Help Needed, Unidentified Injury to foot

[Carson Elmore]

Hello

First I would like to thank you for any guidance in advance!

I was sparring on August 2nd 2015. My partner and I were warming up (not sweaty yet). I threw a right low kick at about 70%, my partner backed up quickly so I did not follow through and did some sort of half assed swing and tried to tuck my leg back in close to my body. My pivot foot immediately was in pain. It felt as if the ball of my foot dislocated. The joint since then has felt unstable. I have been to 3 separate foot doctors throughout the years. Since that day i have not been able to kick/push off of that left foot. All contact sports are out, any sprinting or jumping must be done very carefully. The issue is, that no Dr knows what the injury is. Has anyone else had an injury to the ball of their pivot foot? I have had countless X-rays and there are no broken bones. The last Dr said there is definitely arthritis in that joint, but i know that is not what originally caused this. That is just a byproduct of the original injury. If anyone has had something similar please, any info would be greatly appreciated. I am 25 years old and am too young to have to not be able to push myself. Thank you!

 

[Steve]

Sounds like you should go talk to a doctor.

 

[Carson Elmore]

Sounds like you should go talk to a doctor.

Steve, I have been to 3 different doctors. I have had countless X-rays. I am looking to see if someone has personal experience with it

 

[jobo]

Hello

First I would like to thank you for any guidance in advance!

I was sparring on August 2nd 2015. My partner and I were warming up (not sweaty yet). I threw a right low kick at about 70%, my partner backed up quickly so I did not follow through and did some sort of half assed swing and tried to tuck my leg back in close to my body. My pivot foot immediately was in pain. It felt as if the ball of my foot dislocated. The joint since then has felt unstable. I have been to 3 separate foot doctors throughout the years. Since that day i have not been able to kick/push off of that left foot. All contact sports are out, any sprinting or jumping must be done very carefully. The issue is, that no Dr knows what the injury is. Has anyone else had an injury to the ball of their pivot foot? I have had countless X-rays and there are no broken bones. The last Dr said there is definitely arthritis in that joint, but i know that is not what originally caused this. That is just a byproduct of the original injury. If anyone has had something similar please, any info would be greatly appreciated. I am 25 years old and am too young to have to not be able to push myself. Thank you!

thats five years of being incapacitate...

if theres nothing physically wrong with the structure of the foot, then the only other explanation is its some type of pain syndrome, that doesn't make the pain less real, just a lot harder to diagnose and treat.

have you seen a specialist, either a foot specialist or a sports injury specialist ? if not see one, then follow that up with a neurologist if they cant sort it out

a friend of mine had a similar issue following an accident at work, real pain from a non existent injury, it took over a decade to get a diagnosis and treatment, by which time it was to late to save his leg the lack of movement had killed the circulation and gangrene was present, i watched him go from walking with a limp to a wheel chair in ten years

 

[Steve]

Steve, I have been to 3 different doctors. I have had countless X-rays. I am looking to see if someone has personal experience with it

Glad to hear it. Hope you heal up fast.

 

[Headhunter]

Steve, I have been to 3 different doctors. I have had countless X-rays. I am looking to see if someone has personal experience with it

Whether or not they do they're not doctors so they really can't give any advice, listening to strangers on the internet is not a good idea.

 

[Headhunter]

Just because you have some pain doesn't mean you can't push yourself you just got to work around it. I spent a few years training at a bjj club with a guy with only one leg and one arm (and even his good arm wasn't fully formed) and he was a blue belt who was taping out numerous able bodied people and competed in the Abu Dhabi championships and even competed against full bodied athletes and won.

 

[Flying Crane]

Well, I wonder if it could be a weird and a-typical form of plantar fasciitis. There are exercises you can do to help it go away. The first time I had it, it didn’t go away for close to two years. I was icing, and using heat, but to no avail. It finally went away pretty quickly once I began the proper exercises.

I suggest you talk again with a doc and see if this could be a reasonable possibility, and then get the exercises from the doc.

Another possibility is that the original injury has actually healed, but has been replaced by the arthritis that came about from the original injury. Again, talk to the doc about that.

 

[dvcochran]

Just because you have some pain doesn't mean you can't push yourself you just got to work around it. I spent a few years training at a bjj club with a guy with only one leg and one arm (and even his good arm wasn't fully formed) and he was a blue belt who was taping out numerous able bodied people and competed in the Abu Dhabi championships and even competed against full bodied athletes and won.

I had a similar student. Born with one leg formed just above the knee and the other just below the knee. He did not 'know' there was anyway different and handled the perceive limitations incredibly well.

 

[Gweilo]

Another possibility, plantar fascitis

 

[Carson Elmore]

Just because you have some pain doesn't mean you can't push yourself you just got to work around it. I spent a few years training at a bjj club with a guy with only one leg and one arm (and even his good arm wasn't fully formed) and he was a blue belt who was taping out numerous able bodied people and competed in the Abu Dhabi championships and even competed against full bodied athletes and won.

