Numb Toes

[KnottedYet]

CyclChyk - what kind of insoles are you wearing? If the ones your doc recommended aren't helping, you might be interested in the new Berry Superfeet, with the met button built in. (Orange is similar, but with a lower met button because it's pretty much intended for men's feet.) Some folks get huge relief just from wearing traditional Birkenstocks, too.

What kind of foot exercises are you doing?

Did the doc look at how your posture was effecting the weightbearing pattern on the foot? Are you doing deep hip rotator exercises? (to control the rotation of the femur/tibia so you don't weightbear too much to the medial side of the foot.)

What do the callousses on the bottom of your feet look like? Do you have a callous under the ball of your 2nd or 3rd toes? How about "whip" callousses, which are on the inside edge (medial/big toe side) of the big toe or ball of big toe?

[CyclChyk]

Knotted you are a wealth of wisdom! Thank you for that! Actually, the insoles the doc "prescribed" are specifically made for me and VERY expensive. I only ever got one pair made, and I am using some form of Doc Shoals at the moment. I have been "wrapping my toes" with sports tape for the last year or so. It helps for a little bit, but at some point, it stops working.

My weight is focused on my second toe (the one by the big one). So yeh, I have "roughened" spots at that point but not "calluses" persay. And the "whip" callous as you describe are there but they are mostly a "roughened" spot as mentioned before. I obsess about how ugly my feet are so I try to keep them "babied". My left foot is developing somewhat of a hammer toe while my right has avoided that.

I had foot surgery as a child and I always blamed my right foot pain on that, but apparently it was my bone being rubbed round. When my left foot started about 2 years ago, I didn't have the surgery to blame, and that is how I discovered my problem. My toes on both feet going numb are something I have kinda gotten used to, as awful as that sounds. They say women have a higher threshold for pain. Perhaps that is why I grin and bear it. The numbness is minor in comparison.

I will DEFINATELY check out the insoles you suggest. I have been doing a little reseach on it already. I heard the green Superfeet is the way to go but I think they are mostly for runners?

[KnottedYet]

I have the green in a couple pairs of my shoes. Doesn't matter if folks tell you one color or another is "for" a particular sport, get the insole that suits your foot structure and mechanics. (green DON'T have a met button)

It sounds like you have a dropped 2nd met head. A met button could really help support your collapsed met arch, which you can buy for about $10 a pair and have put on your favorite insoles (make sure the shoe store KNOWS what they are doing!) or you can buy insoles that already have the met button on them. (Superfeet berry, for example)

I've seen many of my patients "cure" or at least alleviate their metatarsalgia by strengthening the muscles that support their metatarsal arch and restoring the 2nd met head to it's correct position. (I've done it with my own feet.)

I've got to go to bed, but somewhere on TE are a list of intrinsic foot muscle exercises I posted. Search "intrinsic" or "fist and splay" and give them a try?

Edit: here they are. http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ighlight=splay

[Flybye]

The physical therapist is a wonderful man....
He has helped my feet more than anything - he crushed up all of the scar tissue at the base of my foot where my toes connect and it was such a relief. I have numb toes when I ride too, from a previous injury. I know that scar tissue can rebuild itself and does tend to do so, so every once in awhile I plan to go back in and get "crunched" again.
Also, for footbeds, another TE'er suggested footbeds from itsyoursole.com that you warm in the oven and they custom form to your feet. I LOVE them. I had been using some specifically designed for cycling from superfeet.com but these trump them by far.
Good Luck