Pain in Ball of Foot: I am suffering from pain in... - Thyroid UK

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Pain in Ball of Foot

carnation profile image
35 Replies

I am suffering from pain in the balls of my feet when walking etc. Ok mostly when resting, bad when walking. Google suggests metatarsalgia.

If anyone has any experience of how to relieve symptoms I would be grateful. Online suggestions say rest and manage weight - I wish!

Should add bloods were good when done at the beginning of the year, and I don't feel under medicated.

Edited to add blood test results from Feb 2019, found at last!

TSH 0.05

T4 20.7 (9-22.7)

T3 4.9 (3.5-6.5)

Vit D 117

T3 has improved after 6 months on selenium

Also take B12, B complex, Vit D, Vit K, magnesium occasionally - could do better.

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carnation
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35 Replies
Nelly1 profile image
Nelly1

I get plantar faciitis, good insoles for this can be purchased from Amazon or you could get a referral to orthodontist and have some specially made to measure, I did and within a week no more pain.

You can also purchase rollers (silicone) which you roll the ball of your foot over to relieve the pain.

TSH110 profile image
TSH110

Sounds like plantar fasciitis - undermedication is normally at the root of it. Is TSH between 0.2 and 0.5, free T3 and free T4 in the top third of their ranges?

carnation profile image
carnation in reply toTSH110

Have edited post to include the blood test results that eluded me last night!

Generally feeling well at the moment.

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply tocarnation

Looks like there could be room to up your meds a little, although TSH is very the others could be higher. Might be worth a try to see if it can banish the foot trouble. I found sleeping in a boot designed to help it was effective, but getting my meds optimised has stopped it

carnation profile image
carnation in reply toTSH110

Thank you. I have some spare 25mcg tablets from when they tried to reduce my meds without telling me ( no!!) so I will add those in for a few weeks and see how it goes.

Hope my GPs are not reading this :)

TSH110 profile image
TSH110 in reply tocarnation

😂🤣😂 good luck ☘️🍀☘️

Eliota profile image
Eliota

Sounds like plantar fasciitis - which I had for a year and futilely spent lots of money on useless and expensive foot doctors. I had no idea I had borderline hypothyroidism then but I rid myself of it regardless through trigger therapy self massage. The trigger point that relates to plantar fasciitis is about 6cm below the back of the knee and in the center of the calf. Using your fingers, a ball or your other knee, search the area for a point of “exquisite pain”, you’ll know it when you find it as you’ll catch your breath. Push into that point for a count of thirty. When you release you’ll feel a rush of blood and relief all the way through your leg and foot. It’s the stuff of miracles tbh. You might want to search for other lesser trigger points in the leg or foot elsewhere as there are bound to be a few. I consulted websites for trigger point info but the resource that helped me most to help myself is a brilliant book from the 70s! It’s by Clair Davies and is on Amazon. The introduction is a bit hokey but the trigger point self diagnosis body maps are amazing. I really hope my experience helps you. Please don’t listen to the foot doctors and get steroid injections or an operation. They don’t work and will only create more trigger points. Make sure you are also taking an absorbable magnesium supplement like Citrate or Theronate, it will help your pain and increase your vitamin D absorption. You’re likely to be low in both of these things. Take the magnesium before bed. Epsom salts baths will also help your plantar fasciitis as epsim salts are also a kind of magnesium but only absorbed through the skin. I never thought I’d wear flip flops again but I wear them no problem these days. Good luck and feel better!

Eliota profile image
Eliota in reply toEliota

(Just to be clear, simply finding the trigger point in your calf that I mentioned will cure your plantar fasciitis. You will have instant and long lasting relief. Try to do it 3-4 times a day.)

StitchFairy profile image
StitchFairy in reply toEliota

I totally agree with your suggestion about trigger point therapy. I bought a book on it years ago and found it very enlightening (but my doctor dismissed it all as rubbish). That said, I don't think you should claim on a forum that anything 'will cure' a persons plantar fasciitis or any other ailment.

Eliota profile image
Eliota in reply toStitchFairy

Understood but the fact is it did almost instantaneously relieve and then cure my utterly debilitating plantar fasciitis and subsequently that of a friend’s work colleague. It’s worth a try as and it only takes 35 seconds.

