2018 Update! Sesamoiditis mostly healed (How to Manage)

Okay, so it's been about 4 years since the last post. I had kind of forgotten about this blog but a couple people left comments so I thought I would do an update

I can skateboard again! About a year after my original post, I was able to slowly start skating again but it took a lot of work and still takes work to maintain, BUT it's 100% worth it. My sesamoidits is by no means "fixed" but I have a lot of tips based on what has worked for me. Hopefully they'll help you if you're in the same situation. Sesamoiditis is, by definition, inflammation of your sesamoid bones, so a lot of these tips are ways to reduce inflammation.


I AM NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL, THESE ARE THINGS THAT HAVE WORKED FOR ME

1. GO TO THE DOCTOR, make sure your sesamoid bone isn't broken. Mine was not thankfully.

2. Rest can be good at first, but don't lay in bed for weeks like I did and expect it to heal like that.

 3. BUY SUPPORTIVE SHOES AND GET CUSTOM INSOLES! They might be expensive depending on your insurance plan but it is completely worth it if you're in the same situation I was. It's worth mentioning that I still use regular skate shoes when skateboarding but anytime walking around I have supportive shoes and insoles in.

4. Wear some thick socks when walking around you're house. It can help to pad the bottoms of your feet to lessen irritation to your sesamoids. If it's still pretty tender, buy a pair of supportive shoes to wear around the house. Experiment with what helps to lessen irritation.

5. TRY LIGHT TO MODERATE CYCLING! I read a post years ago about a guy who mostly healed his sesamoiditis by cycling. I'm not sure why but it actually helps! Make sure you are using an exercise bike or a bike with different gears. It's more about the motion of cycling than expending much force into the pedals. If you are pushing into the pedals too hard, it might irritate your sesamoids.

6. Consider going to physical therapy. It can be pretty helpful to understand all of the mechanics of your foot/leg. You will probably get some stretches and exercises to do at home. THESE MAY BE ESSENTIAL TO YOUR SUCCESS AND CAN BE VERY HELPFUL IN THE LONG RUN. You're basically trying to correct any weakness or tightness in muscles that are in some way connected to the sesamoids. Again, I'm not a professional so I would at least go to one appointment if you can afford it.

If you REALLY can't get to a physical therapist, I'll try and explain here as best I can what they taught me. The muscles in the back of your leg from your waist to your big toe are all connected. You need to gain flexibility in these areas because if they are too tight, they will be tugging on and irritating your sesamoids when you are walking. Same with the muscles in your feet as well. As for strengthening, it's mostly the same exercises you would do to recover from a sprained ankle.

7. REDUCE INFLAMMATION BY BEING MINDFUL OF WHAT YOU'RE PUTTING IN YOUR BODY. *VERY IMPORTANT*

Do some research for yourself but basically, lay off the weed, alcohol, junk food, sugar. If you smoke cigarettes, quit now. If you smoke weed, consider switching to vaping or eating edibles or abstaining for a few weeks all together. If you drink alcohol, a glass of wine might be alright but I would really advise not drinking at all. Avoid processed sugar and junk foods as much as you can. Obviously we all like to indulge sometimes but you want to be eating more anti-inflammatory foods than inflammation causing foods. Most fruits and vegetables are anti inflammatory so if you're gonna eat a bag of Cheetos, have an apple as well and wash it down with some unsweetened Green Tea (also anti-inflammatory).

It's worth noting, when choosing anti inflammatory foods, you want them to be UNPROCESSED. A Green Tea in a bottle from the gas station is NOT the same as a cup of Green Tea you brewed yourself at home. You want FRESH fruit and vegetables from the produce section. Not the little cup of pre-cut fruit that has been sitting in the refrigerator for days or the dried fruit bars or anything like that.

CBD oil may be beneficial, either topical or sublingual. Other supplements might help but fruit and vegetables have been most effective in my experience.

8. REDUCE STRESS/ TAKE CARE OF MENTAL HEALTH. There is a mind body connection that I can't begin to explain but I would suggest doing your own research. Stress is not good for the body and you can FEEL it manifesting itself in your entire body. I was severely depressed at the time of my injury and I wasn't able to overcome my physical problems until I addressed my mental health problems. Again, I can't really begin to explain why exactly but it's worth finding a therapist you get along with and working with them to overcome your problems.

