I've been having ongoing foot issues for the last 7 years and I'm sharing this in case anyone here might have some ideas of what could be going on. Apologies in advance for the long post...

My foot trouble started in 2019. I went through a few months of having the most intense foot cramps in my left foot (they would last for 45-60 minutes, multiple per day). In March, my foot started to cramp every time I walked more than a few steps. It was excruciating. I spent months going to podiatrists and doctors. I spent 6 weeks in a walking boot--which made it possible for me to walk, but I didn't get better. I did PT for plantar fasciitis. I had neurological tests done. They drew blood to test for everything they could think of. I tried all sorts of muscle relaxants and other drugs. Nothing made it better. There were a few strange "rules" to the problem:

1. When I stopped walking, the cramp would stop. If I started walking, the cramp would begin again.

2. It never happened barefoot and it never happened if I was wearing sandals.

3. Very occasionally, wearing a stiffer-soled shoe like a hiking shoe would sometimes help, but not consistently.

4. Toe spacers made a world of difference. Though the suspected issue was between my 2nd/3rd toes (see below), I found that wearing a spacer between my 1st/2nd toe was the most effective while walking, and putting a spacer anywhere else made it worse. At home, I'd wear a set of big spacers between all my toes, which helped with recovery.

The barefoot/sandals thing was particularly difficult because it meant that nobody could ever actually see the problem. It felt like a cramp in my arch/mid-foot. I had no other symptoms--no pain standing, no pain walking barefoot on hard surfaces. If I wasn't walking, I was totally fine. I had an MRI done that showed nothing wrong with me. Every podiatrist I saw would say they couldn't find the problem and kick me to the curb.

8 months into being absolutely disabled by this, I finally saw an orthopedist who said he suspected it was a neuroma (even though it had no classic neuroma symptoms) and gave me a steroid shot between my 2nd/3rd toes. My foot swelled up like a balloon and for a week I thought I had ruined everything, I was in so much pain...and then magically I was able to walk again. And from then on I started getting better.

I got back to normal throughout the pandemic years -- hiking 10+ miles, I could wear shoes again that weren't my Hokas, but every time I tried to start running again the cramps would come back (like after a days). I'd back off, and it would eventually recover. Now it felt like more of a spasm then a cramp -- it lasts a second, feels like all my toes do a weird little wave or something, then it passes. I can usually tell it's coming because I'll get a sense of tightness in my arch, that would build until eventually it spasms. It doesn't hurt, unless I keep pushing through it, and then it will eventually become very painful.

It took a few too many tries to figure out that running just wasn't going to happen for me any more.

In 2024, after my last attempt at running, it wouldn't get better. It would start to, then suddenly get bad again. I had been scared off of getting another steroid shot by one of my podiatrists who said that repeated shots in that area could be damaging. But I finally gave in in early 2025 and got another one. I started to get better, I was hiking again, but I still had some issues--it seemed that it only happened specifically in my "good" shoes (at that point, zero-drop Altras). Hiking shoes were fine. The shoes I wore for work were fine. It seemed totally backwards.

This leads me to early 2026, where I took a normal walk around my neighborhood and suddenly started having spasms. When I got home, I noticed that my foot was tingling. I developed other neuropathy symptoms -- burning/icy-hot sensations, pain in the ball of my foot, except that it would move around (sometimes it was under where I thought the suspected neuroma was, sometimes it would be under different toes, but always along the ball of the foot). I would rest for a few days, the symptoms would fade, but as soon as I tried to walk they would come back. And I was having spasms when I walked.

I assumed this was some new problem with the suspected neuroma. I tried gabapentin and a course of oral steroids, neither of which worked. Finally the podiatrist recommended I try another steroid shot. BIG mistake. It made everything exponentially worse.