StitchFairy profile image
StitchFairy in reply toEliota

Oh yes, most definitely worth a try. Although thyroid hormone levels need to be optimal too otherwise any relief will most likely be temporary. Combine trigger point therapy with optimal thyroid hormone therapy and then there might be 'a cure'. :)

Eliota profile image
Eliota in reply toStitchFairy

Gosh yes! I wish I’d had known that then myself.

Fruitandnutcase profile image
Fruitandnutcase in reply toEliota

I’ve got a similar exercise / stretch that I can to to get rid of sciatica - it’s amazing how fast it works. Not only that I can do it sitting down, lying down or standing up and if I’m sitting I can do it in public and no one even realises what I’m doing.

I’ve told lots of people about it but you have to be able to raise the foot of offending leg onto your other knee and a lot of people either can’t manage to do that or are just not willing to try it.

Thank you for your plantar fasciitis cure - I’ve saved it for if I get plantar fasciitis again - so far it’s the most painful thing I’ve ever felt - it’s like a direct shooting pain from my foot to my brain.

carnation profile image
carnation in reply toEliota

Thank you for your suggestion, I will try out the trigger point idea later as it sounds brilliant.

kferrer profile image
kferrer in reply toEliota

I have found epsom salt baths to be immensly helpful for foot pain as well as back pain. Also magnesium supplementation as needed, along with making sure you're getting enough trace minerals. And most importantly, optimal thyroid replacement along with attention to adrenals.

I bought gel insoles, which really helped the pain

RockyPath profile image
RockyPath

Do you have bunions? Morton’s neuroma is a pain in the ball of the foot due to the nerve being pinched by metatarsal bone pinching. It’s relieved by spreading the metatarsal bones manually.

Plantar fasciitis is heel pain caused by overstretching the plantar fascia that attaches the heel to the toes.

crimple profile image
crimple in reply toRockyPath

I had excruciating pains in the balls of my feet and it was eventually diagnosed (by a good NHS podiatrist) as Morton's neuroma, not helped by shoes squashing your foot across the widest point and therefore irritating the nerves. I found the cure was to wear wider shoes (Wider fit DB) have been very good for me and now I only have problems when I wear high heels. Also good insoles(wider fit have an extra insole you can leave in or take out)

I am now having trouble with my ankle, probably due to a fall when nothing got broken but my foot swelled badly. I am going to make an appointment with a podiatrist and hope he can come up with some ideas.

carnation profile image
carnation in reply toRockyPath

Interestingly I had a bunion op on my left foot - the most painful - a couple of years ago. Not sure I can blame that now, especially as the other foot is fine. I will investigate Mortons neuroma thank you.

Helenca profile image
Helenca in reply toRockyPath

I was diagnosed with Morton’s neuroma several years ago. Excruciating “shock” pain when metatarsal region (just below the toes) is compressed by ill fitting shoes. Unfortunately, I was talked into surgery, basically cutting the nerves in that area and “removing” the so-called neuroma, a small tumor-like bulge between the metatarsal bones. The result was numbness in my toes, which has never fully subsided, and a sensation of walking on a marble in the ball of my foot. The same sharp, excruciating pain as before. I assume it is scar tissue from the surgery. The only thing that partially relieves it is shoes that are very wide in that region (hard to find when your ankles and heels are narrow like mine), or just walking barefoot or in loose moccasins. Bottom line: don’t accept foot doctors’ pressure to have this surgery. You will regret it!

carnation profile image
carnation in reply toHelenca

Thank you for that advice, I would have been dubious about surgery anyway but now its a definite no!

MariLiz profile image
MariLiz

I was diagnosed with a dropped metatarsal head by an orthopaedic specialist. My pain was in one foot only. I’ve had special shoe inserts made to support both feet, but with a raised area for the bad foot. This has really helped. I find that I can now wear shoes without these special supports. Providing the shoes I do wear are good and supportive.