A bit on my personal story, it took me kind of "letting go" before I could start skating again. From my childhood up to the time of injury, I had pretty much based my entire self worth with how "good" I was at skateboarding. In a way, this led to me actually getting sesamoidits. Basically I would just skate so much and push my self so hard that my body couldn't keep up. Anyway, I had to let go of the idea that I was only worth something if I was good at skating. And weirdly enough, once I let go of that, a few months later, I was able to skate again. This is just what happened so take from this what you want.

9. TAKE BREAKS DURING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. Whether you are skateboarding or playing tennis or doing ballet, take breaks and don't push yourself too hard. If your foot gets too sore, call it a day, elevate your feet, put some ice on there.

A note on icing your sesamoids: Rubbing an ice cube on the ball of your foot around the sesamoid can help, but DO NOT WALK AROUND RIGHT AFTER. Let your foot warm back up to it's regular temperature.  Otherwise, if you walk around with your foot still cold, it almost makes it worse in my experience.

It's also important to warm up, stretch, eat well, do what ever you need to to be feeling good before you do your physical activity. This will also help prevent further injury.


I still have to do many of these things daily to keep skateboarding but if you are missing out on what you love to do then it's totally worth the work you put in to get back at it. If anyone has any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I'll try and get back to you as soon as I can. Hopefully this can help some people!

EDIT: I forgot to add, I did receive a cortisone injection in my right foot a couple years ago. It seemed to help, but since I only received it in one foot, and I have had sesamoiditis in both feet, I don't think it was the thing that "healed" or "fixed" my problems. It may however, be something you want to implement with these other tips.

Time Of Injury

It was April, 2013. I was working in a kitchen at a very popular restaurant chain. The shifts were about 6-8 hours and I was working about 5 days a week. It was starting to warm up outside, so I started skateboarding more frequently during my time outside of work (I had been skating about once a week over the winter, at an indoor park.).

I spent a few days skating in the city, for hours on end, pushing long distances each time. During the first couple of days skating, I had noticed a dull pain near my right toe joint. I brushed it off, as it seemed insignificant.

 I could remember having a similar pain before, trying to push on a slippery floor at an indoor skatepark. The soles of my shoes were worn down so I tried to compensate by pushing down harder with my toe to get more grip against the smooth floor. This pain had gone away after a day or two.

On the third day of skating outside, it began virtually painless. But after skating from my car to a spot about a half mile away, I was feeling the pain in my right foot again, this time more intensely. Thinking it wasn't a big deal, I continued to skate the spot. An hour later we were told we couldn't skate there, so we left. I decided I needed some Ibuprofen if I was going to skate anymore that day, so we skated to a corner store close to where my car was parked. After the Ibuprofen had kicked in, I spent the next few hours skating with a bearable amount of pain.

Shortly after, possibly the next day, I had worked a long shift at my job and my feet were very sore. It's worth noting that both my work shoes and skate shoes were not supportive, and had very poor padding in the sole. I made the unwise choice to "cruise around" with my friends (just pushing, no tricks) later that night. About fifteen minutes in, it was too painful to push with my right foot (the foot I normally use), so I decided to switch and use my left one. This was a mistake as well because in about five minutes, the ball of my left foot felt almost as bad as my right one.

A day or two later, I went back to the city to meet up with some other skaters and skate around. I believe I had taken some Ibuprofen (more than I probably should have), and skated pain free for the next couple hours. Some of my friends had to leave, so me and my one other friend got some food and took a break. About an hour later I decided that I had enough energy to go to one more spot.

At the last spot of the day, about 10 minutes into it, the pain was back. It was just about as intense as it had been during the previous day of skating. After getting fed up with my friend (who can be pretty annoying at times) and the pain in my foot, I decided that we should call it a day.

The next day, I went to the skatepark by myself, and had a really good time. So good that I ended up staying there for about 6+ hours. I had taken some Ibuprofen before hand, and was experiencing very little pain in my right foot, and no pain in my left. This lasted for about 3-4 hours. But after landing on the ball of my foot a few times, the pain was at an all time high. However, I was having such a good time, skating and talking to new people, I didn't want to stop, so I skated for a couple more hours, trying not to push very hard. Strangely, it didn't hurt when I did tricks, only when I pushed.

I stayed at the park until it got dark and I decided to leave. It was now painful just walking on my foot. On my way home, I decided that I better take a week or two off to let my foot heal.

It's now been 10 months.

Introduction

I am a skateboarder from the Midwest, 20 years old, and I have had Sesamoiditis for the past 10 months. I haven't found much info about people recovering from this, so I will share my experience. At the time of me writing this, I still have it.