Cabin Fever

This was my feet last week:

Toenails painted, flip flop  tan lines, free as birds.

This is my feet now:

Cramped up in sneakers with no fresh air!

They’ll be like this for at least two weeks…because my feet are now officially on bed-rest…er…”sneaker-rest”.

Maybe you want to know why, maybe you don’t. Either way, I’m gonna tell you.

About 2 or 3 weeks ago I started feeling pain on the outside of my left foot, right by the joint of my pinky toe.  At first I thought I might have hit it on something, but when the pain didn’t go away after a few days I started paying more attention to it. It felt bad after every. single. workout that involved pressure on my feet…running, cycling, even yoga! But it felt better after a few hours.

Then it started hurting when I did things like grocery shopping, or standing in someone’s office to talk (about work-related things of course). That’s when I got worried & made an appointment with my foot doctor.

The diagnosis? A “stress reaction” in my pinky toe joint (yes, “pinky toe joint” is the correct medical term…)  Happily though, I’m not to the point of a stress fracture! (Whew!)

Apparently this is what a swollen pinky toe joint looks like?

Turns out all work & no play…I mean…lots of workouts and unsupportive footwear (hello flip-flops!) during the day makes for an effed up pinky toe joint! (I’m beginning to wonder how many times I can say “pinky toe joint” in one post…)

Here’s what the doctor ordered to stop this stress reaction in its tracks:

But NO MORE my friends!  I’ve apparently slowly transitioned to a mid- to- fore-foot strike, so the inserts were causing me to put too much pressure on the outside edges of my feet, you know, right by my pinky toe joint.

See that? Worn in the middle but basically NO wear on the heels. YES!

2.  Use heel-wedges for the next 4-6 weeks to take the pressure off of the outside of my feet.  These basically do the exact opposite of the insoles I was using – shifting the weight from the outside of my feet, near my pinky toe joint, to the middle/inside. 

Since I’m mostly fore-foot striking now when I run, I shouldn’t have to change my gait too much. (But if it irritates my legs/knees, I can stop using them after 2 weeks.)

3.  NO RUNNING FOR 1 WEEK. Um, this one is pretty self explanatory & I’m basically OK with it…after all, running isn’t my favorite thing to do. One week won’t kill my training, but should be long enough to get a head-start of un-inflaming my pinky toe joint.

4.  No flip-flops, sandals, or traipsing around barefoot for TWO WEEKS.  This pretty much goes hand-in-hand with #2.  I need the support of the shoes & heel wedges to give my pretty little pinky toe joints a rest.

Yes, I’m the dork at work in dress pants & sneakers.  Deal with it.

5.  Swim, cycle & yoga as much as I want…unless it hurts.  Duh.

So far, it’s been 48 hours of sneak-i-fied life & my feet are begging for fresh air…these little piggies do NOT like to be cooped up – talk about cabin fever!

But the good news? My itty bitty pinky toe joint is feeling better already – and THAT makes this little bout of cabin fever worth it.

p.s…I think that’s TEN “pinky toe joint” mentions…11 if you count the one in this line…