I’m trying to put an exact date on it, but it strikes me that the first time I started complaining about my feet, here, was back in 2022. Out of the proverbial blue, I’d started experiencing weird sensations in my left foot. It wasn’t painful, but for some reason, my foot just wasn’t falling quite the same way. Something was off, although I was hard-pressed to find a clear way to describe it. A chiropractor I was consulting, at the time, prescribed some ineffective (but very expensive) insoles that did nothing to alleviate the issue.
Shortly after that, as detailed in this post, I stated experiencing regular sensations of blood rushing in my feet. It wasn’t tingling or soreness or stiffness (not yet at least), and – again – it wasn’t painful, but it was different and weird. A vascular doctor took a look and deduced that I had the “veins of a teenager,” so I should probably seek the counsel of a podiatrist.
By this point, I’d been feeling palpable discomfort in my feet, and my then-new podiatrist’s recommendation of using another pair of insoles also came with no positive results. I was then diagnosed with “avascular necrosis,” replete with the assertion that I had evidently broken a small bone in my foot without knowing it. This was followed by the directive to wear a heavy “Lo Cam” boot for five weeks, two summers back. That, too, did nothing to really alleviate any issues.
I ended up ditching that first podiatrist, as I never felt like he was taking me very seriously. In the interim, to combat the discomfort, I started wearing cushioned Hokas, which I, of course, bitched and moaned about here. Regardless, I continue to wear them pretty much exclusively.
After several months of wearing the Hokas, the discomfort I’d been regularly feeling in the arch of my left foot seemed to stop, but now my feet were stiff and … well … numb. And not just the left one (i.e the “problem foot”), but the right one as well.
I spoke with my primary care physician about it, and he had some vague theories, but sent me to a different podiatrist.
I liked this second podiatrist – let’s call him Dr. Doolittle -- much better. He put aside the notion of “avascular necrosis,” suggesting that while that did indeed show up on few of those earlier tests, it had likely dissipated on its own. What I was experiencing now was something different.
His idea was that it’s a neuroma, which is basically a tumor caused by an inflamed nerve. He gave my left foot an injection (some kind of mild steroid) and told me to add a vitamin B complex to my daily regimen. I did as I was instructed.
I honestly can’t say if that injection made a difference. Time went on, and my feet – both of them – continued to feel regularly stiff and numb, especially in the mornings. More months went by, and I went back to my primary care physician.
Dr. K finally spoke definitively on the subject, suggesting that what I had was “peripheral neuropathy.” Lots of things can cause and/or exacerbate this condition, and one of the biggest of these is – yes, wait for it – alcohol.
Now, Dr. K has long been a proponent of me cutting down on the beer, and while we humor each other about it, this particular exchange seemed pretty serious. On this, I decided to schedule another appointment with podiatrist Doolittle.
Doolittle wasn’t immediately sold on the neuropathy assertion, suggesting that neuromas can sometimes present as neuropathy, although the fact that I’m experiencing it in both feet does seem pretty damning. Doolittle gave me another pair of injections – one in each, and added a anti-inflammatory pill to my regular regimen, for two weeks, and also told me to start taking Vitamin E, as well. I said I’d comply and that I’d swing on back to see him the second week of March.
Since then, I’m very sad to say that the injections, the anti-inflammatory pills and the added dosages of vitamins B and E (to say nothing about the regular consumption of water and bananas) haven’t really made any discernible difference. I’ve drastically cut down on my beer intake (but not fully … just yet). I’m exploring the universe of disappointment that is non-alcoholic beer, wearing compression socks and doing my damned best to be a good boy, but I’m not feeling any relief. But then, if I’m correct, the nerve damage wrought by neuropathy – if that’s what this is – is likely permanent.
I’m going to stay the course, for now, as all signs seem to point to peripheral neuropathy, which means adjusting my diet, my habits and, of course, removing any and all alcohol. Goodbye beer forever?
If I don’t, neuropathy is evidently a progressive condition, so I’d be running the very real risk of it spreading, and I really don’t want to entertain that notion.
I go back and see Dr. Doolittle in about three and a half weeks. We shall see.
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