Will sesamoiditis go away or is this forever?

I wanted to share what finally healed my sesamoiditis in one treatment. Sounds unbelievable, right? I know, because I had pain for over a year (not long compared to some, but it seemed like forever at the time) and nothing seemed to really help. My injury was in my right foot, an overuse injury from running that occurred in November 2014. By the time I decided to completely stop running, it was so bad that I had trouble walking. This was only a month later, December 2014. I tried resting it, strengthening exercises, chiropractic treatments (including laser therapy), and orthotics (homemade, and having my toe joint suspended gave me pain in the top of the joint). I also went to a podiatrist and had an X-ray, to rule out a fracture (not as accurate as an MRI, but much less expensive). I ended up becoming pregnant in January 2016 and decided to just take it easy for most of my pregnancy, only running a little in April when my pain level was down. But even when the pain was nearly gone, my foot was always tender and it felt like there was a rock under my big toe joint. Fast forward to November 2015, a year after my initial injury. I got the go-ahead from my OBGYN to start running again. And only 3 very light runs (walk/run intervals) later, the pain was back. I was devastated. During my pregnancy I saw a Facebook ad for a local physical therapist that specializes in fitness therapy. And my many Google searches had left me pretty depressed about my prognosis. So I figured why not give it a shot? Thank goodness I did. My therapist also specializes in FDM (fascial distortion model) and he was confident he could fix my foot in one to two treatments. And he did, the very first time I saw him. The "rock" I had been walking on for over a year was gone. I definitely had some muscle weakness and pain from overcompensating for so long, which has slowly improved throughout the last few months, but I am back to running again. Which I thought I might never do again. And I walk barefoot in my house all the time. My foot feels totally normal again, 99.9% of the time. Every once in awhile I'll feel a little tenderness after a hard workout or run, but a little stretching and I'm fine. I still run in traditional running shoes. I tried Altras because I read they were good for sesamoiditis sufferers and got a nasty case of Achilles tendonitis in both legs. I'm still healing from that six months later, so please be careful if you try a zero drop shoe. (Yes, I transitioned slowly, the Altras just didn't work for me.) Anyway, FDM is what finally healed my sesamoiditis, in one treatment. It worked for me, maybe it can help someone else with sesamoiditis too. Good luck, it's a terrible affliction, but hopefully you too can overcome it.

I am a 51 year old female have a bit of a different story to tell. Let me start by saying I take care of my feet and wear sensible shoes 98% of the time. However, I contribute the start of my sesamoiditis to improper shoe wear. Early March I started wearing expensive hiking boots with plenty of toe-box room for various reasons; hiking, working on a ranch with a gravel road, doing landscaping on very rocky and uneven terrain. Couple that with intermittent wear of summer sandals called MBT's, which are supposed to be great for posture and proper foot striking and the damage was being done. I would have this strange pain on the side of my foot where a bunion would be (if I had a bunyon). Turned out it was the outter sesamoid getting inflamed. If you don't have an athletic based injury to your sesamoiditis, let me my mistake be your warning to always wear proper shoes for whatever task you are doing. That side of foot pain turned into serious debilitating pain on the ball of my foot with absolutely no warning around July 1. I read everything I could find about Sesamoiditis and honestly, it was daunting to read that the condition with serious pain could very well last up to a year or more. I'm not an athlete, or overly active, but the prospect of never being able to fast-walk or lightly run or even do everyday chores was so depressing, not to mention that my legs would tire easily from the overcompensation of limping and shuffling trying to take small steps. I never wanted to be more active in my entire life until I flat out COULD NOT WALK on my right foot. Well, as many other people have said, life goes on, right? Like most of you, work is paramount to eating, sleeping, and keeping the dog well fed ;) I do not have the privilege of working from home and cannot miss work because of foot pain! I wanted and needed to stay home to nurse this injury, but I couldn't. I went through a period of depression for a couple of weeks while I nursed this injury, then I had to change my attitude, concentrate deep breathing and thinking nothing but healing thoughts. It will work, and yes, It worked for me! After reading many other stories about the serious injuries that others sustained, I made the decision to try very hard to heal it myself before I went to the medical community for help. Here is what I did based off of reading many stories, blogs and youtube videos. This is not advice, I am not a doctor, this is my experience of healing my foot: I iced the ball of my foot as much as I could; purchased ball-of-foot inserts and taped them with athletic tape to keep from walking on the sesamoid bones; wore supportive ballet flats with everything or flat shoes in general; took advil on the super painful days; kept it elevated as much as possible; massaged the area for a few seconds everyday; kept my big toe rigid and straight and would not allow it curl up AT ALL. The ball-of-foot pads were inexpensive and purchased at CVS. They were a tremendous help! When I could stand it, the moment I got home from work, I would alternate between going barefoot on my wood floor until the pain started to increase, then I'd put the pad back on and wear my flats. It's been three weeks since the serious pain started and today, I am walking without my taped ball-of-foot pad on my foot and I can tell that my foot is finally healing! I keep a positive outlook and hope that I'll be able to walk normally at 100% capacity within 2 weeks. I've determined that my injury is a sesamoid sprain due to the healing time and the dedication I took to stay off of my foot. I could not imagine anyhting more serious than a sprain because it was almost unbearable in the beginning and for 2 solid weeks after that. My heart goes out to all of you suffering from a sesamoid fracture or worse. I wish you all Godspeed recoveries! Elevate, tape, ice, inflammatory options on bad days. Shuffle walk as much as you can and avoid big toe flex--keep it rigid!

i suffer from osteonecrosis 1 year ago. Could FDM repair this chronic pain?

