Q: I am a 76-year-old man in reasonably good health. I smoked for many years although I stopped in 1985.
Unfortunately it left me with emphysema, but my present problem is sore feet.
The sorest part is the bottom of the feet in the fleshy part behind the toes. That part gets so painful it is impossible to walk any distance.
I have gone to various doctors and none has an answer, including foot specialists.
One made me a pair of insoles for $375. I tried wearing them for a long time, but they do not help. I do take Furosimide water tablets once a day because my feet swell, but my toes get so sore and stiff I can’t bend them.
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A: There are many causes of pain in the ball of the foot as you describe. The first thing to do is to check out the more obvious causes by seeing a podiatrist, as you have already done.
Conditions that could cause the pain are flat feet or abnormally high arches. We can probably rule out flat feet since that is more common in women who have spent a lot of time wearing high heels.
Calluses, corns and plantar warts are also fairly obvious. You may also get a stress fracture in any of the five metatarsals, or foot bones, but this is of sudden onset and the doctors would have found it by now on an X-ray. Arthritis is also obvious.
Because the foot specialists have not discovered the root of your problem, I suspect a medical condition may be to blame.
You mention that you are on water tablets so your foot swelling may be due to fluid retention as the result of increased strain on the heart caused by your breathing difficulties.
I suggest that you ask the doctor who is prescribing the Furosimide to see if he thinks the swollen feet could be the cause of your pain.
It is Alzheimer’s month
Genetic testing seems to be the newest area of research in Alzheimer’s disease, which affects 238,000 Canadians over the age of 65 and probably more who have not been officially diagnosed.
Researchers at St. Joseph’s Medical centre in Phoenix, Arizona, are among the first in North America to use a new molecular diagnostic tool to help develop genetic tests for Alzheimer’s.
The Canadian Alzheimer’s Society web page can be found at www.alzheimer.ca.
Clare Rowson is a medical doctor with a practice near Belleville, Ont. Her columns are intended for general information only. Individuals are encouraged to also seek the advice of their own doctor regarding medical questions and treatments.
