The Pain, The Rehab
It got to the point where I could no longer run without pain, I couldn’t do a lunge or flex my toe upward without extreme pain. Walking on the beach hurt. I though for sure something was broken. I have a high tolerance for pain, and I played through this injury until it got extremely painful.
I had pickleball FOMO, I didn’t want to miss out on good games, or lose ground in the pecking order of the circles I played in.
I didn’t do myself any favors, playing in thin barefoot shoes like Vivibarefoot and Xero and others. Pounding the pavement requires more padding is my wisdom won in hindsight.
It took me 6 months to rehab. Six months of no running and no pickleball, also no lunging. I tried a lot of stuff, including a carbon fiber plate in my shoe to immobilize the joint, but there are three strategies that helped me the most.
Three top strategies for healing sesamoiditis (ball of the foot injury).
- Rest and immobilization. I stopped all running activities and anything that flexed my big toe upward. One doc I saw said “let the pain be your guide”
- Shoes with thick and relatively rigid soles- This was huge once I finally did it. I’m a barefoot guy, so I had trouble talking myself into chunkier shoes with a stiff sole when my preference has always been to be literally barefoot, or to wear thin soled, wide toe box, zero drop barefoot shoes. I ended up with some Altras that really helped me.
- Massaging my calves and feet. My massage therapist said that a lot of foot tension comes from tight calves. Mine were chronically tight, probably from 2-3 hours of pickleball a day. I got a theragun and daily hit my calves and also the arch and the middle of my foot (not the ball). I did this one to two times a day and it really helped.
Post-Rehab Notes
What a huge relief! It was rough having to abstain for a lot of activities for months on end. I’ve always been very active. fortunately, once I get the thicker, stiffer shoes I could mostly hike without pain, and I got in a few miles a day. I would get sore afterwards some, but the massager helped.
I did use some metatarsal pads some too, for extremely tender days.
Now I no longer favor that foot. I’m still using the massager and the thick shoes to protect and care for my foot. Being laid up gave me a new appreciation for being able to be fully active and do whatever I want!
If you’re suffering from sesamoiditis (ball of the foot pain), I hope this helps.
I have another sesamoiditis post here.
If you’ve had success with healing it, drop what’s worked for you in the comments section, I’d l