[pct-l] Foot pain - top of arch

[Brian Lewis]

Gary said: "Upon advice of other hikers, I went to a sports medicine
specialist the next day and he was able to give me a much better diagnosis
(stress fracture on the 3rd metatarsal) than the ER. I ended up cutting my
thru-hike short and walking around with a boot on my foot for 6-8 weeks to
prevent the foot from flexing."

I've been wearing a walking cast on my right foot for nearly a month now,
due to soreness in the upper arch of my foot that only occurs after I've
been walking for a while; this started somewhere I think in northern Oregon
in 2008.  My podiatrist doesn't know what the specific problem is, but
because he couldn't make it hurt through manipulation he figured that if
it's just immobilized long enough it will heal on its own --- though he
specified a month (almost up now) in a walking cast rather than 6 - 8 weeks.


Given the location of pain, it would surprise (not medically trained) me if
this were a metatarsal, but who knows.    I'd sure like the soreness to go
away; I just had surgery on one foot, so it would be great to have a clean
sweep of problems fixed from thru-hiking!


Brian Lewis / Gadget '08
http://postholer.com/brianle