$%#$@@ muscle. Back to conventional shoes for a bit, argh! Update

[LM]

I am so mad!

I've been in the FFs for many weeks and loving it. 2 weeks building up muscle and full time since. Then last night  I got bad pain in my left arch. Anatomy diagrams show the abductor m..something as the most likely culprit.

I apparently spent too much of the weekend repeatedly climbing up a long steep hill and endless stairs in FFs  at a dear friend's house. It was a death-in-the-family emergency   I lugged computers, numbing agents (booze), food etc. From what I'm reading, this is what likely did me in.

Of course the first thing to do to reduce using it for a bit. "Doctah, Doctah, it hurts when I do this...", "So don't do that.".  Muscle injuries for me are a dime a dozen, this one's just in a new spot.

This means back to regular shoes to restrict it until it can heal a bit. Silver lining is I guess this would be a good time to start to break in my new short boots for riding, since the soles on those are definitely stiff enough to keep that muscle still.  (Horses and FFs would NOT mix well!)

 But dang it, I"m sure not looking forward to that old pain at the end of the night from regular shoes.    

[Hawkeye]

Transition more slowly. 2 weeks in vffs is not really long enough for streneous activity. At least you have the sense to stop now instead of working thourgh the pain. 

[gryllus]

I feel with you. I managed to get my leg caught in a closing bus door (combination of a crowded bus and my clumsiness) 2 days ago. I gues I was lucky, as I walked away with a couple of substantial bruises but otherwise unharmed ... but still, I am not in the mood to run.

[noelbodwell]

I feel with you. I managed to get my leg caught in a closing bus door (combination of a crowded bus and my clumsiness) 2 days ago. I gues I was lucky, as I walked away with a couple of substantial bruises but otherwise unharmed ... but still, I am not in the mood to run.

OUCH!!!!

[LM]

I spent two weeks getting used to them initially, but I forgot to mention that after that, I had been wearing them full time for maybe 6 weeks, on hard floors, with no trouble. Yeah, working through pain like that would NOT be good. Something had been obviously strained or sprained, and working through it wasn't going to help.

I put on conventional shoes. My damaged toenails hated it. My attitude hated it too. Then a few days later, probably from compensating,  I did it to the OTHER foot too, again at my friend's, though not nearly as bad. Dang I was mad, but of course it was nothing compared to what was going on with my friend and her family. Once the worst pain died down (after my prev. post), I recognized it as a muscle strain I have had before. Podiatrist had once told me to wear a very low heel, maybe about 1/2" for relief from it and that does work. Unfortunately I don't have shoes like that anymore (though it's tempting to get another pair of low riding boots, english this time, to fill that requirement, bwahaha!) So my regular NB tennies had to do.

After almost three weeks, I can no longer feel any muscle pain in regular shoes. So last week I've started putting my VFF's back on. However, I am using a vet-wrap type bandage around my left arch to support and restrict it, and it's working very well. (Vet-wrap is the animal version of that kind of ace bandage that sticks to itself. It's the same stuff but less expensive and in more colors. Other veterinary brands are even cheaper. Today is sky-blue).  Hard to get the VFFs on over it without socks, so I am wearing those. My right foot seems fine without any wraps. I lost enough muscle tone in my feet that I'm back to start-up times again too, wearing them only a bit at a time and working back up to full time. But I am having no pain from the strains anymore.

Progress!

[LM]

I feel with you. I managed to get my leg caught in a closing bus door (combination of a crowded bus and my clumsiness) 2 days ago. I gues I was lucky, as I walked away with a couple of substantial bruises but otherwise unharmed ... but still, I am not in the mood to run.

OMG, that's harsh! These things don't do a thing for crushing forces, that's for sure. You poor thing, I sure hope you're feeling better by now!