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Foot goes numb when running
Hi,My right whole foot goes numb after running about two miles. Seen gp who did blood tests and were all normal. I've tried loosening the laces but doesn't help.
I've invested in new trainers and have insoles fitted because the sweatshop assistant said I overpronate.
Can anyone offer any tips or advice please?
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Can you run barefoot? I've used that in the past to distinguish a problem associated with my shoe versus a tendon problem. Trouble is you need to start with maybe 400m and increase very gradually if you're not already used to it or in minimalist shoes, or you will kill your calves.
Try larger shoes and different lacing patterns - those are available online if you look for them.
I was getting the same thing in my left foot all last year. Only when I really ramped up my training did I begin to get hip pain. I never connected the two until my physiology diagnosed piriformis syndrome. The pisiform is was pressing on the sciatic nerve causing numbness in my foot. Rest and LOTS of stretching worked for me.
I've been plagued with this for the last few years, it's mega frustrating!! For me, it normally comes on after about 30mins, and normally gets to the point where my foot is completely numb and it feels like i'm running on a stump!
I think it could be related to what Aoife mentioned above, I get sciatic nerve pain in my right butt cheek, and it's my right foot i have bother with.
One thing that I found that really helped was doing eccentric heel drops. I've had a lot of bother with achilles tendinitis too, and doing those seemed to do the trick! Since i stopped doing them, the numbness returned at the 30min mark, then when i started doing the drops, the numbness took longer to start, and after 10mins it went away completely!
Strange!!
Good luck!!
A friend of mine had mortons neuroma. Nerve issue more isolated in the toe area but maybe look it up to see if symptoms fit.
I had this problem a few years ago and it drove me mad because the numbness moved through discomfort to pain before 10K. I needed paracetamol to get me through the NY Marathon. Loosening lacing proved to be the solution in the short to mid-term and I was massively relieved that it was so simple. I assume the laces were putting pressure on a nerve.
Recently though, the problem has returned, initially (curious) in the big toe, as I have been transitioning to minimalist running and the forefoot strike over what's turned out to be a tricky three-year period. A couple of sharp stones have given me a problem in the ball of my right foot which only emerges after a few miles on the hoof. Not sure if it's a deep bruise or worse - I think it may be a nerve issue again in a different form. Type II diabetes (I was never remotely obese, but loved my sticky buns!) is something I have to be alert to because nerve damage in extremities is a risk.
This is territory way beyond the skills of your average GP and I'm going to have to bite the bullet and go to a sports podiatrist - preferably one who hasn't got it in for barefoot running. First I will have to interrupt my autumn marathon training for a week and submit myself to the torture of a week's rest.
Look into chronic compartment syndrome or Popliteral artery entrapment. I have the latter unfortunately. Sounds like my symptoms.
Since when do shoe shop salesman have the authority to diagnose and prescribe for pronation.
As a podiatrist i find this issue raises its head every day.
I know their intention is good, but just because they know a little more than you do, does not make them an expert.
There is much more to excessive foot motion than what meets the eye.
Get it checkEd by a sports Podiatrist.
You may have a neuroma .
The physio suspects chronic compartment syndrome and ordinated calf stretches. He also wants me to check if the foot goes cold and the calf goes rock hard when the foot goes numb. (I don't think it does.)
The doctor sounded more confident and said it comes from trapped nerves in the lower back. She had me lay down on my back and raise my leg straight up, and I immediately felt pins and needles. She said I need to strengthen my core.
I called the physio back but he's still not sure the doctor's right though. But my back does feel weak, and I've started feeling pain down my leg, might be the sciatica nerve.
So I'm skipping ParkRun today and will do yoga for the back and core instead!
I'll book in with a chiropractor if the physio is still puzzled.