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foot/ankle pain and numbness and swelling and lower back pain

5 months ago i noticed the top of my right foot was swollen it is in the middle and the top near my ankle when it would get rubbed against something or touched it would go tingly all the way up to my two first toes. then it started to hurt when touched and i noticed the pain was coming from the very top of my foot/ ankle there is a little almost round feeling bone right there that hurts the worst. Now it is hurting all the time when i want crinkle my toes move my ankle anything and is still going numb when touched as well as sometimes when i move my foot. Around the same time that the pain started in my foot i also started getting pain in the right side of my lower back in the last month the pain in both my foot and back has escalated from a 3 on a 1- 10 scale to a 8. about 1 month and a half ago i went to the doctor had blood work done and everything came back ok and i had an xray on my foot and they saw nothing wrong. something is wrong and it is getting worse! please help me.

RESPONSE

Hi,

Read my section on "midtarsal fault" and see if that discussion sounds like your problem.
The tingling and numbness you are getting on top of your foot indicates an irritation to one of the superficial nerves that travels down the top of your foot. This nerve lies directly underneath the skin and is easily irritated. Typically you will

get numbness on top of the foot with a tingling sensation down to the first and second toes. This is typical of the path of the nerve.
The reason the top of the foot is swollen is due to one of two possible reasons. You may have a bone spur which is growing upward and causing the swelling on top of the foot.
There is also the possibility of either a ganglion cyst or even an irritation and swelling of the tendon that passes down to the toes on the top of the foot. If the swelling feels "spongy" than it may be a cyst.
This problem generally occurs as a result of a couple of issues.
If you happen to be flat footed, the bones in this area of the foot, which represents the highest part of the arch, will collapse as your foot flattens out. This creates a jamming effect between the two bones and this jamming creates bone spurring.
The other problem for many people is that they may have one or more pairs of shoes that are too tight in this area. The pressure of the shoe pressing down into the bone creates irritation and inflammation which will irritate the nerve, giving you the sensation that you describe. The shoe tightness will also aggravate the tendon in that area causing an irritation and thus swelling.
I would suggest you see a foot specialist in your area as they are the best at recognizing this scenario.
Most doctors who do not treat feet regularly would be clueless as to what this condition might be.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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foot/ankle pain and numbness and swelling and lower back pain

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