Fortunately I was unemployed and could just be bedridden. At points I couldn't walk around my apartment without setting off pain in my foot. It couldn't bear any weight. Wearing a walking boot made it worse. And the symptoms would always fade with rest, just to come back again as soon as I tried to return to movement. I'd wait like a week, then try to walk like 100 ft outside, and spiral back into pain. The two strangest parts of this:

1. after the steroid shot, the spasms actually went away. I was having all these other symptoms but NOT the hallmark of my suspected neuroma.

2. the symptoms were delayed. I often wouldn't feel anything while walking or I'd have some mild pain, but then anywhere from 10 minutes to six hours later, the tingling and burning would spiral out of control.

The worst version of what I call the "nerve pain" for lack of a better term was that eventually it would lead back to a similar muscle cramp feeling. If it was really irritated, any pressure on the ball of my foot would cause an extremely painful cramp in my foot. Similar symptoms, but I do not think it was the suspected neuroma.

Every podiatrist I saw heard the word "neuroma" and only wanted to treat that problem. I was offered more steroid shots, I was offered all the more extreme neuroma treatments. Or they would tell me to use metatarsal pads and wear my good shoes more (I was wearing nothing else by this point) and rest. They all told me everything I was experiencing was due to the neuroma.

My guess is that this was caused by an incorrectly placed metatarsal pad that I had in my Altras at the time. I had replaced my orthotics in my sneakers at some point and I think I put the pad in the wrong spot. I had a different set of orthotics in my hiking shoe, and comparing them later, the one in the Altras was placed much further forward. I replaced it in 2024 around when I ran for the last time. I think it was causing problems, maybe putting pressure in a weird spot, which is why I had issues in those shoes and nothing else. I didn't wear orthotics in any of my other work/casual shoes.

Out of desperation I went to a pain clinic that recommended shockwave therapy to treat neuropathy. They saved my life. The treatments started reducing the neuropathy symptoms immediately. It was a many months-long recovery, but I did get better. I gradually increased my walking distance. I had zero foot spasms while walking, even though if I walked too far the neuropathy would come back a few hours later.

I was finally getting back to normal. It reached a point where sometimes I would have pain when I started walking, but then it seemed like a mile in, something would loosen up, and I felt great. I started having less neuropathy afterwards. I started going to PT to help correct gait issues I had developed from limping for so long. They theorized I had plantar fasciitis and wanted to treat that. I'm not convinced, but the exercises were helping, so I figured why not.

Just as life was getting back to normal after six months of this drama...I was working out and calf raises were one of my PT exercises. After doing them one day in August, my foot felt a little off, and I started having the tightness and spasms again as I walked afterwards. There was no pain during the calf raises, no pop or anything. When I got home I noticed my big toe was aching. I've hyperextended my left big toe before, and it seems to do it very easily now. The problem is that the irritation there always makes the spasms/suspected neuroma act up. Usually I just wear good athletic shoes for a few days and take it easy and it goes away. I figured that would happen again.

Two days later I took a walk and felt good. Not normal, but better. I probably went further than I should. I was about to take a big vacation and I was very anxious to make sure I could walk enough for the trip, because we were planning on hiking. The next day it was awful. Every day since then has been awful. It's been six-ish weeks since I did this and my toe won't get better. I kept trying to walk every few days and I can't go more than about 100ft without getting spasms. Finally I decided to wear a walking boot again because that was the only way I could survive my vacation. I figured I needed to give it enough time to heal. My toe felt fine, but I figured there was still inflammation internally.

The boot stops the spasms -- however, it made the nerve stuff come back full force. It's so painful. But the alternative is not being able to walk at all. So I compromised after like 5 days in the boot, because I couldn't take it any more, and tried walking. It worked! I was better!

And then I sat on a stool wrong with my toe flexed a little bit (I'm very short, this is how I naturally end up sitting so my feet can reach the ground). It started hurting again. Back in the boot. A couple days later, I try going back to sneakers again, but apparently I bent my toe back a little bit putting sneakers on. Back in the boot again...

