shanmonster | Trouble's A Foot

This past summer, I've been having recurring problems with my left foot. First of all, my ankle feels weak. Secondly, I've been experiencing pain in the bones just under the ankle on the outside edge of my foot. I've suspected this is all a result of the sprain I had about three years ago.

I went in to see my family doctor. As usual, he was next to useless. He ordered an x-ray, but of course, there are no extant breaks or sprains. I already knew that. His diagnosis is general overuse, and I should just take pain killers when it bothers me.

So I also went to see a chiropodist. He believes my foot problems stem from pronation. That I can understand. I've always had pronated feet, and had to wear corrective footwear as a small child in order to walk without tripping over myself. The chiropodist told me I needed to purchase prohibitively expensive orthotics. I've worn orthotics before, and religiously at that, and they did SFA. So I kept looking....

My next step was to visit a massage therapist. He took a look at my left foot and told me my cuboid bone seemed out of place. He also so my muscles were very tight around my ankles and lower calves, which would explain the crippling charlie horses and foot cramps which have been waking me sporadically.

The very next day, I went to a physiotherapist, and she independently confirmed what my massage therapist told me. My cuboid bone is indeed out of alignment, as is the pinkie "ray" bone of my metatarsals. She, too, is highly suspicious of orthotics, and like me, she believes they treat the symptom rather than the cause of a foot problem. I'd much rather have strong foot muscles and correct alignment than a prop which merely holds me in place and encourages the surrounding muscles to weaken. I can't dance in orthotics, so that makes it even more pointless.

I've been given a course of exercises to do every other day. These exercises are calculated to improve the muscle tone in the area. And I've been given a stretching exercise which should help put everything back where it's supposed to go.

So let's see if I can fix up this cuboid syndrome, STAT, and get back to a pain-free foot.