Numb foot?

Chaserwilliams

Chaserwilliams

Barefooters
Dec 15, 2010
866
114
43
#1
After my long run last Sunday I was experiencing some abnormal stiffness in my right calf that wasnt getting any better as the days went by. Come Thursday (Thanksgiving) Im still feeling stiffness, so I decide to ice my calf and then try to massage the stiffness out by rolling it with a piece of PVC.

Ever since I removed the ice pack the outside of my right foot has been numb from my ankle down the side to my pinky toe. I can still feel a smaller knot in my calf when I apply pressure with my figers, but it feels as if the stiffness is gone. The numbness is what Im worried about. I still have as much controll over my foot as ever, I can still move my 5th metatarsal and such.

Its coming up on 100 hours of numbness and hasnt gone down any. So Im starting to get a little worried...

Any thoughts?
 
#3
Pilot, if I remembered

Pilot, if I remembered correctly, I think he had the ice for 30 mins...dumb thing to do.

Chaser, don't you know you shouldn't ice longer than 20 mins?

Now that I think about it, you did have this same issue not too long ago-right?

I think you should have your DR take a look at it.
 
#4
Dama is both correct and

Dama is both correct and incorrect. I iced it for 30ish minutes. I was playing Gran Turismo, so I kind of lost track of time... BUT this is the first occassion like this and I am currently sitting on an examination table awaiting the DR. Although I will have to give you some credit as I have had problems with my left good going numb while running a few times, but its very few and far inbetween...

Pilot, I think you might be correct in your assumptions. I was talking to Talon about it the other day and he consulted "The Oracle" (his DR wife) about it and she said it sounded like a spasmed muscle and that I needed to get it looked at... So here I am! lol.
 
#5
I hope everything goes

I hope everything goes well.

And for your information one time I thought I was wrong but I was mistaken...so there!
 
#6
Well, what did the doctor

Well, what did the doctor say?

Long time ago, while horseback riding, I developed some nerve damage to my right leg along the shin bone into my foot. Apparently, I didn't have the stirrups sized right, and the medal pedal kept banging on my leg. It didn't bother me too much during the ride, so I didn't stop to adjust it. Anyhoo, a good 6-9 months went by before my leg felt normal again.

Other than that, how do you feel about acupuncture? Might help.
 
#7
The appt went good. Nothing

The appt went good. Nothing quite like a good looking doctors aid rubbing on my feet! She said it felt like my calf was inflamed causing it to "pinch" the nerve, which then caused the numbness. She gave me a steroid shot and some anti-inflamatory meds. Seems to be doing the trick as I have already regained alot of feeling in my foot already.

On a side note, since going BF I seemed to have learned a whole lot more about the human body and anatomy and such than I ever did before.... Of course before I wasnt too interested in the calcaneous and metatarsals and such, more like T&A.... lol!
 
#8
Glad your pain is already

Glad your pain is already better but I'm going to put this out there anyway, and I'm not trying to throw salt on your wound here.

Your pain may be gone, but your problem isn't. Unless you were deficient in anti-inflammatory medication and a cortisone shot then you really haven't fixed anything. Those therapies might be considered fine for a traumatic accident, but not for one that just "developed." The muscle imbalance is still there - somewhere - it's just settled down for now.

For pain on the outside of the foot look at those peroneus muscles (now called the fibularis muscles because the powers that be decided to change their names). Especially look at the peroneus longus which wraps under your foot over to the big toe and controls a lot of supination. You could/may have a nasty trigger point at its insertion at medial cuneiform and 1st metatarsal.
 
#9
Dr Gangemi, Thanks for the

Dr Gangemi, Thanks for the response! After looking at a few diagrams I think your on to something! If I follow the "path" of the areas with the most "numbness" it pretty much follows where the Peroneus Longus runs. Although I think the inbalance thats the root of the issue is more where the Flexor Halicus Brevis ties into the first Metatarsal, which appears to be right under where the "ball" of your foot is behind your big toe. Feel free to correct me on any of this as Im just an uneducated dumb white boy.

If this IS infact the cause of the issue (which I think it is cause the fat pad there has always felt a little loose and often a little bothersome if stepped on wrong) what could I do to go about repairing the damage? Or is that even possiblle?

Thank you once again for your help! The fact that theres a group of Doctors on here that are helping us out is truely amazing and speaks volumes of yalls characters!
 
#10
Yeah you're on the right

Yeah you're on the right track. Look for trigger points along the entire route of the peroneus longus, especially at that insertion point. Same with the flexor halux brevis. What I see a lot with the flexor brevis is that, since that muscle comes off of tendon fibers of the tibialis posterior muscle, you have to treat the tib post. This is a major muscle for pronation - so you can see the balance here: tib post and flexor halux brev with pronation/per long with supination.

Other than working the trigger points, balancing on one leg (barefoot, eyes closed) is great for working all those muscles and ligaments, as is is trying to lift toes 2-5 off the ground while keeping your big toe on the ground - great for the f.h.brevis.
 
#11
Ok, little update here. The

Ok, little update here. The steroid shot brought back a good amount of feeling, but theres still plenty of numbness. The numbness seems to be in line with the Peronous Longus. I havent started on the anti-inflamatorys yet as they werent called into the pharmacy last night (grrr...) so hopefully I can start on them tonight.

Dr Gangemi, could it be possiblle that the ramp up in mileage could have caused the sudden inflamation of this area? The calf tightness occured after running back to back 20's on the weekend, but the numbness didnt occur untill after icing the area. And would applying heat to the area help to relax the muscles and release the tension / pressure?
 
#12
Chaser, this sounds a lot

Chaser, this sounds a lot like the issue I had at the HH in August, only my foot didn't go numb but caused a lot of pain in the area.

My cure? 2 weeks reduced mileage and lots of vitamin M (Motrin).

Cheers.
 
#13
Yes it definitely could be

Yes it definitely could be from overtraining. Which, by the way, is often from insufficient rest as much as it is from pushing yourself too hard. The back-to-back 20s could have done you in, or the fact that you didn't recover properly from them. The ice may have just been the icing on the cake. I don't subscribe to ice, heat, and I sure as hell don't subscribe to vitamin M. How dare you mention that on this thread Pilotrunner!! (just giving you a hard time) -- that's like telling someone to wear orthotics and supportive shoes.

If you really want to make matters worse, take anti-inflammatories. Really, they'll do a wonderful job of depleting sulfur from your body while putting added stress on your liver and kidneys. Oh, not to mention the joint and connective tissue damage as an added bonus. More on that here: http://sock-doc.com/2011/10/joint-tissue-repair-gags/

Motrin, and any anti-inflammatory is never, never the "cure." It's a Band-Aid, and a poor one at that.
 
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