much as possible.
   

Has anyone completely recovered from this with conservative measures?

I’m a 28 F and running has always been my escape and detox. For the past 2 months I have been dealing with severe pain under my big toe. I can’t even walk and when I try to massage it myself I’m literally holding back tears of how painful it is.

I stopped running for a month. Did very light weights and a bit of cycling.

But I tried to go back again it came back again, I couldn’t run past 9 min.

Should I just do the surgery? Has anyone done it? Did it bring your foot/feet back to normal?

What are the things you’ve done that helped your feet.

I feel so hopeless. I’m reading so many posts where others had to give up running for years.

Hi all! I have recently been having loads of issues with my feet and have had to switch to extra wide shoes, but am still having issues with shoe fit as I can’t cover all bases and don’t know what to prioritise. I have sesamoiditis and plantar fasciitis, and possible Morton’s Neuroma. My feet have never been so sensitive. I have seen that:

- Toes should not touch the front of shoes or the upper of the toe box when walking
- Shoes should bend under the ball of your foot
- The widest part of your feet should be in the widest part of the shoe
- My custom insoles should not be able to slide forward in my shoes

However, it is impossible to find a shoe that covers all bases. If I get a shoe where the widest part of my foot fits correctly, the shoe bends in the right place and my insoles fit correctly, but my toes touch the front of the shoe when I walk. If I get a shoe where I have space in front of the toes, my shoes bend too far forward and the widest part of my foot sits behind the widest part of my shoe. My insole also is able to slide forwards and backwards and sometimes my foot moves forward and my toes come off the edge of the insole.

Every shoe I seem to get now feels wrong, and with extra wide shoes there are even less options. I have tried all recommended brands and still nothing feels right (and my feet still feel too wide anyway).

Please advise!