A Trip to the Doctor in FiveFingers

I don't know what I expected from a trip to the doctor. Four weeks of no running, and there was little relief to the top-of-the-foot pain that I have been battling with for months.  had to see what insight western medicine had, so off to the clinic I went. 

My family doctor looked at me in disbelief when I described running in minimalist footwear and bare feet. Even after explaining the fact that I transitioned too quickly putting undue stress on little used muscles and ligaments in my feet, he gave me a look of 'duh' and told me I should be wearing shoes. He wasn't listening when I started listing all the other problems I dealt with when running shod. He was quick to refer me to a podiatrist, who was luckily in the clinic on his weekly rounds to rural areas, and I was grateful to not have to go into more detail with someone who obviously didn't want to understand where I was coming from.

The podiatrist was surprisingly eager to listen to my journey from shoes to barefoot running, and his questions appeared sincere. He spent a great deal of time asking questions about where my foot hurt, the type of pain, when it appears, etc. He also shared his knowledge about parts of the foot, i.e., he shared with me that only one of the 19 muscles in our feet is on top of the foot. The visit was insightful regarding feet in general, but, as far as answers to my foot pain, the podiatrist had little idea. In fact, he was quite perplexed at my having lost any gained dexterity in my pinky toe. We were both left with unanswered questions.

I was sent off for x-rays and a request to forward information on barefoot research to the foot doctor. Hmmm... perhaps genuine interest, perhaps ammunition for a debate.  I'll send him links to Lieberman and some other resources and see what he has to say. 

Related Posts:

• Top-of-the-Foot Pain: TRI to Heal 
• Top-of-the-Foot Pain

Update on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 12:17AM by Nathan Smith

I haven't heard any word from the doctor. This could mean one of three things: First, he has not found anything noteworthy in the x-rays. Second, He still has no clue why I was having continued pain and lack of dexterity. Third, he hasn't given my problem a second thought.

Although any added insight is welcome, the pain has seemed to dissipate. Six weeks of biking and swimming instead of running seemed to do the trick. The only problem is that I have to start putting in some serious miles to prepare for the 50 miler in October... hope I don't re-injure myself.