Pain in foot

[medimanda]

In the past 3 months, I have been suffering from pain my feet, mainly my right foot. When I get out of bed in the morning, I can barely stand or walk on my foot as it feels like it is broken. It only takes about 5 minutes for the pain feeling to go away, but I am getting worried. A few days ago, I felt the same thing on the side of my lower leg (between the calf and shin) about 4 inches above my ankle. If I push on it, it feels like a bruise or stretched muscle, but it also is painful to walk on. The pain only goes away with Advil (I took it for a headache on the same day it arrived). Then, this morning, I woke up and I have the same pain in my side abdominal / to right above my pelvis. It hurts when I breath, stretch, or touch it. The leg and side pain might just be a muscle cramp that I injured somehow, and just coincidental to my foot....but I am really getting to worry about this foot pain. Is there anything someone can suggest?

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for keeping me posted!
Your leg symptoms could be due to atherosclerosis, deep vein thrombosis - leg pain on walking (A blood clot in a deep vein), Leriche syndrome (block in abdominal aorta and/or main leg artery), limb ischaemia (low oxygen to limbs), sciatica, spondylitis of lower vertebrae and peripheral vascular disease (arteries of limbs are involved). You need a Doppler test to rule out the possibility of involvement of an artery or vein
You could get an X-ray of your lower spine, CT scan or MRI done. I think you should see an orthopedic doctor for your problem. Leg pain many a times is due to problem at lower spine level.

It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage, without examining the skin. Do consult a vascular specialist.  Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[medimanda]

Thank you both for your comments.

I wanted to update as I am having a lot of trouble today.

First of all, I'm happy to say my abdominal muscle pain went away within a few days. However, the pain in my right leg has gotten worse. I can feel a very small bump under my skin (again, on the side of my lower leg between my calf and shin). The bump feels like a very tender bruise to touch, however there is not visable markings at all. It's about the size of a small grape cut in half (not big at all), and can only be felt and not seen. I can feel the pain when I walk on it and sometimes it is throbbing when I sit. It got very painful after I walked several blocks to the post office today. I cannot stand on it with all my weight for the pain is too great.

To answer some questions: I am not overweight (5'4", 130lbs), no history of diabeties or any other major medical problems with myself or in my family (except some cancer in my grandparents).

I have been jogging on the treadmill lately, and until today, it wasn't bothering me to much. Just felt like a badly strained muscle.

If it is still this painful come Saturday, I will be seeing my GP to get examined.

Any other thoughts or ideas?

[caregiver222]

I'm not going to go with the arthritis.  It could be, but I just don't think so.  You didn't mention is the pain was dull, sharp or what part of the foot.  If the pain is on the top of the foot, in the metatarsals, an arthritis etiology might be considered. Because you have the pain in other areas, I would suspect the problem may be vascular. The pain between the calf and shin plus the pain in the pelvic area points toward a vascular origin.  If it were just the foot I might suggest a podiatrist, however you need a good general work-up. Often this will involve a dopplar imaging of the leg. On a more simple examination, a comparison of the dorsalis pedis pulses, comparing and contrasting the left and right. Diabetic problems often cause foot pain deep in the bone that is dull and increases when you put pressure on the foor, but does not involve the upper leg. This is usually acompanied by loss of sensation in the toes well before this develops. The fact the pain disappears with an anti-inflammatory suggests phlebitis, which ocasionally responds to such treatment. I would go to a vascular specialist, but usually you don't have a choice. You go to a G,P, and he has to provide the referral according to union rules.

Sometimes these problems respond to daily doses of Omega-3 or cod liver oil, pomegranite (pills), alpha-lipoic acid and there are inoffensive naturopathic anti-inflammatories. The omega-3/cod liver oil increases the lubricosity, the pomegranite cleans out deposits and you want to reduce inflammation.

I would get the inflammation down, as a start, with Ibuprufin, 800 mg and 800 mg 12 hours later, for three days. The drugstore doses are 200 mg a pill. This is a tad hard on the liver but you have to hit inflammation hard. The advil is not enough.

If you bring down the inflammation sometimes the problem goes away.

You do need to go to a physician, but you know that. You need bloodwork to rule out the possibility of infection or blood disorders.

Good luck.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
In all probability it is arthritis involving small joints. It could also be due to nerve compression at the level of lumbar vertebra. Please rule out diabetic neuropathy too if you are overweight, have diabetes or have a family history of diabetes. It could also be Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D deficiency.
It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage, without examining you. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!