Foot pain - Somewhere around 3rd and 4th toe

Hi all,

I am dealing with a foot problem which is taking much longer to heal than I expected.

I am 34 years old and have been dancing for around 6 years now. I dance at least 5 times per week. Around 7 weeks ago I trained barefoot on wooden floor and felt a pain in my foot. This pain continued to be there for the remaining session but then went away for a few days after. The next week it suddenly returned and it got so bad that I could barely walk 100 meters and the foot was swollen quite a lot. I stopped all my activities to let the injury heal but after 8 weeks, I still feel pain walking even though the pain is much reduced.

In the meantime my doctor gave me a cortisone shot in the nerve because of a possible Norton Neurom. This helped a bit but the pain never fully went away. I got inserts to support the curvature in my front foot but I stopped using them after I felt the pain got worse. I started wearing super squishy shoes to reduce the impact from walking on my foot. Nevertheless, the pain is very persistent. I recently did an MRI which showed no major injuries. Only slight watery retentions. My doctor believes that the cause of my pain is minor injuries in the ligaments or tendons.

I have gone through a long lasting knee injury (patella tendinitis) which took 2 years to heal. The only reason I managed to overcome this pain was because I started working on eccentric exercises for the quad muscle which in the end restored the tendon fully. Now I am afraid that I am again wasting precious time if I just try to sit out this injury instead of actively working on a recovery.

Does anyone here have an idea which kind of exercises can support my recovery. What are the risks associated?

I dealt with this exact same thing - Morton's Neuroma - pain on the pad between the 3rd and 4th toe. I couldn't put any weight on that side of my foot and limped for a good 8 months before I did anything about it. I iced it for a good week - 3-4 times a day, to get down all the inflammation that had been building the months past. I also taped it and that made a huge difference. I could feel the extra support it gave me. Because you are so active, taping would be a good idea to help prevent any further damage. I did a treatment with a wrap called BFST Wrist Wrap. I wrapped this around that area of my foot and within a month and a half I was healed and no more limping. That was a good 7-8 months ago and it hasn't come back since. I got mine from walking barefoot on the beach one day. Felt it that very evening. I'm wish you all the best as I know exactly what you are going through. I put in the website from where i got mine. Hope you find something. Metatarsalgia Treatment by King Brand

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It's info for metatarsalgia....it's the closest thing I could find. Same treatment and same wraps.