I don't mean to disregard your motivational comment. I had back surgery at 18, I have a 30% tear in my left patellar tendon under my knee. It has nothing to do with my inability to withstand pain. This just keeps me from being able to go 100% because i have to protect it. When i don't, it dislocates and is debilitating.

 

[Carson Elmore]

Another possibility, plantar fascitis

I came across that a few times researching, but plantar fascitis effects a different part of the foot. This is the joint where the big toe connects to the ball of the foot.

 

[Flying Crane]

I came across that a few times researching, but plantar fascitis effects a different part of the foot. This is the joint where the big toe connects to the ball of the foot.

Yes it typically does. That is why in my post I said it could be an a-typical manifestation of it, or I guess something similar. It’s worth talking to the doctor about, it you haven’t already.

 

[Carson Elmore]

thats five years of being incapacitate...

if theres nothing physically wrong with the structure of the foot, then the only other explanation is its some type of pain syndrome, that doesn't make the pain less real, just a lot harder to diagnose and treat.

have you seen a specialist, either a foot specialist or a sports injury specialist ? if not see one, then follow that up with a neurologist if they cant sort it out

a friend of mine had a similar issue following an accident at work, real pain from a non existent injury, it took over a decade to get a diagnosis and treatment, by which time it was to late to save his leg the lack of movement had killed the circulation and gangrene was present, i watched him go from walking with a limp to a wheel chair in ten years

This is definitely a structural injury. There is bruising and swelling after each dislocation. The joint just has not felt stable and secure since the original injury. I am going to have an MRI but I assumed this might be a semi common injury in the sport and someone could help me throw some ideas at the doctors. The first doctor I went to was a sports injury specialist and once I told him it didnt heal after wearing a boot for 3 months he was out of ideas. The other 2 Drs i have been to were orthopedic specialists.

 

[jobo]

This is definitely a structural injury. There is bruising and swelling after each dislocation. The joint just has not felt stable and secure since the original injury. I am going to have an MRI but I assumed this might be a semi common injury in the sport and someone could help me throw some ideas at the doctors. The first doctor I went to was a sports injury specialist and once I told him it didnt heal after wearing a boot for 3 months he was out of ideas. The other 2 Drs i have been to were orthopedic specialists.

you have a structural injury that doesn't show up on xrays and has an orthopaedic specialist stumped ?, you should either be in a display case or its psychosomatic

 

[Carson Elmore]

Yes it typically does. That is why in my post I said it could be an a-typical manifestation of it, or I guess something similar. It’s worth talking to the doctor about, it you haven’t already.

Thank you, I'll run it by them. Did your injury feel like a dislocation? Basically since the original injury, the ball of my foot has felt very unstable. And if I push off on it, pivot, step on uneven groud (like a root sticking out for example) It feels like it is about to dislocate. If I try to sprint, then it will dislocate and will bruise, swell, all that jazz. to me it is bizarre that being so young and taking so much time off, it still feels just as susceptible to injury as the first day.

 

[Carson Elmore]

you have a structural injury that doesn't show up on xrays and has an orthopaedic specialist stumped ?, you should either be in a display case or its psychosomatic

Thats why I am having an MRI. Not everything can be seen in X-rays. You cant see cartilage, tendon, or ligament damage in an x-ray

 

[Flying Crane]

Thank you, I'll run it by them. Did your injury feel like a dislocation? Basically since the original injury, the ball of my foot has felt very unstable. And if I push off on it, pivot, step on uneven groud (like a root sticking out for example) It feels like it is about to dislocate. If I try to sprint, then it will dislocate and will bruise, swell, all that jazz. to me it is bizarre that being so young and taking so much time off, it still feels just as susceptible to injury as the first day.

Not a dislocation, no. Mine was more typical of plantar fasciitis. But it was very painful, I would hobble around on it especially in the morning or when I first get up after being sedentary for a while. As I would move and walk, it would gradually subside for a while, but if I sat down again for a while it would be just as bad again.

The condition is a strain/injury of the ligament/tendon lengthwise along the bottom of the foot and perhaps you have a similarly strained ligament at the toe. Maybe that strain has caused weakness that is allowing the toe to dislocate because it is at a pretty small joint that can have a lot of weight and pressure put on it when walking or running. I’m thinking out loud here, I just think it’s worth a discussion with the doctor.

 

[Headhunter]

I don't mean to disregard your motivational comment. I had back surgery at 18, I have a 30% tear in my left patellar tendon under my knee. It has nothing to do with my inability to withstand pain. This just keeps me from being able to go 100% because i have to protect it. When i don't, it dislocates and is debilitating.

Then don't go at 100% got at whatever % is safe for you to go at

 

[Buka]

if it were me, once I got the MRI, I'd take the film and the x-rays to a good Kinesciologist.

And welcome to Martial Talk.