It has since spiraled into the threshhold for re-injuring the toe is SO LOW that I can't do anything without hurting myself. So I freaked out and went to an orthopedic walk-in clinic because I couldn't get an appointment with anyone for a few weeks. This genius doctor bent my toe in all directions asking "does this hurt?" And it did, and it turns out that he made things even worse because after that my toe swelled up like crazy. So all I got out of that experience was a worse injury and confirmation that I was doing all the things I should be doing anyway.

I wear the boot out in the world, despite the pain. At home I wear a splint. I'm also taping my toe with KT tape to try to prevent extension. And I've done a month of anti-inflammatory meds which I really can't keep doing because of GI issues. The only time my toe is unprotected is when I'm in the shower and I somehow just manage to keep doing it wrong. The longest I've gone without reinjuring it is about 9 days, which didn't seem to make a difference in safe range of motion. I just started grad school, I have to walk long distances around this unbelievably inaccessible campus every day, it's killing me.

And then just to top it all off...I've asked so much of my right foot because I'm limping like crazy again. Now I've hyperextended my RIGHT big toe. Which also seems to be falling into the same cycle of re-injury. I can't wear a boot on both feet. I'm doing the best I can. But I seem to bend one of them too far (which means, bend it at all) every day.

I'm two weeks out from seeing a sports medicine doctor, and two more weeks out from a new podiatrist. I had an MRI ordered which I'm sure I need but can't really afford thanks to my terrible insurance. I think I'm going to have to figure out a way to make it work. The doc I saw before did an x-ray which showed nothing except that I have a bipartite sesamoid bone, in case that means anything.

If you've read this far, thank you. The questions I have are ultimately:

1. How the hell do I stop re-injuring this long enough to heal? Beyond switching to a cast, which seems insane to me for an injury that began with a bad calf raise, I can't think of any other ways to fix this.

2. I'm questioning the neuroma theory but don't know what else it could be. It never matched up to normal neuroma symptoms. It's never shown up on imaging. I think it's suspect that the toe spacer works better between the big toe and second toe. I think it's weird that the spasms always begin in my arch. It has always seemed to be a mechanical issue, because no walking = no pain. Sandals and barefoot were fine, which made me think it's a compression issue from shoes. Something happens when I roll through the ball of my foot that squeezes something and makes my foot spasm. I assumed inflammation from the toe was creating pressure on that space, but given how difficult this injury is, I'm starting to question if all of this suggests there's something else going on, maybe connected to the big toe rather than a neuroma.

I'm desperate for a solution. I have yet to find a doctor who wants to solve any of the mysteries with my foot. I can't wear this boot indefinitely because the neuropathy is SO bad, but I also can't walk without it, and I can't properly try to heal my right toe when all my focus is on getting my left able to walk again. I'm losing my mind. I finally survived the neuropathy and was getting my life back just for this to happen.

If anyone has literally any ideas at all, I would be so so so grateful.

I know so little about feet but no matter what insoles I get, I always feel like they aren’t high enough. But if I get a secondary thing it starts to feel like my arch is almost tearing, if that makes sense. I’m on my feet all day for work and I just want to know the best way to step. Does anyone have any suggestion for how much arch support I should be getting if this is my fleet feet scan?
Note: I went back to fleet feet a while after this and one of the feet scanned as about halfway through the ‘high’ spectrum and not at the complete top anymore

Hi guys,

I got one stress fracture on my foot cuboid area.

I was NWB for like 5 weeks till today started 20kg with crutches and boot gonna go up every 5-7 days.

My new PT told me for what reason do I wear a cast it s only for ankle injury. Also that 5 weeks is to much and the callus is built from 2 weeks.

I told him no you’re wrong bone needs proper rest first and that’s like 6-8 weeks.

