Hello from Amit in NJ!

amit_shah25

Barefooters
Feb 26, 2015
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Hello !

So I have been running for a couple of years now. Have been on and off in past, and last year was around 25-45 miles per week range with lot of races. Have had IT-Band twice, and it went away after I backed off. This time it got more complicated. On my left foot, I have a pinched nerve between metatarsals of 2nd and 3rd toe, and I have a pain on the tip of the third toe when I put weight on the left foot. Showed it to podiatrist, told me to get in to shoes with more support, and metatarsal pads to spread out the bones, and recommended custom insoles and see if that helps. Worst case, he said he could kill the nerve by injection, but it doesn't look that serious as of now.

I have had the barefoot-bug in the past when I had IT-Band, and didn't have the patience back then, so gave it up. Surfing around the internet brought me to this 'toe correctors' discussion on barefoot forums, and to barefoot-bug again .. It is cold-slushy-snowy so for now I have gotten Xero-shoes with toe-socks, and plan on starting the bare-foot adventure again ..

Cheers !
Amit
 
Welcome, Amit!
Is the pinched nerve similar to the toe tingles that sometimes happens to beginning barefooters? I had it in both feet but it has only stuck around in left foot, and only in temps colder than about 65. Curling the toes exercise, like you're scrunching up a rug or making a fist with your foot, seems to help mine a little.
 
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Randy, the pinched nerve is a couple of notches more than just tingle. It is pain on the tip of the toe. The podiatrist did get an MRI done which confirmed a pinched nerve. Last 2-3 days I have been wearing these 'correct toes' https://nwfootankle.com/correct-toes and when I am wearing those, I can't recreate the pain from any angle or in any form. So I am assuming that the way these correctors get my toes to spread out, it reduces the pressure on the nerve, and hopefully that fixes it ! I will try the curling toes exercise.
 
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Welcome! :barefoot:
 
Hi Joseph ! I am in Teaneck - Bergen County ... Sorry I just saw your post.

After babying an inflamed ankle, I have been able to work my way upto around 15 minutes of running barefoot on tarmac. I found a nice block or so of gravel patch around my office, so as of today I have started to practice standing on it, feeling it, and walking on it and basically just relaxing my body ... Read Ken Bob's Barefoot book and taking lot of tips from there. Lets see how it goes !
 
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