To those who have experienced metatarsalgia or are at least familiar with it, I have a question. Besides enduring the discomfort of running with the condition, does it cause any real physical damage to continue training with it?
To those who have experienced metatarsalgia or are at least familiar with it, I have a question. Besides enduring the discomfort of running with the condition, does it cause any real physical damage to continue training with it?
Pain is bad. It gets worse when you run on it, though not (usually) rapidly. It's better to figure out a way to avoid irritating it, but still get some running it. I had pretty bad metatarsalgia at the first MTPJ for a while. I initially fixed it by getting SuperFeet and putting moleskin pads on the bottom of the insole, over the 2nd through 5th metatarsal heads, to take pressure off the 1st metatarsal head. I had to build up 3 or 4 layers to take enough pressure off! Did that for a few years. If I ever did much running without my insoles, the metatarsal head would start to hurt again. Now, I am able to run without insoles in very soft shoes. Saucony Kinvara and Nike Free have been excellent for this since the midsole and insole are very soft. Hard shoes are still unrunnable for me. A good podiatrist might be able to hook you up with some custom insoles for metatarsalgia of the 2nd through 5th metatarsal heads.
What you really don't want to do is rupture the capsule around the MTPJ. That's bad.
Metatarsaglia is just a symptom. Without knowing the cause, running through it is insanely risky. Metatarsal stress fractures are infamously hard to heal. Joint degeneration is horrible too. You could go from running to not even walking.
Even worse, if it gets bad the podiatrists will get their hooks into you and have you on orthotics, the above-mentioned metatarsal pads, cortisone shots, expensive surgery and all kinds of other useless and ruinous treatments. You'll look back and say to yourself, why, oh why didn't I just stop running until the pain went away.
RIP: D3 All-American Frank Csorba - who ran 13:56 in March - dead
RENATO can you talk about the preparation of Emile Cairess 2:06
Running for Bowerman Track Club used to be cool now its embarrassing
Hats off to my dad. He just ran a 1:42 Half Marathon and turns 75 in 2 months!
Great interview with Steve Cram - says Jakob has no chance of WRs this year
Rest in Peace Adrian Lehmann - 2:11 Swiss marathoner. Dies of heart attack.