Answer And Explanation

Hubby Tony and I walk most every day. For some reason, today that familiar exercise made the top of my left foot hurt. The sandals I was wearing, which are always comfortable, felt too tight across the top of my foot. I stopped mid-walk to loosen the strap, which helped a little bit, but by the end I was limping.

As one does in this internet age I came home and asked Dr. Google what the problem might be. She gave me several common causes to my query "top of foot pain when walking", along with a simple description of each.

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The one that most closely matched my symptoms was Extensor Tendinitis, which I learned could affect the tendons on the top of your feet or the back of your hands. Symptoms of the condition included pain (along a tendon or an area around it) that got worse with use, stiffness, swelling, and discoloration around a tendon.When I took a good look at the top of my foot I was surprised to see it was puffy, and there was a bruise in the sore area. No wonder I was having issues!

There were several possible causes. The first was shoes that were too tight, or shoelaces tied too tightly. Aha! I found the issue!

Figuring that a first step would be to try to alleviate the problem myself. The treatment section called for rest (by avoiding or reducing the activity that caused the issue), removing direct pressure from the top of my feet from my footwear, elevating and icing the area with a cold pack, and using an over-the counter NSAID, I took that to mean that tonight I had permission to sit on the couch with the footrest raised and a gel ice pad on the sore area. Things already feel better.

Five years ago today: Tech Inept