Glass

That's pretty cool.  Like

That's pretty cool. Like with a lot of things, it's sometimes best to let your body take care of it in its own way. I rarely get things embedded in my feet, but when I do, they just aren't a big deal.

As far as I know I've never

As far as I know I've never had glass in my foot but I have a dark spot very similar to what you describe! I think it's some blood blister or bruise underneath the surface or something - I think it happened when I came down really hard on a tiny rock because I was watching cars instead of the ground.

It seems like it takes a lot

It seems like it takes a lot longer for shard of glass to grow out of your foot than a splinter in your hand. I wonder why?

I had a very small piece of

I had a very small piece of glass (about 2mm X 2mm X 0.5mm) in my heel a few weeks ago. I also saw a small black spot. I dug at it a bit on the day that it appeared, but since I couldn't find anything, I gave up. Over the next few days, it started to hurt. Virtually every day, I got out the needle, tweezers, and magnifying glass, I just couldn't find something. But, it still hurt. Even with my wife's help, we couldn't really find it.

Finally, I dug and dug and could finally feel the needle poking something hard. Turned out that the glass was vertical, thus making it hard to find, but also painfully able further to penetrate my skin. Moreover, since it was clear glass, it was nearly invisible.

I have, by the way, now discovered that the best method for removing such small objects is a combination of:

1. digging with a needle

2. cutting away the small flaps of skin that appear with the digging so as to create a hole

3. squeezing the skin and pushing it down to force the object out.

Cheers

Jamie

I've had embedded objects

I've had embedded objects before. My personal favorite remedy is a large dose of hot tub happy hour. Mix yourself up a yummy cocktail and go for a long soak. Works like a champ.

I'm a new member, but have

I'm a new member, but have been lurking for months.

I have had similar experiences with both glass and rocks, and for long periods like you, Barfuss Chelsea. I began running barefoot almost 14 months ago. For the first 8 or 9 months, most of my barefoot running was on rubber/synthetic/tartan tracks with only about 15 miles on relatively smooth pavement. During that first 8-9 months, I had a number of injuries (peroneal tendonitis [twice] and plantar fasciitis) that seemed to be due to my running mostly in minimal shoes (Feelmax Osmas). So, beginning in October, I decided to run only barefoot, and take to heart Barefoot Ken Bob's well-founded advice.

On one of my first runs in mid-October, I apparently got a small piece of glass embedded in the ball of my foot (under first metatarsal). I increased my distance but still noticed some discomfort. The skin on the ball of my foot started to become calloused. I assumed that my form had gotten worse and that I was pushing off too much. It wasn't until early November that I got frustrated with the continual discomfort. On a run, I got a thorn in another part of my foot and ran two miles with it in. After the run, I realized it was a thorn, removed it, and then figured I would do exploratory surgery on the ball of my foot. I had to dig about 2-3 mm but eventually pried out a cube-shaped piece of clear glass (about 1.5 mm squared) and had instant relief.

A few weeks later I had similar discomfort under the fifth metatarsal (the small "ball" on the outside of the foot). There was a black mark, but I assumed it was just a tar stain that comes from running on asphalt. The spot also became calloused and also became uncomfortable and sensitive. I thought my form was bad and I did everything to avoid pushing off. After 3 weeks of running like this, I had my wife look at it, and she pried out a 2 mm squared black rock. It left a pretty big hole. It was big enough to capture another rock the same size on my next run (which I quickly popped out). After several more weeks of sensitivity on this spot, I covered it with liquid bandage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_bandage). It took 2 weeks with liquid bandage for the hole to fill in finally.

I wanted to share these experiences because it's easy for beginners to think they are doing something wrong, especially with form, when something hurts. That's not always the case.

Hot tub happy hour probably

Hot tub happy hour probably needs more practise than getting stuff stuck in your feet :bigsmile:



Enjoy

HTHH therapy can have its own

HTHH therapy can have its own hazards. The dangerous glass might be the unbroken one. Beware!

Hahaha! I'll take the hazards

Hahaha! I'll take the hazards of HTHH. I'm all about the danger.

I've had glass in the foot

I've had glass in the foot early on in my training that I didn't notice for a week or so till it became unbearble. I finally picked out out with some tweezers.

Then, I had what I thought was glass, but could never get it "out" and it turned out to be a deep bruise that went away with time and ice.

Recently, I will sometimes step on a rock and once your skin is very tough, it won't pierce the skin, just leave a blood blister that can last for a few weeks before going away. It's tough to figure out, but the more you train, the easier it will be to reject glass and tiny objects.