Nate and others, thanks for the input. I've been running BF for over 3
years now, and I thought the bones and tissues in my feet had
toughened up quite a bit, but I also am still 210 lbs, and this is
probably why my foot is suffering. I'm OK with taking a couple of
weeks off of running, and wearing cushy shoes in the meantime. I'm
biking plenty, and I'm going to get my paddleboard out on the Madison
lakes a bit too.

I'll take your advice and stick with the ice, and avoid the
anti-inflammatory meds. Once I'm pain-free for a week or so, I'll
start back slowly.

Barefoot Kelly in Madison

--- In RunningBarefoot@yahoogroups.com, "Nate Polaske"
<tiggermaxcocoa@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I also had this same pain when I first started. After several terrible
> doctors visits, I eventually found one who was willing to give me an
MRI
> and it came back that I had a stress reaction. If you go to doctor and
> all he does is an x-ray and then say you are fine, just smile and go
find
> another doctor. An x-ray is not a good way to see stress fractures or
> reactions.
>
> I struggled for months with this pain, mostly because I didn't want to
> stop running. I took anti-inflammatories twice a day like I was
told, but
> in the end, that made things a million times worse. I would take two
> weeks off, then go run again, feel fine, and then the pain would be
> horrible the next morning. They did an excellent job covering up the
> pain, but I don't think they helped the healing at all (maybe even
> hindered it). The drugs will only prolong your suffering, in my
opinion.
>
> Eventually, I found that by taking about 2 weeks off from running, I
> could get the pain to go away. I would also ice my feet every night
and
> wear my huge annoying support shoes during the 2 weeks. Then for
> the next 3 weeks or so, I did not run, but started to walk more
barefoot
> and in my sandals. The main point is that it takes time to heal,
and if
> you ignore the pain, it will never go away, and will most likely get
> worse, eventually turning into a stress fracture (at least that's
what the
> doctor said).
>
> Godd luck,
>
> --Nate
> --- In RunningBarefoot@yahoogroups.com, Paul L <hewlettp2@>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Kelly,
> >
> > I had a similar pain last summer about a month after I started
running
> BF. The
> > pain was most noticeable when I dorsiflexed my foot. I had an MRI
> done and the
> > diagnosis came back as a 'stress reaction' in a couple of the
> metatarsals as
> > well as the calcaneal bone. From what I understand, that's a term
that
> sports
> > physicians use to describe an inflammation of the bone tissue. This
> makes the
> > tissue weaker and more susceptible to a fracture. My short term
> remedy was to
> > switch to wearing shoes for all my running since I was in the middle
> of a
> > marathon training program and I didn't want to back off significantly
> and wait
> > for my feet to heal completely. In the mean time, I was doing feet
and
> ankle
> > strengthening exercises similar to the yoga toes exercises that Ken
> Bob
> > referred to recently. Also, I did quite a bit of barefoot hiking over
> rugged
> > trails. I highly recommend that. It's the best thing you can do to
> strengthen
> > the various muscles/tendons/ligaments in your feet as well as all the
> auxiliary
> > stabilizing structures in the ankles and further up. It also improves
> your
> > reflexes and awareness, not to mention that it's a lot of fun! Other
> hikers
> > will think that you're superhuman for doing this even though it's
quite
> > pleasurable.
> >
> > In my experience, it takes about 2-3 months of consistent practice
for
> your
> > feet to adapt to the point where you can run BF at about the same
> mileage and
> > intensity as you're used to with shoes without experiencing any
> niggling aches.
> > Patience and consistency are the key.
> >
> > -Paul
> >
> > --- Kelly Cox <wisc_galoot@> wrote:
> >
> > > I'm wondering if any other BF'ers have input on what might be
> causing
> > > this. I have a pain on the top of my right foot (and a bit on my
left)
> > > around the area of the 4th metatarsal, about in the middle of my
> foot.
> > > I didn't run a lot over the summer, but I did wear flip-flops a lot,
> > > and I suspect that is the cause.
> > >
> > > It isn't a stress fracture--I'm able to run 5 miles BF, and it
doesn't
> > > hurt at all when I run. It does hurt the next day, and I'm
wearing my
> > > Waldies now to see if that helps. Otherwise, I'm icing and taking
> > > naproxen to see if that helps.
> > >
> > > Barefoot Kelly in Madison
> > >
> > >
> >
>