Aches, Pains, Weird internal pain that feels external, aging...

In My Humble Opinion
1

How’s that for a free-form title?

First, the Weird Internal Pain that Feels External.
it’s my heel. It’s been going on for a couple of months. I’m exceedingly flexible, too flexible (yes, there actually is such a thing) really. I can and do easily touch the floor without bending my knees, no sweat. Never bothered me, maybe a little hamstring pull, normal stuff.

Well, this pain cropped up. It does not feel like a pulled muscle, bone, bruise, strain…NOTHING like the kinds of pain associated with muscles and bones being banged up or strained or even torn. It feels exactly like I have a scab over some kind of external wound and when I bend too far it tears at it. it STINGS. Let me repeat…when I bend over too far, my right heel STINGS. STINGS!!! Who ever heard of a pronounced, clear STINGING sensation INSIDE the flesh??? What the hell is going on?

And it won’t go away. I’m very weirded out.
Next thing is more general. I’m 50. What’s the deal with the stiffness? The seizing up? Is this normal? Is there a cure? If I’m this crunchy at 50, what the hell is going to happen by the time I’m 60? Is my obesity exacerbating it? (Don’t jsut say yes because you assume that weight exacerbates absolutely everything, that’s so annoying. Some things it affects directly, other things not.) Are there dietary changes that will help? This blows.
Lastly… my right knee. I had an ACL tear 20 years ago. It was pretty nasty, and that knee has been a little bit dicey ever since, but I notice it MUCH more recently. Now, is my understanding correct, that ACL tears never genuinely heal, and you are always more vulnerable there? Secondly…there is an intense, aggressive stiffness in that knee, in the back that is really depressing. It feels very much like a kind of doughnut shaped balloon is wrapped around the knee and is fully inflated. Recommendations? I know I need to build up the strength, I’m just wondering if what I’m feeling is just what I have to deal with because of the long-ago injury.

And for anyone curious about “too flexible”: it might not be so bad if one is slim, but it’s terrible if you carry extra weight. As a result of my bizarre flexibility (My feet naturally fold over each other, I can painlessly bend my foot back against my shin at… I guess it’s a 45 degree angle? Nearly folded back against the leg. ) my feet are absurdly flat, I have OVAL footprints, and I’ve been like that since I was a slim child. My motherbought me go-go boots and I wore the heels down to nubs on the inside. So my leg joints are all loosy-goosy, there’s not great stability in my ankles, knees and hips, everything is flopping around, slippin’ and slidin’. Not good. What I’m supposed to do and had been doing for a long time, was build up the muscles in the legs to make them stronger so they would hold everything in alignment better. I’ve also been wearing special shoes and…god I always forget what they’re called, but I have custom plastic supports in my special shoes and I wear them 80% of the time I’m awake. It helps a lot, I was tearing the ligament on the inside of my ankle from the collapse of my feet.

Well, I’m grateful I actually have feet and legs to complain about.

2

I had this about 2-3 years ago. It took months to go away. It’s called plantar faciitis, It’s this kind of tearing pain in your heel, worse when you have been off your feet for a while and the inflamed tendon isn’t stretched out. It was one of the most depressing periods healthwise of my life because I knew nothing about it and I thought that if it didn’t ever go away I just couldn’t go on. It was so bad. I swim and I used to put my foot flat against the wall and stretch the heel gently and I think that helped. Finally, one day it was finally gone. I think it must have been 8+ months from onset. It started when I was wearing these flat-soled “gumby” shoes because my toe (since operated on) was hurting. Not enough arch support.

3

Strengthening your muscles will help stabilize the joints. For the plantar faciitis, ice 3-4 times a day as possible. After icing, get yourself a golf ball(preferred), tennis ball, baby food jar or rolling pin. Roll under your arch.
The special plastic inserts are orthotics.

4

I have heel spurs and your heel pain could be from that or the plantar faciitis. X-rays will let you know one way or another.

5

I have a heel spur, which I am told is actually plantar faciitis. Confirmed with X ray. Seeing podiatrist tomorrow.

Yeah, It sucks.