I wrote a reply to this blog one day after your blog. My foot is still not healed even though I have taken great care to lessen the pressure of the sesamoid bone of my foot. It is truly a nuisance injury! Can't walk without a limp or wrapping my foot; have to wear the same flat shoes everyday and I can't even think about exercising or walking more than 1/4 of a mile. Thanks to you post above, I am now thinking in another direction. I was lucky enough to get an appointment today to see a chiropractor who specializes in FDM. I should be additionally lucky to have this injury healed in one session, but, am happy to take several follow-up sessions if that's what it takes to rid myself of this inflammation and pain once and for all. I want my life back! Thank you for your post and I will send another response after a week has passed after my initial visit.

This is a same-day follow-up for the FDM treatment I received today. Amazing doctor--amazing procedure! The procedure was explained to me, but I really didn't know what to expect from FDM treatment. By the time I left her office, it felt as if 85% of the pain was gone! I wasn't cured with this one treatment, but it's only been 2 hours since I left her office, so I still have the rest of the day today, Saturday and Sunday to see if the inflammation dissipates. I honestly feel like I hit the lottery finding this blog and most importantly the person who initially wrote about FDM. Thank you, thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you! I have a follow-up appointment on Monday to check progress from today's treatment. I live in Austin, Texas and found a chiropractor (Dr, Amanda Massey) who is certified in FDM. Finding her couldn't have worked out better since I've likely tweaked my left hip and lower back from all of the wacky shuffling and limping to avoid walking on the sesamoid bone of my right foot. I would have traveled the globe to get my walk (a.k.a. life) back! I will follow-up next week. --DG

Hi! I'd love to hear how you're doing with your sesamoiditis, did it ever come back?

Boy, I'm really not sure. You should check with a physical therapist trained in FDM to get a professing opinion.

I just read your follow up post and yay!!! I am so happy FDM has helped you too. I wrote my post in hopes it could help others and I am elated to discover that it has. Wonderful, wonderful news, please let us know how you're doing in a week.

Oops, auto correct strikes again, professional opinion. Another person said they found a chiropractor certified in FDM, which I'm sure is great too. Good luck.

This makes me so happy! It was my goal to help others when I wrote my post. Not once in my numerous Google searches did I find anything referencing FDM and sesamoiditis, which seems strange because it was so effective in my case. Hence the reason I was compelled to post something online. I sincerely hope your recovery is as quick as mine was. Eight months after my initial FDM treatment and my foot is as good as new. I never expected that. Please keep us posted on your progress. TSR

Have you ever heard about TECAR therapy?

TSR-- Hearing that your foot is healed makes me incredibly hopeful! It's Monday, and I've gone though the weekend post first FDM treatment. I have to say that similar to getting a deep massage, I felt a little nauseous and had a horrible headache the rest of the day last Friday after the treatment. I suspect it was the breakup of the inflammation entering my bloodstream. It was manageable with lots of water, aspirin and rest. I have black kinesiology tape around my foot that has helped take some of the pressure off of the bone without my homemade taping and padding. ;) On Saturday morning, I woke up with lower lumbar back pain on my left side down to buttock. I am guessing that also is a side effect of the inflammation dissipating into the bloodstream and perhaps zeroed in to the nearest vulnerable spot-- my recurring lower lumbar issue. Ugh. The good news is that my back is okay once I get up and moving. This morning something new came about: half of the pain in the sesamoid bone has now shifted to the big toe joint and is very noticeable when I walk, so I'm back to (light) limping, shuffling and now work to keep my big toe from rolling up as I walk. Given that most of my weekend pain level was 3-4 (out of 10), I feel like I've had a set back this morning with a new pain level of 7-8 with the additional pain spot in my toe. Perhaps it is symptomatic of the inflammation leaving my system. I purchased a sesamoid toe sleeve when all of this first started and haven't had to use it since my big toe was never an issue until now. I'll give it a whirl when I get home this evening. My focus is to remain patient and optimistic. I'll discuss all of this with Dr. Massey in my follow-up appointment today.

In response to the TECAR therapy-- no, I have not heard of it, but will follow-up with a little research on it. I'm wondering if you have have had any experience with this type of therapy and sesamoiditis?

Το introduce myself again:

1.Almost 3 years with medial sesamoiditis (right foot) and learned that before 4 months after MRI that i also suffer from OSTEONECROSIS in the same bone.
2. Almost 5 months suffering from edema in Left foot and also metatarsalgia (all heads) after keeping push my left foot to carry all my weight.

I tried yesterday to cure my left foot which has not only an edema on outer sesamoid but also an acute metatarsalgia in the whole foot by TECAR THERAPY (via RADIOWAVES) and the results until now where GREAT! No pain while walking with full weight on the big toe! And it's only 1 therapy! But only with therapy you will get no result if you ruin the result. What i mean?

Day by day i become more clever about my problem.

Generally from what i take from my feet, the secret to overcome this big Everest called SESAMOIDITIS is:

1. Do not push-feel pain in the ball of your foot that means-
Push your orthotic guy to fix insoles that leave ball of your foot & sesamoids free so you can walk without pain... Walk without sesamoid this is the A & Z for me, otherwise just do not walk.

2. When you do not walk - ELEVATE-ELEVATE-ELEVATE no just the feet DOWN.

You ruin your feet not only in every step but in every push....

3. MAKE A CALENDAR. WRITE-WRITE-WRITEeveryday - every hour, write clear what was the cause of pain during the day. In this way you can fight without being BLIND as you were UNTIL NOW. In this way you can change things....

WHATEVER YOU MAY ASK IM HERE...

For TECAR THERAPY please consider videos from youtube.

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I haven't, I'll have to research it. TSR