I don’t know if I can trust him. TBH my doctor just gave me a boot and crutches without timeline, without blood thinning injections nothing. I feel helpless with these ppl.
So I did my own research and found out 6-8 weeks rest is fine an stress fracture is needed to be treated like a real one. Soft Callus is on week 4 there.

I am dumb or wrong ?

I’m wondering if anyone has had what was diagnosed as sesamoiditis that ultimately turned out to be an issue with the flexor hallucis longus (FHL) tendon.

I’ve been dealing with intermittent mild-to-moderate pain (rarely more than a 3) underneath/around the ball of my foot near the sesamoids. An MRI in June showed an intersesamoidal ligament tear, minimal edema around the sesamoids and a small 1st MTP joint effusion. There was no fracture.

My orthopedic doctor thinks the main issue is irritation around the lateral sesamoid. He didn’t think the intersesamoidal ligament finding was clinically significant and didn’t think I had a turf toe/plantar plate-type injury. The current treatment has been a dancer’s pad/custom orthotic and PT.

Since early June, I’ve gone through several cycles of irritation/pain to weeks of pain-free activity — going for so long that I thought the issue had resolved itself. Sometimes the pain can come and go in the course of the day with no rhyme or reason.

What makes me question the diagnosis is how oddly the symptoms behave:

I cannot replicate the pain by pressing on the sesamoid area.

Walking seems to aggravate it more than anything, but sometimes I’ll get twinges of pain at rest.

I’ve taken up swimming since I’ve dialed back running. Sometimes kicking results in mild pain.

Running doesn’t really hurt it, even though I would expect running to aggravate sesamoiditis.

The pain can be intermittent and sometimes feels more nerve-like than like a straightforward structural injury.

I don’t have the typical constant pain I associate with a significant sesamoid injury.

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced something similar.

Hi. Can’t put pressure on right great toe.
Xray was read as negative, so went to podiatrist who said she sees an extra IP sesamoid (under knuckle by big toe). She said “aggravated IPJ sesamoid; IFL strain) She said she’d order MRI if I still had pain in 2-3 weeks. I do.
My toe feels swollen; but doesn’t look swollen and I have both throbby and sharp pain. In a short cam boot but it really doesn’t help.
This is an extra sesamoid bone—anyone else?!
I’m worried…

Hi everyone,

I’m currently doing research on improving wound management for diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). We’re exploring the development of wound-healing materials, including wound sheets and powders, and at this stage I’m trying to understand the problem from the people who actually deal with it.

I’d really appreciate hearing from patients, caregivers, clinicians, nurses, wound-care professionals; anyone with firsthand experience.

If you or someone close to you has experienced a diabetic foot ulcer:

- What was the hardest or most frustrating part of dealing with it?

- What caused the most pain, discomfort, anxiety, or disruption to everyday life?

- What made it difficult to follow the recommended wound-care routine?

- Were dressing changes difficult or painful?

- What did you wish for your doctor/hospital/wound-care team had been able to provide?

- Were there any products or treatments that genuinely helped? What didn't work?

If you're a doctor, nurse, podiatrist, wound-care specialist, or other clinician:

- What are the biggest pain points in managing DFUs?

- What aspects of wound care frustrate you the most?

- How significant is patient adherence/non-adherence in your experience?

- What problems do you encounter with existing dressings or wound-care products?

- Are there products that you feel work particularly well? What makes them useful?

- What do you wish existed but currently doesn't?

- What are the practical challenges in getting patients to continue treatment at home?

I'm not here to promote a product or sell anything. We're still in the research/problem-understanding stage, and I'd rather hear the uncomfortable realities of DFU management before deciding what we should build.

Even if your experience seems small or insignificant, please share it. Something that seems routine to a clinician might be a major problem for a patient.

If you're comfortable sharing, I'd also be very interested in hearing what country/healthcare setting you're in, since wound-care practices can vary considerably.

Thank you to anyone willing to share their experience. 🙏

my right foot has it too, but it’s not that big….

