Pain in bottom of foot from Lymphedema

[hshank]

My son is of age 23 and has primary lymphedema in his right leg. He wears compression socks and also has a pump. Over the last couple of days he has has complained of pain around the bottom of his big toe and the ball of his foot. It has got to a point where walking is difficult and painful. Is this a sign that the lymhedema has become worse? The doctors have not been of much help.

[Snaomi]

It may be plantar fasciitis or something else. I was having pain like that and thought it was from lymphedema but was not. I went to the good foot doctor and they were able to fix me up with correct orthotics and shoes. Just a thought.

[BADFoote in reply to Snaomi]

I had the same thing. Swelling of the foot causes pressure on the nerves and fascia. The foot doctor had me purchase inserts for my shoes that cup the heal and add arch support and the pain was gone in 2 days. For now, freeze something round (like a small can) and take it out and put it on the floor. Put the foot on top and roll the can back and forth. The cold will soothe the foot and will help with the pain.

[Lizzy69]

I have this it plantar fasciitis I have arthritis in my big toe yrs it is painful only thing that many be worth trying is supportive insoles lymphedema didn’t help because of the swelling

[Lynora]

Get him to see his lymphoedema therapist who will be able to refer to an appropriate clinical professional . It could be anything, but if there is pain, it must be assessed and treated.

[hshank]

Thank you all. This is a very helpful group indeed.

[Kallenubble]

I have that problem too sometimes, but no one has suggested it’s the lymphedema itself, except perhaps indirectly: I got diagnosed with lymphedema about two years after a bad foot sprain: I continued to have swelling in my ankle and lower leg, and an orthopedic masseuse finally suggested I should go see someone at the lymphedema clinic of our local hospital. That’s when I found that my lymphedema is likely a combo of genetics and trauma ( the foot injury and its delayed healing), and my various foot pains are related to the original sprain as well: it probably made my arthritis and bunion worse, and sometimes extends to plantar fasciitis as well. In the case of your son though, it might be a different thing since his lymphedema is all primary and he probably doesn’t have arthritis at his age! Good luck!

[Perido]

I wear an open toe compression stocking and toe caps for my unilateral secondary lymphoedema which extends from my lower abdomen to my toes. Recently I've had a similar problem in my foot to the one you describe in your son. I noticed the problem is worse if I wear my flat knit stocking than when I wear my circular knit. The flat knit stocking is tighter on my foot and when my nurse measured me she didn't take into account the extra thickness of my toe caps. So, I think I must be getting excessive pressure and more dermal backflow to the area of my foot not covered by the open toe flat knit stocking i.e. my toes and the ball of my foot. I've mitigated the problem by wearing my toe caps over my stocking rather than under it - fortunately the toe caps still stay in place. When I wear my circular knit stocking I use mollelast bandage on my toes and through trial and error know how many layers of bandage is best for each toe.

Sorry, if that sounds complicated but I'm basically suggesting you may want to consider experimenting with your son's compression garments, ideally with the help of a lymphoedema specialist.

[hshank in reply to Perido]

Thanks for your reply. By toe caps, do you mean something like this - lymphedemaproducts.com/prod... ? He currently wears a full length leg compression stocking, but no such toe cap.

[Perido]

Hi hshank

I checked the link you gave and yes, the garments illustrated are the type of toe cap that I use. I currently wear a seamless toe cap as follows: juzo.com/en-uk/products/com...

I've also worn the ones with seams which are illustrated in the link you give. I wouldn't say one is better than the other; depends what suits a particular individual.

I'm in the UK

[hshank]

Thank you. We live in southern California by Los Angeles. The UK and USA Juzo websites are surprisingly different. But I now have a good idea on what to look for here.