Steve wrote:
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I am a middle aged person who is using soccer as way to stay in shape and relieve stress. One month ago I had a large collision with another player with my strong side foot. After an abundance of swelling I visited my physician and was told it was not broken.
I took trhee weeks off. All the swelling was gone, I could run at 95%, and was anxious to get back into playing. My second game back I had another, much smaller collision. The pain is intense once again and I am back to taking time off.
Now that I have written my book. I would like to find a way to give the top and inside of my foot added protection once I start playing again. I have searched all over for a brace/pad that can sit inside a shoe with no luck. I am considering creating my own "foot guard" from foam and possibly plastic.
Can anyone point me in the direction to find such a product or advice on what to use. Keep in mind I am will stay off for enough time for the pain to go away, I just want to make sure the injury does not occur again before the healing is done completly. Every injury I have ever had is never really healed completely when the pain is gone.
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First, I would encourage you to have another x-ray, taken and READ by a professional who specializes in, or has intimate familiarity with disorders of the feet. A single x-ray is valuable in ruling in or out a frank fracture, but a very subtle fracture, which in your case, may be tantamount to a "stress" fracture . . . other than for the fact that, by definition, a stress fracture takes place in the absence of overt trauma. But a hairline or stress-TYPE fracture may, in fact, have occurred, and the diagnosis may not be readily made on routine x-ray examination for anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks after the trauma. T he telltale signs are frequently limited to visulizaton of the heal process, which may take several week to be seen on x-ray. Although a bone scan could pick this up much more quickly, in my view, it is not worth the added expense as, when in doubt, I generally treat the situation as a stress fracture until proven otherwise. And that treatment does not materially differ from that which I would suggest for a painful NON-fracture of the foot.
The other likely possibility is you sustained a bone contusion. A contusion, or bruise, is evidenced by bleeding from the traumatized part, and bone bleeds just as does any tissue when it is injured. Bone contusions can take quite a while to forget. The hematoma which may be formed adjacent to the bone will often calcify and thus be notable on a standard x-ray. But it takes many weeks before calcification will occur, and it will eventually resorb in most instances.
Unlike routine medical practices which tend to place the body in the best circumstance for healing, sports medicine is often directed at producing immediate gratification, often in detriment to long term health. In my view, it is unwise to abuse a part of the body which is attempting to heal itself, unless you are getting at least a couple million bucks to mortgage your future health. Professional football players, who have available to them the very finest in sports medicine practitioners, nonetheless often suffer their post-playing years with a variety of ailments and disabilities which they possibly would not have to endure had they not chosen a quick return to playing over adequate and appropriate healing time.
My best advise is that you not attempt to play on a painful foot, but if you must . . then a consultation with a doctor who provides services to a professional team may be your best bet . . at least for the near term.
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