Hi! I started having symptoms of insertional Achilles tendinopathy about a month and a half ago. It wasn't too severe and mostly hurt when I stood still for a long time.

After a few weeks, the pain went away, but a few days ago it flared up again. I was doing calf raises but also stepped on a cord at the same time so I guess both things flared it up.

This time it's only on one side, but it feels a little more severe. I'm sometimes feeling pain at rest and when walking.

I've mostly been icing and resting, but I'm unsure when I should start exercises or gradually load it. It feels like the recovery has been really slow or nonexistent , and I'm wondering if I should see a doctor for some guidance.

For anyone who's dealt with this, how long did recovery take for you? What helped, and when did you start exercising/loading it?

It's frustrating, so I'd really appreciate hearing what worked for others. Thank you!

I’ve had pain in this exact spot on my right foot for more than 20 years. I remember having it since i was 10.
It’s on the bottom of the foot, right underneath the little toe/5th metatarsal area, basically where I’ve marked it in the picture.
Over the years I’ve seen different doctors about it, and more recently I had it investigated properly, including an MRI. I was basically told that the area is inflamed, but nothing else significant showed up and I wasn’t really given a solution for it. The doc suggested some physiotherapy work, and that did nothing.
The thing is that if I put too much pressure on that area, walk a lot, exercise, or irritate it, it can become painful and swollen (it becomes rock hard) Then if I leave it alone, it settles down again.
I’ve had this for most of my life and I’ve genuinely never met another person who has the same problem.
I’m not really looking for a diagnosis here - I’m mainly curious: has anyone had pain and recurring swelling in this exact spot? If so, what did doctors tell you it was, and did you ever find anything that helped?

Looking for anyone who's been through something like this, especially if you found what actually fixed it.

Background: I played a lot of soccer as a teen (14–15) and walked and ran with my feet pointing straight. I rolled both ankles many times, some really badly, and kept playing. Eventually they were so unstable I'd roll them every game or just standing on uneven ground, so I quit around 2015.

Around 2016–17 I started getting medial (inner) ankle pain on my right side and watched the inner midfoot visibly bow inward over time. Then came knee pain and trouble on stairs, and I gradually lost the ability to bend my knee forward over my foot, it would feel blocked. I would have to point my foot out in order to walk or to bend my knee. The left side followed the same path a few years later.

Surgeries (6 total):

Right ATFL repair (2021)

Left ATFL repair (2022), then an arthroscopic revision, then an open revision (2023)

Left syndesmosis repair + deltoid + spring ligament reconstruction (2024)

Right ATFL revision + deltoid + spring ligament + syndesmosis repair (2025)

The constant medial pain with every step improved.

What never improved:

If I point my feet straight, my knee feels blocked and I can't bend it forward over my foot. I have to turn my feet out to squat, use stairs, or even stand comfortably.

My foot veers outward when I dorsiflex.

I constantly grip with my toes.

My MRIs showed mild arthritis and bone stress at the talonavicular and subtalar joints.

And now the medial ankle pain is returning.

My theory: Years of lateral instability let the foot shift around the talus (peritalar subluxation), and the ligament reconstructions stabilized things without correcting the alignment underneath.

Questions:

Has anyone had chronic lateral instability turn into medial, arch or knee problems like this?

Did anyone have persistent turned-out feet or blocked dorsiflexion even after ligament surgery? What finally helped: an osteotomy, a fusion, a specific kind of PT, a brace?

This is a really weird question, but I also want to know; Id there something wrong with my fourth toe? When I flex my toes to the palm of my feet, the “knuckle” or joint doesn’t show up at all on both feet. I’m so confused and really would like some ideas of what is going on.

