Tag: morton's neuroma

Breathe again…

~ e.v. ~ 3 Comments

So I got a reply to my email and the end result is I’m getting a 5% pay rise from July, which is my 2020 pay rise, and there’s a 2021 pay rise to come. So it’s a good outcome, but I am still somewhat underwhelmed because the 2020 pay rise should be backdated to, well, 2020.

Anyway, it puts me in a better position to start interviewing again now. I read today that the number of vacancies is currently at the highest point since the pandemic hit, so it’s as good a time as any.

I found this highly stressful and I’m glad it’s over now 🙄

I booked an appointment with a running clinic nearby for next week. Unfortunately I had the dreaded numbness in my toes this morning when running so I just decided to get on with it, like I was considering doing the last time around. Apparently they do proper gait analysis, and the practitioner is a runner with a (super fast) 1:10 half marathon time, so I think it’ll be an interesting experience even if they don’t actually fix the problem. I don’t know if there really is a fix for the problem other than a neurectomy (where they surgically remove the end of the nerve), but that doesn’t make sense at the moment since all I’m getting is a phase of numbness every few months, which is obviously better than the permanent numbness that the surgery would leave me with.

I’ve been feeling it slightly for the past few days, but it’s been very minor. A slight loss in sensation is just an odd vague feeling that you wonder if you’re imagining, but today it was getting towards proper numbness. The weird thing is though that it seems to come on after about ten minutes of running, but then a little while later it improves. That seems a bit strange if it’s purely a nerve compression issue. That sounds more like a muscle warming up.

Anyway, my left leg feels like it doesn’t work quite as well as my right. At this very moment the left side of my bottom is aching, and the left ankle always seems a bit stiffer than the right. And I get a few twinges of plantar fasciitis in my left heel every so often at the moment. So hopefully he will say “at yes, you’re a bit unbalanced” and figure out how to rectify it.

Do I exist?

~ e.v. ~ 2 Comments

Today has been a strange day. We were supposed to be taking part in the ONS COVID19 study, which means they come to your house and test you. This is separate from the NHS testing, I think, this is a statistical study. We had an appointment and everything, but they just didn’t turn up. I was interested because as well as the swab test they also do an antibody test, and as I think I had it in March, the results would have been interesting. But they didn’t come and haven’t contacted us, so I don’t know if that’s just not going to happen now.

Also, my boss usually calls me daily just for a catch up, but today he didn’t. I was expecting it all morning but it didn’t happen. The only other time he has not made contact was one day that he pre warned me he’d likely be busy. What happened? Was he even working today? I don’t know. Very unusual.

I coped with this… poorly. I was nervous about the COVID test for whatever reason, and I suppose the anticipation of hearing from my boss and then not also contributed. Today was definitely one of those days that I miss being on citalopram.

Also, my foot/neuroma has been aching today. I don’t feel it’s really settled down ever since I aggravated it way back in June. I’m not getting the sharp pains anymore, it’s just a dull aching. Is that better? Probably…

Weekends

~ e.v. ~ 5 Comments

After taking a few days off running due to my toes going numb this past week, on Saturday I did 10k and was very pleased that everything felt fine. Then in the afternoon I went for a short walk and after 10 minutes my toes went numb. So that wasn’t a great success, but I walked for over an hour this morning and it was fine, which is confusing but promising? I’ve just decided to take a week off running and see where I am next weekend. To some people, taking a week off running is just called a week. To someone who usually runs 70-80km a week, it feels like a gargantuan task. How will I survive?

This is on my left foot and the left side seems to be where I’ve had all the problems lately. The left side of my body is a checklist of minor issues. This foot issue, slightly tight ankle/achilles tendon, shin splints, tight hamstring, achy hip… really I should just blitz my left leg with some strength and stretching work and maybe things will align a bit better and the nerve will settle down again. At the very least, not having shin splints every couple of weeks would be an improvement.

I spent most of the weekend playing Factorio on my PC. Which is a bit strange, because spending hours playing PC games isn’t something I’ve done for a long time now, but Factorio is incredibly addictive so it keeps me entertained. I also subscribed to Google Play Pass, which give you access to quite a large selection of games and other apps on Android, but I haven’t really explored it yet. Maybe I will try a game out before I go to sleep.

Nerves

~ e.v. ~ 4 Comments

Sadly I am going to end my current 38 day running streak. I have run every consecutive day for the past 38 days, for a total of 388km. That’s an average of 10km a day. Not bad!

Before that, I was on a 40 day streak, but took one rest day. So I’ve run 77 of the last 78 days.

But the neuroma in my foot isn’t quite right. I thought it was improving, and maybe it is, but the last three days while I’ve been running my toes have been intermittently numb. That’s actually a new symptom. Over the years I’ve had a lot of dull achy feelings, some sharp pains and even some burning sensations, but I’ve never had it feel numb while running. I don’t know what to read into that. It’s confusing because the mild discomfort I’ve had from it over the past few weeks has settled down, so I thought it was improving.

So anyway… I’m having a few days off running and I’ve broken out the ice packs and I’ll try a few days of ibuprofen just in case there’s some inflammation that’s pressing on the nerve. I forgot how much my stomach hates ibuprofen. Some of the noises it’s made today…

But really my attitude is still the same as it has been for the last few years. I don’t mind having a few days down time every so often, but in the long term, either the nerve cooperates or it gets treated surgically.

I’m finding that metatarsal support helps. Here’s a page showing how to create a home-made metatarsal pad.