Hope you find a solution soon, the pain is really bad, and I found it stopped me from doing so much.

jamesal0 profile image
jamesal0

Hi C. Google "thyroid joint pain". For some (like me) we get joint pain in hands/feet/elbows/kneees when we dont get enough Thyroid. I take it you are on Thyroxin, try taking an extra 25mcg and see how you feel in a few days.

Christabel profile image
Christabel

I've had lots of foot trouble. Orthotic insoles (hideously expensive) were most of the answer. You could try massaging your feet carefully, perhaps with a spiky massage ball while you're considering what to do. You can buy "ball of foot cushions" from a pharmacy, but I found that they took up a lot of space in shoes.

The trigger points tip is a good one - I also have the book!

JOLLYDOLLY profile image
JOLLYDOLLY

I am glad you have mentioned this as at the moment, I am getting burning in the soles of my feet and also I can hardly walk, feels like an elastic band around my joints. I know I have most probably got some muscle wastage around my joints that has to be built up, but the pain is excruciating and similar to the sciatica. I will have to investigate now. Hope you get some relief.

I wear wider shoes anyway, as I had really bad oedema for so long, I had to wear wound shoes as I could not get shoes to fit. I was advised to buy shoes and go by the circumference of the largest foot, rather than the size. So instead of buying size 5's, I now buy size 7. They fit like a glove.

Take care :)

jjf255 profile image
jjf255

If you indeed have plantar fasciitis ...you have my deepest sympathy! It often strikes those with hypothyroidism, even if it's being treated but #'s in low range. I had a wholesale floral business and was walking on concrete in the warehouse for hours on end and not wearing properly supporting shoes. I hate to tell you this...but it's a long healing process. I did get Dr. prescribed insoles and had exercises that I did faithfully. Since I have been on NDT and my thyroid #'s are in optimal range...I have not had it since.

I hope you find quick relief!

May72 profile image
May72

I have just been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis plus I have an underactive thyroid for many years. On recommendation, I purchased a machine called Heelease, it has given me instant relief from the excrutiating pain especially when walking. There are 2types of machine - the original at £32.99 or the latest which pulsates and has 10 different positions at £39.99. I know it seems a big outlay but for me well worth it. Hope this post is helpful to a fellow sufferer.

Smile4U profile image
Smile4U in reply toMay72

I found this page on trigger points for different pain in the leg, ankle and foot. Just did a search and this is what I found. I'm going to use this to do the self-massage others are talking about here. Lots of great ideas. Had no idea my plantar problem was also thyroid related. So, check this out and share it with others:

triggerpoints.net/leg-ankle...

Really appreciate the experiences shared here.

carnation profile image
carnation

Thank you every one for your good answers. Fingers crossed for the trigger point working otherwise I will try some of the other suggestions.

Chriskisby profile image
Chriskisby

I found mine improved and resolved with not wearing open heel sandals in the summer. In other words good foot support, as well as supportive insoles.

carnation profile image
carnation in reply toChriskisby

Oh dear, I do love my sandals :)

Starfish123 profile image
Starfish123

My obvious answer was plantar fasciitis but your vit d3 levels are good so that stumped me, why because they are linked. My vit d3 was 12 when I was diagnosed with vit d3 deficiency. I also had plantar fasciitis, as I was given treatment for the deficiency my plantar fasciitis went away. I also read white papers that were available at that time, there is a link between them plantar fasciitis is a known symptom of vit d3 deficiency. I now only get plantar fasciitis when my vit d3 is low.

For anyone else with the condition please look up the link.

Ruby1 profile image
Ruby1

My husband who is not hypothyroid suffers with morton's neuroma and also has had plantar fasciitis at times too. When I was suffering with plantar fasciitis he gave me a tip for exercising your feet which really helped me when I was suffering.

Not sure it will help but might be worth a try - mine went away on its own - could be coincidence, but I still do these exercises often - so far, all good!

With your feet up (or lying down) scrunch your toes in and try and curl your foot downwards, and then do the opposite - spread the toes out and upwards. Do this several times with both feet. I can't remember now how long it was before my symptoms disappeared, but they did disappear.

carnation profile image
carnation

Thank you that's not difficult to do - I have started now!

auraelya profile image
auraelya

Was your level of T3 low and you increased it with selenium? I'm very curious, thank you!

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