Sesamoiditis

[Coxy]

I play Oztag and do a lot of walking and some weights work. 2 weeks ago I awoke with severe pain in the ball of my left foot behind my big toe.

It worsened over the next 4 days and I went to a podiatrist. Her first thought was that I'd fractured the medial sesamoid. I had x-rays and they came back negative, so it's apparently sesamoiditis - which is apparently inflamation of the tendons that the sesamoid act as a pully for.

I replaced all my footwear and the podiatrist put some padding on the out-of-box insoles I bought a year ago.

The pain has reduced considerably, though I still need to wear shoes to walk and still find myself walking on the side of my foot if I'm bare foot. I was able to play Oztag last night and iced it immediately after the game. The pain is no worse today, which is a promising sign.

Interestingly I'm developing minor symptoms in my right foot but they seem to be improving now too.

Have there been many cases of football players (AFL or Rugby League/Union) that have suffered sesamoiditis or sesamoid fractures? It doesn't seem to be all that common from the research I've done.

Also, the x-rays picked up 2 small bony ossicles in my ankle. I think one on the Talus bone and one on the Navicular.

They indicated they might be due to previous injury, though I don't remember ever injuring my left ankle. Is it possibly a development of something chronic or something I shouldn't worry about?

The podiatrist didn't even mention it.

[sydunisportsmed]

Sesamoid injuries are not that rare and there have been some famous ones in football players. The injury was basically the one that ended Adrian Whitehead's career at Carlton. Danny Buderus (Newcastle, NRL) is currently struggling with chronic pain in the sesamoid and surrounding areas, as is Gavin Lester (Sydney Roosters).

Sometimes fractures don't get seen on X-ray, so if pain gets worse then consider a CT scan. Podiatrists can make inserts to unload the sesamoids and if they work then this is your best bet for treatment.

You can have surgery on the sesamoids but it is not a predictable result compared to other operations.

As for the other ossicles, I'd ignore them if there are no symptoms.

[Coxy]

Interesting, thanks for your reply!

The podiatrist basically said I could keep going but would just have to manage the injury and rest it whenever pain gets too severe - and ideally rest it until pain has gone for some time before heading back towards full training.

It was already suggested if the padding added to my insoles helped that getting custom made ones would sort this problem, and my knee (patellofemoral) and achilles pain I sometimes get.

[amegafrog]

I have just been told after months of putting up with my left foot with on and off pain that my Navicular has come away from talus and I need surgery.....what the..... I can walk on this foot fine sometimes and other times the pain is not bad bearly bearable. The doctor that finally found this problem for me says I have athritis in this area and that they would need to fuse it back but it would no longer be a joint and I may not have the mobibility I once had........

How could I have done this and not known..... and will it heal completly back to normal?

[jess]

I would try orthotics first. Fusion is a massive operation - only take it if you have very severe constant pain.