6

I think doctors just say spurs because it’s easier for people to understand/remember even when they know it’s Fasciitis. The toughest part of healing Plantar Fasciitis is getting to rest it. Who can stay off their feet for days at a time? Changing footwear helped mine a lot. I also had to make a conscious decision to keep from limping. I tried making myself walk faster all the time and that kept my stride much more normal.

7

Heel spurs are not the same thing as plantar faciitis.

From Heel Spurs: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment :
“Patients and doctors often confuse the terms heel spur and plantar fasciitis. While these two diagnoses are related, they are not the same. Plantar fasciitis refers to the inflammation of the plantar fascia–the tissue that forms the arch of the foot. A heel spur is a hook of bone that can form on the heel bone (calcaneus) and is associated with plantar fasciitis.”

8

They’re not the same but fasciitis is more common and it seems like most people are just told they have heel spurs. Do they have to treat heel spurs surgically?

9

When I say “heel”, I refer to the area around the Achilles tendon…it feels exactly as though I rubbed a bad blister there, it broke, it scabbed, and it never bothers me now unless I pull the area too hard and that pulls at the scab.

None of which is true, it just feels exactly like that.

Although I’ve noticed in just the last few days the sting is shifting a little towards the inside of the foot, sort of traveling.

10

If it is Plantar Fasciitis the pain, for me at least, does shift because of the tendency to walk differently because of it. You’ll know it’s that if the pain goes away during long periods of sitting or laying down and returns with a vengeance as soon as you get on your feet.

11

No, there is no pain at all as long as I don’t stretch the tendon.

12

Sounds like you may have a problem with your Achilles tendon, or you could have an irritated nerve (since the pain is traveling).

I’d suggest seeing an orthopedic doctor or even a neurologist.

Do you find that you rest your foot/feet where something is always pressing on that part of your foot/ankle? If so, that can irritate the nerve. Even how your shoe fits could be a reason for the pain.

I had an issue with the outside edge of my left foot hurting for months – might have even been years. It was really painful to walk early in the week and would dissipate by the end of the week then start all over again. It drove me crazy; limited my walking. I went to my GP, a podiatrist, and an orthopedic doctor. After much testing/xrays, etc., by all the doctors over a period of several months with no relief or proper diagnosis, my ortho doctor sent me to Physical Therapy to see if they could figure things out. Turned out it was a pair of sandals I was wearing on the weekends. The strap that held the sandals on was pressing on the side of the foot aggravating the nerve and was causing the pain I was having. I stopped wearing the sandals, and after a few weeks, my foot was fine. All those months of pain and aggravation boiled down to a pair of sandals I only wore one day a week.

A friend of mine just recently had a weird issue with one of her legs tingling. There was no obvious outward sign of a problem and after much testing, it came down to her going to a neurologist to see what they could find out. It was determined that she somehow injured this one nerve in her leg by her knee. Once it heals, it will be fine. In the meantime, though, she’s stuck with the annoying tingling pain.

13

You could be me! I turned 51 last week. I read about the Planar heel thing on Web MD when my heel started bothering me last year. I started doing the gentle stretches and it’s been helping a lot.
I tore the Meniscus in my right knee about 5 years ago while rollerblading and fell. My knee makes weird crunching sounds when I climb stairs. I saw an orthopedic surgeon who said I didn’t need surgery, but to exercise to keep the muscles around the knee strong. I belong to a gym but I only go sporadically which I guess doesn’t help. I hike and I like walking which does help.
I also feel really stiff when I get up in the morning and when I’ve been sitting for a while. The best thing for that is stretching exercises. Get a DVD or look up on Web MD some stretching exercises and do them a couple times a week. This isn’t the same as just standing and stretching during a yawn or reaching for the sky. There are specific stretches for different muscles or muscle groups and they should be held for at least 30 seconds.
I hope my suggestions help. Isn’t getting old fun and interesting? You never know what’s going to go next.

14

Another thing to watch out for with foot pain is neuromas- you can google them to see if it sounds like your symptoms.

15

Ooo, I have one of those, I believe. I call it my “live Long and Prosper” toes…

16

My knee started making weird crunching sounds about a year or so back. I’ve since been diagnosed with Osteoarthritis in that knee. I noticed the noise more when I went downstairs, but more recently, it’s pretty much up or down stairs. Ick.

The noise just squidges me out…

So, beware the crunching knee! :wink: