My First BIG Ride!

[ibcycling]

Thanks everyone! It was so great to do a ride that long and feel good after. Now I can't wait to tackle some longer rides and more hills.

Ahh, the wonderful neuromas. Shortly after I started cycling my feet started bothering me. Numbness, pain, tingling. I even asked my neighbor/guru about it. I decided to keep going and see if it went away. Nope, I ended up not being able to walk one morning and decided it was time to see the doctor.

Luckily my podiatrist is a cyclist and knew what questions to ask me. He was not impressed that I was having so much trouble in regular tennis shoes on MB pedals. We briefly discussed options, which were pretty limited. Has your Dr. mentioned alcohol shots to you? It's a non-surgical way of shrinking and deadening the nerve. I had to go in for 5 shots spaced 2 weeks apart in my right foot. The left was not nearly so bad and we only did one shot there. The shots are alcohol based with some cortisone.

The good news is I think it worked. I still have some numbness but no pain! The bad news is the shots hurt like H*LL!! I had a very hard time making myself go back after the first one. Then my foot would have a numb, throbbing, weird feeling for 3-5 days after. He didn't restrict my riding but I did lay off because my foot felt so strange. Dr. also told me that when I'm ready for clipless to go with MB shoes since they're wider.

What have you done so far for the neuromas? I hope you can get it taken care of. Sore feet are miserable!

Lora

[rij73]

Thanks for the info. I've done both cortisone and alcohol shots. The cortisone shots work, but only after about the 5th shot. Then I'll be pain free for a couple of months before needing a whole other set of shots. The doc doesn't think so much cortisone is good. Then we did a series of alcohol shots, and those really just didn't help. I'm glad they worked for you!

That's why it looks like I'm down to surgery! And, I'm a real chicken about surgery...

Biking doesn't bother me at all, but walking is another story. Every step of my right foot hurts terribly all day long. It's really very depressing...

[Starfish]

Wow, great job on the ride. If you can do 73 hilly, windy miles, you can do a century...right now! LOL

[ibcycling]

Sorry to hear the alcohol shots didn't work and good luck with surgery. I thought the alcohol was supposed to kill the nerve but I suppose everyone reacts different. Are they going to go in from the top or the bottom? I think the recovery is quicker if they go in the top.

I'm hoping my feet continue to feel good. I can deal with numbness and a little soreness as long as the pain doesn't return. I don't think I can go through any more shots so if it does flare up again I'll look at surgery.

Good luck and let me know how it goes. I really feel for you having foot pain with every step.

Lora

[Cha Cha]

OMG, I know what you mean about the neuromas. The only thing I've tried that works for me is hard plastic orthotics, and they work well. (My neuroma is triggered by downward pressure on the metatarsals as my arches are very high.) I got these from the podiatrist about 6 years ago and they work fine (same pair all this time). The other tip I"d share is watching the tightness on the shoes esp around the base of the toes. Wiggle room is good!

I tried the cortisone shots once - they didn't seem to help though the freezy spray used beforehand at least helped with the injection pain.

Good luck!!!

Just my 2 cents - congrats on the new ride!!!!!

Amy