swollen corn or callus

Lorena

Barefooters
Nov 24, 2016
48
72
18
54
I was already doing great controlling blisters so my soles were happy enough. About 6 weeks ago I had a stress reaction on my second metatarsal on my right foot. 2 weeks ago I went back to running just 2 miles not back to back. Then 4 miles. I tried chip n seal surfaces instead of asphalt. I got a bruise so I stopped for 3 days. Felt perfect so I did it again but just 2 miles. It hurt but wasn't that bad. I wait 2 more days and yesterday I did 4 miles on a clean asphalt trail before to go to my PT. He checked on my foot and no stress fracture, an nothing major except for the fact that feels like stepping a stone, hurts a lot and my foot is swollen. I am attaching a pic so you can see how it looks and give me any advice or suggestions. I hope I can correct my form and go back to running without having to wear shoes again. I did the transition 10 months ago. So far 2 setbacks for doing too much too soon on my left ankle and then the metatarsal. My left foot feels so great by the way. thank you in advance for your comments
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20170207_203052.jpg
    IMG_20170207_203052.jpg
    796.1 KB · Views: 14
You are right about that. I just started a few months ago so still a newbie. Even when I workout every day on strength routines and balance this seems to take months or years to adapt. Like I said, I wasn't having more issues on my soles so I am definitely doing something wrong.
 
You got that bruise 5 days ago? That will hurt if you step on it, for sure. Takes some 2-3 weeks for something as big as that to really go away for me.

Is there any swelling on top of the foot? That would be cause for concern. Some swelling around the location of the bruise on the sole of the foot would be normal, I guess. All the blood and lymph fluid has to go somewhere until it can be broken down and absorbed. Depends on how far inward the damage goes. I mean, a bruise like that indicates some volume of blood and lymph in your foot. You will feel that until it is absorbed. Feels like you had a little bit of stone or earth taped to your sole, and will hurt if directly stimulated.

Maybe try some walking instead of running in between? With walking, you could go for more interesting/challenging terrain without risk of overloading your feet ... does walking or just standing around hurt?

Regards,

Christian
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lorena
Thank you so much for your reply Christian. It feels exactly as you are describing, like stepping on a stone. There's some swelling on my 3rd, 4th and 5th metatarsals. It hurts when I walk so I'm just doing my strength routines and also feet exercises. My PT said no stress fractures. This happened just 2 days ago same day I visited my PT and after running on clean asphalt trails at the park. I can curl or spread my toes as far as I can without any pain. If I pressure on the top I don't feel pain nor on the toes except for a little discomfort between the 3rd and 4th metatarsals. I'm frustrated because I haven't had any problems on my soles. I can't wear shoes anymore except for my xero sandals when I a running errands and I don't want to quit keeping running BF. Frankly I don't know what to do anymore. It's a little better today though but not enough to at least use the elliptical. I'm craving to at least go out and walk on the side walk but that's callus or corn or whatever it is, isn't letting me do it. I don't want to sound wuss, I'm more like pissed and feeling like a cage lion. Well, I truly appreciate again your comments. :)
 
If you just want to go out and avoid the localized bruise pain while still being barefoot, try this: take a normal band aid and put it over the affected spot. The tissue in the band aid will act as a cushion, hopefully lessening the pain. Then cover the band aid with a zinc oxide tape like Leukotape classic, it is the only thing that will really stick to your foot while barefoot walking or running.

If the pain persists through that, you are maybe better off without walking or running on it.

If you get workout craving, have a look at http://journal.crossfit.com/2005/05/working-wounded-by-greg-glassm.tpl - good advice for active people with injuries :) ...

Good luck, and fast recovery.
 
You certainly have so much knowledge and experience I can tell. if I may ask, have you had one of this corns or painful calluses? What was your experience? Any swollen? Thank you so so much!!!!
 
I am not so sure about what you mean by "corn or callus". In the picture, I see a big bruise on your foot. I assumed you got that by stepping on some object, which in turn injured your foot. If you got that bruise on a plain surface, just by repeatedly stepping on a corn in your sole, wow, that must be a bad corn. (Is that small white-line circle in the upper left quadrant of your black bruise the "corn" you talk about?)

In my shod running days I had a corn once or twice, I remember. I removed it by careful trimming with a sharp scissor, removing the callus formation until there was, in effect, a small "hole" in the sole. After removal, it did not return. There was a tender area after removal, of course. I never had any swelling associated with a corn. However, this does not seem to be so unusual, see e.g. http://www.livestrong.com/article/36131-podiatrists-remove-corns/ .

Since you now have that bruise, I would be reluctant to remove the corn just right now, due to fear of cutting into the bruise and infecting the whole thing. Maybe you need to wait a week or so to do that. You could also go to a podiatrist and have him/her remove the corn. In fact, that might be a smart idea if it is that bad, and has caused such a bruise.

After starting barefoot running, I have no corns anymore. I had some rips and splits in the callused skin of my sole, and the occasional bruise, but nothing like a corn. Rips and splits in the callus are best treated by superglue, in my experience, with the optional application of the band-aid and zinc oxide tape combination on top in bad cases.
 
Thank you again for the time you have taken to reply. It's a bruise by stepping a chip n seal bike trail doing 5 miles. Then it wasn't healed so I did more running after 3 days. I called it callus or corn because it feels like it. I've been browsing the web so I thought could be either or.