Strategies for Sesamoiditis

If you are a sports fan, fall is a great time of year. Football has started, baseball is heading to the playoffs, and basketball and hockey are going to be starting very soon. Even if you don’t enjoy watching athletes in these respective sports, you can probably imagine how much pressure they place on their feet – and especially in the big toe area!

Going back and forth and making sudden turns are necessary movements for the aforementioned sports, plus tennis, racquetball, downhill skiing, dancing, and so many more physical activities. These movements place stress on the tissues that surround and support the big toe. Over time, this stress can result in sesamoiditis, which is a common injury involving tendons around two tiny sesamoid bones found in the area.

When you develop inflammation of the tendons and/or sesamoid bones, you will start to feel a dull aching underneath the big toe, and especially when you’re active. The pain starts to subside during periods of rest, but there are some things you can do on your own to start reducing the pain from this particular injury:

  • Given that the injury develops on account of overuse, the first step is to rest from any activity causing or contributing to the pain. We know this can be very difficult for active and competitive individuals who would rather not rest, but sesamoiditis will become progressively worse overtime if you keep up your normal activities. That means you won’t be able to compete or participate in favorite activities at all! To put it simply, your tissues need time to heal, or they will always be weaker and more prone to damage and pain.
  • Reduce inflammation in the joint by icing it. When you do, make sure to wrap the ice in a thin towel or cloth to protect your skin. In addition to reducing the swelling, this also helps to reduce pain (since less pressure is being placed on tender tissues).
  • In addition to ice, you may benefit from padding or wearing an insole that can take pressure off the sesamoids and inflamed tendons.

At-home care is a good starting point, but persistent pain will likely require professional care. When it does, contact Wilks Advanced Foot Care in Roseburg, OR. We will start by performing a professional diagnosis to determine exactly what is happen, and then work to create a treatment plan to address it for you. This may consist of custom orthotics, medication, or other conservative options. In rare cases, surgery may be recommended, but we will exhaust nonsurgical methods before getting to that point.

Call us at (541) 673-0742 to schedule an appointment or use the contact form on our website for more information. Our goal is to get your feet back in shape as soon as possible, so connect with us today!

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