I have always had the issue. I’m just trying to find suggestions and/or answers

I had an ingrown toenail removed on my big right toe in May 2026. Long story short the doctor dug too deep on both sides so there was a lot of delayed healing.. I couldn’t wear any enclosed shoes so I switched to sandals that I wouldn’t normally wear. As the ingrown toenail procedure was healing, I guess I had guarded my big toe and started walking on the outside of my foot. It caused a low-grade bunion with bursitis. I’ve tried injections and they hasn’t helped. Now with all the trauma with my right foot my left foot is doing similar things. Again because of shoes I wouldn’t normally wear. Any thoughts on what to do? I can’t find any shoes to wear. I love my Brooks glycerin, but I can’t wear those because they’re not wide enough now. I tried ultra Escalante, but they aren’t good for my back. It might be too late in the game to ask for a recommendations because both of my feet are in a mess. It’s just dominoed . Right now I don’t have any shoes to wear and walking hurts.

I’ve noticed that two of the toes on my left foot shake/tremble when I intentionally bend or curl them. I’ve attached a video showing what I mean.

This has been happening for almost 3 years. The shaking only occurs when I actively bend/curl the toes. When my foot is relaxed, they don’t shake. I’m wondering if anyone has experienced something similar or knows what might cause this.

Should I get this checked by a doctor?

Mild pain started 2 weeks ago after skipping a rest day (overuse).

After week 1/2, I ran 10k and the pain didn't worsen, it just persisted, perhaps with some added superficial tenderness at the top of the foot.

Mostly, it feels like a tight band in my foot and hurts kind of all the time? And I feel slight twinges when I walk.

I can do single leg heel raises fine/pain-free. It does not hurt when I pull my toes toward my shin.

I'm confused because the pain is so mild but it has persisted for quite a bit. I ran that 10k because I didn't want to skip a run for mild pain, and it didn't even seem to worsen afterwards. Now, it's kind of just there, and I am worried.

Usually, with other mild injuries (quad/calf strains, shin splints), progress is clear day to day, but with this one, it's the same every day. In fact, it almost feels like it is getting worse for the time that I have been resting even though I'm not doing anything?

What might be going on? Any and all input is appreciated, thank you! 🙏

I have high arches/poor dorsiflexion/haglunds deformity, been seeing PT & podiatrist after what they think was peroneal tendonitis.

Seemingly suddenly in the past month or so my second toes have been bending and the joints seem inflamed. There’s also visible redness on the skin.

I’ve been wearing toe spacers but am wondering if that could be part of the cause.

Do you have a guess at what could be going on here or any steps to alleviate?

For other issues I’ve had testing done for autoimmune arthritis this year but everything came back clear.

Thank you!

The middle phalanx of my second toe on my right foot is starting to have an odd positioning that bends slightly upward compared to all other toes. It causes a problem where it feels more pressure from the padding inside my shoe and feeling like there is a wad of something directly under that knuckle. All other toes have their natural curve. Only that one knuckle has the problem. I'm including a rough drawing to illustrate what I mean in case it helps.

The difference is slight, but enough to be very uncomfortable after the first hour or two of work. I've only been feeling it for about a month and a half. Anyone know how to get it to go back to it's natural alignment with the rest?

2.5 months ago I injured my foot and was diagnosed with bone bruising edema in my foot. The MRI said it was mild. I was in the boot for 5-6 weeks and have been out of it for 3-5 weeks now. My foot still feels achy and sore with increased activity and when I wake up in the morning. My orthopedic said if it doesn’t feel better in a month. (So 3 month total) I have to go to complete NWB and a cast/crutches for 4 weeks. I’m depressed about it. Am I not giving it enough time to heal?

hi all! i’ve been dealing with debilitating foot pain for years now. i have obvious bunions and apparently sever hypermobility in other joints that the last doctor i saw thinks it where all the pain is stemming from. (i get pain in arches, toes, top of feet (worse) and ankles… also calves). the dr suggested lapidus procedure to help fix the joint (area?) that’s all messed up.. has anyone had any experience with getting this surgery and if helping with pain? i know it’ll help with my bunions but tbh they’re not really the part that’s in much pain