I know we went through this with Fran recently but I have a slightly different take that is worth passing on. My problem isn't the same as Fran's I think but the podiatrist I've been to see has seen it previously in walkers and particularly skiers.
The problem manifests itself as severe pain along the underside of all the toes - in my case both feet. In an older pair of very comfortable BO (hill walking boots) it appears at the end of the day (say 6 hours worth) and can only be escaped by stopping and relaxing the feet. As I thought that this was a cramp type problem I put it down to the boots failing to support the foot adequately and when they started to leak recently I bought a pair of B1 classification boots giving the foot more support (togther with the fact that the moment I mentioned crampons ...but that's another story). Wrong - within 1 1/2 hours misery was upon me once again despite what seemed a very comfortable fitting boot. I had to stop every half hour after that to allow my toes to recover. I've tried other boot combinations - very soft boots don't do it; a pair of very stiff boots from the early 70's don't seem to do it.
Anyway the podiatrist says my gait is wrong and one particular nerve which affects the toes is being pressurised. Age is one contributor (I'm 64) - my feet don't bend as far they should and interestingly enough neither do my toes due apparantly to osteoarthritis, and I always thought that gave you pain - not this particular pain seemingly. The main culprit I'm told is that my calf muscles are too short and I need to do exercises to stretch them as my heel lifts too soon in the stride. The Berghaus GRW20 GTX boots compounded the fault in that they have an upward rocker at the toe and a low heel structure.
In some ways there is a catch 22 here as I already have orthotics to deal with a low arch and effectively deal with pain there; the orthotics lift the heel which correspondingly I reckon shortens the calf muscle !! Doesn't seem one can win.
You've already said that softer boots are OK. I suggest that your answer lies there. We tend to get precious sometimes about wearing boots in the hills and they're not always the answer. In summer I'll often wear just a good pair of walking shoes, dispensing with the boots altogether. While this may not seem a good strategy for inclement weather the strategic use of say, sealskinz socks and a pair of gaiters may allow you to wear softer footwear all year 'round. At the end of the day its a choice; only do walks where you think softer boots apply or adjust your world view to accomodate the fact that soft boots can allow you walk all year round if kit yourself out accordingly.
In some ways there is a catch 22 here as I already have orthotics to deal with a low arch and effectively deal with pain there; the orthotics lift the heel which correspondingly I reckon shortens the calf muscle !! Doesn't seem one can win.
Maybe it's morton's neuroma in a first stage? It was in my case and now solved as long as I keep wearing my orthotic footbeds. Your story in all details looks like mine. Except for the low arch, but I have a too short achilles. New orthotics will do the tric I think, because the podiatrist will adjust them to both your problems.
Maybe the calf muscle isn't getting any longer (unless you practice, but I tend to 'forget' to do so), but the stuck nerve will get more space, which releaves the (burning) pain.
-- Anna.
http://www.lycaon.nl "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."
Anna - I don't want to raise the bogy of you not reading my mail properly but I did quite clearly say that the pain is in all the toes and along the underside of them. If you look at this link
you will see that an MN occurs very typically only between the 3 and 4th toes due to the structure of the foot at that point.
I think it would also be pretty remiss of the podiatrist if he hadn't investigated an MN as a possibility. What I didn't say in the original post because I didn't think it was necessary was that I did have an MN in my 20's and had that surgically removed then. - that was due to wearing stiff climbing boots that were very narrow - not lady's shoes as the surgeon wanted me to say!
The reason for posting was to report a type of foot pain that a large boot store had not met and seemd therefore a little unusual, but which does seem to have a distinct cause. The podiatrist confirmed that it wasn't common but that he had met on several occasions before, particularly amongst skiers.
Anna - I don't want to raise the bogy of you not reading my mail properly but I did quite clearly say that the pain is in all the toes and along the underside of them. If you look at this link
you will see that an MN occurs very typically only between the 3 and 4th toes due to the structure of the foot at that point.
It's most common in that area indeed, but occurs sometimes between other toes allso. As in my case for example. Only my right foot (because of an achilles injury before that made it shorter), my left is typical between third and fourth.
Quoted message said:
[...] I did have an MN in my 20's and had that surgically removed then.
Then you'll know the feeling, which doesn't seem to be what your suffering from now. I hope it'll get better.
