Feet pain

[broncovet]

There was a post on "flat feet", so I thought I would ask:

Quote

What are you doing about foot pain?

My VA doc was useless.  Even the foot doc was no help.  He did give me a set of inserts for my shoes, but I had better luck (and more arch support) by ordering arch support inserts online. 

Berta mentioned she got insoles fitted by a doctor.  I really never have had them fitted by a doc.  I have had a total knee replacement, (not service connected but should have been, its moot now since Im already 100 percent plus SMC S).  I fractured my leg in the military. 

Most of my foot pain is limited to the left foot.  Pretty much it either feels numb or pain all the time.  Fortunately, mostly numb.  Im not a diabetic, and have not been diagnosed with peripheral nueropathy, but I think I have that anyway. 

Even worse than my foot pain is my brother's foot pain, and I want to help him. 

I have tried some things with some success, but not as much success as I like.

1.  Orthopedic inserts.  The leather ones from Berkinstock seem to work best, as they support my high arch.

2.  Stay off cement.  I try not to walk on concrete surfaces, at least not for very long.  If I walk on concrete, such as a Walmart, my feet will start to hurt within 1-2 hours.  The only relief is to "get off my feet". 

3.  Nurtirition therapy.  I beleive many disorders (diseases) can be helped or even cured with great nutrition, mostly lacking in our diet.  For example:

    a) I use olive oil only at home for cooking.  Its rich in poly phenols which seems to help.  It has to be good quality olive oil "where you know" the farm it was made.  I also eat olives. 

    b)  "Deep root" plants.  Some examples of deep root plants are all fruit growing on trees, since trees have a long root system and it can pick up minerals deep in the ground.  Much of the surface soil has long since been depleted of minerals.  But plants with long roots can still get to minerals deep in the ground, where we havent managed to pollute or remove all the minerals yet.  Nuts are good, for same reasons.  Alfalfa is good, it has roots that go up to 10 feet deep.  Corn is poor.  Its a surface crop with little nutrition and mostly calories used to fatten animals.  It works to fatten pigs and cattle.  Carrots are good, they have a deep root.  So are beets.  

  c)  Only quality meats.  I buy buffalo when available.  Laws prevent feeding buffalo antibiotics or horemones.  When buffalo is not available, I try to get organic or at least grass fed beef.    For fish, I try to get "wild caught".  Yea these cost more but isnt your health worth a few dollars a month?

 

 

[deedub75]

I have a long history with flat feet. The VA doctors were useless for me so I ended up going outside of the VA to see a podiatrist and orthopedic surgeon.

You should definitely ask you doctor for customs orthotics. They are much better than any over the counter inserts you can buy. They place your feet in a mold and that mold is then used to make the orthotics. They will match your feet perfectly. 
 

If you’re having numbness, it’s possible that you’ve developed tarsal tunnel syndrome in your ankle. It’s basically carpal tunnel in your ankle. Flat feet stresses the nerves that run through the inside of your ankles to your feet. I have this in both of my feet. You would need nerve conduction study to confirm this. I just had a tarsal tunnel release surgery on my right foot in February and had my arch rebuilt on my left foot about 5 years ago.  

[broncovet]

Thank you for your response, deedub!  Did the surgury (tarsal tunnel release) or the "arch rebuild" help you?  Yes, my ankle hurts sometimes as well as my feet.  

[deedub75]

1 hour ago, broncovet said:

Thank you for your response, deedub!  Did the surgury (tarsal tunnel release) or the "arch rebuild" help you?  Yes, my ankle hurts sometimes as well as my feet.  

Yes, the surgeries did help.  I was having so much foot and ankle pain due to the stress put on the nerves.  Unfortunately, as with most nerve issues, there is some permanent damage to the nerves.  The nerves involved are sensory nerves and not motor nerves so I still have all of the motor function in my ankles and feet.  The pain I was having is nearly all gone but not completely and I occasionally have issues judging how much pressure to put on the brakes when I drive.  

 

[broncovet]

Was the surgury done at the VAMC?  Im "unaware" of any ortho surgeon who does foot surgury at my VAMC.  I would love to know if they referred you to an outside provider.  

My foot pain is "mostly" limited to my left foot, and I use my right for braking so thats not an issue for me.  

Especially painful, for me, is walking (or standing!)  on concrete or other hard surfaces for more than a few minutes.  After an hour on concrete, it feels like someone poured gasoline on my feet and light them on fire.  (Both feet).  Mostly the pain and numbness is limited to the left foot "except" when I walk on hard surfaces more than a few dozen steps.  

Im interested in any other details you feel led to provide, such as do inserts in your shoes help, are some shoes more comfortable than others, does it hurt all the time, or just sometimes, even your age, etc.  

[deedub75]

My experience at the VAMC have not been good so I get almost all of my care outside of the VAMC.  I only go to the VAMC for allergy, sleep clinic, optometry, and dental.  I decided to give the VAMC a try about 5 years ago since I was finally living close enough to one but that was an awful experience for me.  

If the VAMC doesn't have an orthopedic surgeon who does foot surgeries at the VAMC, they will refer you to an outside surgeon.  A podiatrist can treat you as well.  I would definitely give custom orthotics a try.  Some people do fine with them and never have any other issues.  I did great with them for a few years but eventually my feet got worse.  I had paid walking as well especially barefoot.  It felt like I was walking on concrete all of the time even walking around the house.  Do you have lower back issues as well?  I have issues with my L5 S1 nerve and it's affecting my feet as well so I'm complicated.  As far as shoes, New Balance seem to work best for me.  I probably need to get a new set of custom orthotics but after my arch reconstruction my surgeon told me not to wear them anymore.  I would need a new set to match my new arch.  I have ankle instability and plantar fasciitis as well.  I'm only 45 years old.  I had flat feet going into the military which they knew but they let me in anyway.  All of those miles I ran beat my feet and ankles up pretty badly.