Do you have metatarsalagia?

Sounds to me a bit like “nostalgia” right? Well, not quite. If nostalgia resides most often, when diagnosed, inside one’s head, “metatarsolagia” reside at the opposite end of the body, namely right next to the toes… At the end of last winter, I began to feel that “pebble-in-the-shoe” sensation or rather a lingering forefoot or toe pain, couldn’t spot any inflammation in the area and has been suffering almost every day since, until it was time for my annual check up early this week. 

Besides measuring now 1.5” less now than during my “peak period”, I explained my foot pain to our doctor. He said that it could on only be metatarsalgia, a condition that causes pain and inflammation in the ball of one’s foot, specifically around the metatarsal bones—the long bones just behind your toes.

This isn’t a disease, but just a symptom from excess pressure on the forefoot. It usually is quite common in runners, people who wear tight or unsupportive shoes, or those with foot deformities like hammertoes or high arches. 

It’s also, as my doctor knows, a recurrent problem with skiers that cram their feet in ski boots too narrow and which in turn promote that condition. In my case I suspect 2 pairs of Nike excessively narrow in the toe box area that I wore for one year or 2,000 miles. I tested that assumption on a new pair of running shoes with a much wider toe-box, and it seems to be right. 

Again, as we saw earlier the symptoms are a sharp, aching, or burning pain in the second and third toe and not so much in the ball of the foot. That pain worsened with walking, running, or standing, especially barefoot on hard surfaces (I use a stand-up desk) creating tingling, pain or numbness in the toes, sometimes feeling as if we had stepped on a pebble. 

Now, I finally understand...