Mr 1470

Over a period of 10 years I've had pain on top of my right foot, esp after long runs or races, tarmac downhill has a particularly bad impact - eg 9 Standards race which finishes with a couple of miles down a 1 in 4 road in fell shoes! This has gradually been accompanied by a hard bony deposit building up, forming a lump on the top of my foot. A couple of years ago I twisted this foot in a race and had excruciating pain in the same spot, followed by nagging pain for weeks afterwards.

I ended up seeing a specialist at the cumberland infirmary who said I've got wear and tear at the point where the bones in the forefoot come together. The pain is caused by the bones rubbing together where whatever is between the bones (cartilege?) has worn out.

The long term solution is to fuse the bones, but that'll reduce flexibility and probably create other problems for the longer term (cos there's a reason for having two bones instead of just one longer one!).

In the short term I'm advised to keep on running as long as the pain remains bearable - running isn't doing any more damage than everyday life and the consultant was big on the fact that it keeps me physically and psychologically healthy therefore keeping the NHS bill down.

I have had some off the peg orthotics prescribed for my road running shoes and could also get some for my fell shoes. These are supposed to maintain a foot posture that keeps the pressure off the joint between the bones.

In the time since seeing the consultant I've kept running but done more training on the bike and things haven't got a lot worse. The injury was the spur to get on with one or two things that have been on my shopping list for a while, so I did my BG last summer (without major side-effects). What I find I have to avoid is football/rugby with the kids, as twisting and kicking a ball with the affected foot bring the pain on.

Hope this is helpful.