Sore and stiff big toe for 3 months

800ftw. wrote:

Hmmm..... wrote:

I had the surgery for this and it was awful and did little to improve the condition. If this is what you do have, you really do just have to figure out the best way to manage it.

You don't recommend a cheilectomy?

For me, it wasn't the right decision. I needed both a Cheilectomy and Akin osteomoty I probably waited too long to get the surgery, so they cleaned up what they could, but it really had no effect on joint flexibility or comfort. It was a painful surgery and a messy recovery, with no real benefit.

I've learned to deal with the injury, and was able to PR in the marathon and get back to the 100 mile weeks post surgery. If you're desperate, I guess ithe surgery might be worth a shot, but don't come out of it expecting that you'll be healed.

800ftw. wrote:

Hmmm..... wrote:

I had the surgery for this and it was awful and did little to improve the condition. If this is what you do have, you really do just have to figure out the best way to manage it.

You don't recommend a cheilectomy?

Check out a video of one on Youtube. They're rough.

Ho Hum wrote:

Check out a video of one on Youtube. They're rough.

Good Stuff!

Hmmm..... wrote:

800ftw. wrote:

You don't recommend a cheilectomy?

For me, it wasn't the right decision. I needed both a Cheilectomy and Akin osteomoty I probably waited too long to get the surgery, so they cleaned up what they could, but it really had no effect on joint flexibility or comfort. It was a painful surgery and a messy recovery, with no real benefit.

I've learned to deal with the injury, and was able to PR in the marathon and get back to the 100 mile weeks post surgery. If you're desperate, I guess ithe surgery might be worth a shot, but don't come out of it expecting that you'll be healed.

I've thought about doing a Youngswick Osteotomy. I'm kind of in an odd spot: I'm still young (24) and the toe has been doing better as of late, but I know it's eventually going to deteriorate. Obviously, the younger I do it, the higher my chances of full recovery. On the other hand, there's not much a need to do it if it's not currently debilitating.

Are you sure it's your big toe? If you took one of those little blue miracles, you might be having an erection lasting more than four hours. As they say on TV, call your Doctor. Don't worry, it happens to a lot of adolescents the first time.

big toe wrote:

Hmmm..... wrote:

Could be Hallux Rigidus/Limitus which is basically arthritis of the toe. There is no cure. All you can do is manage the pain.

I have this. You're best bet is preventative care: go to PT to mobilize the joint and roll your arch out on a golf ball. During the day, wear shoes that don't press on the front of the toe.

How does rolling the arch help?

rolling helps in two ways. one it helps loosen the tiny tight muscles and ligaments. two it helps bring a little bit of circulation in there. You're crazy if you're already thinking about surgery, the mere thought of inquiry is nuts. give it some time to recoil. if you're doing any speed work on a crap toe you're not helping your case at all. if you haven't cut back a little bit of mileage, you're not helping it either. aches in the feet suck ass for it takes forever for it to go away since we need our feet to walk. unless you're in a boot, on crutches, or a wheel chair it's kind of hard to take pressure off your feet and still get around. throw everything you can to help your situation before even considering surgery. Ice, heat, roll/PT, toe exercises, use metatarsal pads, tape your feet to relieve pain, take ibuprofen, rest, cut back mileage, stop speedwork, get new insoles/shoes, find out how it happened and give it some time to heal.

if it's been 3 months and zero sign of improvement then you're either not addressing the issue still or you're still going too hard and not letting it recover. take it seriously early, feet can be a whole other set of problems over time, you can cut some corners with shins or something but with feet...well you know what the surgery looks like, and from the responses you can tell once they get in there there's no going back and there's no guarantee of success either.

Thanks for the advice, it's been three months with no running at all. My toe hurts just walking.

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