Dear Minnesota – Do Your Feet Hurt? Loosen Your Laces

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Let's be clear about one thing; that guy in the picture is not me. But you would never click on the story if I showed you my feet. Now that you're here I can show you my feet, but in the world of feet, mine would never get anyone to click anything.

So...without further ado. My feet...

Now that that's out of the way, you'll notice one is in a slipper. That's because from Saturday evening 'til just as I'm writing this, my foot has been in big pain. Why? I tied my laces too tight.

Come again?

Yeah, I tied my laces too tight, walked around a bunch (emceed Chopped Local on Saturday night Chef Spicolli and Marcus won, click here for pics), and ended up with a wild amount of pain on the top, ball, and big toe of my right foot.

Those are not my feet either...and I know this because I learned my lesson and no longer wear socks with sandals AND I couldn't even have worn a sock on my right foot until just now.

All because I tied my laces too tight. I suspected this Saturday evening, as my brother-in-law said, "Oh, it's a neuroma...I had one of those from pressing my foot against my chair too long...had to have a cortisone shot." And then, today, yep.

Morton's neuroma involves a thickening of the tissue around one of the nerves leading to your toes. This can cause a sharp, burning pain in the ball of your foot. You may have stinging, burning or numbness in the affected toes.

High-heeled or tight shoes have been linked to the development of Morton's neuroma. Many people experience relief by switching to lower heeled shoes with wider toe boxes. Sometimes corticosteroid injections or surgery may be necessary. (Mayo Clinic)

Morton's? That gives me the right be salty! Ha!

But seriously, it hurt enough that it was distracting me from work. I can tolerate a lot of pain, but this...Tylenol didn't do a thing. I just had to wait it out. Each day it hurt a little less.

The worst thing isn't the pain...it's the way your foot looks. TOTALLY NORMAL! For example, there's no lump, which would make everyone feel bad for you, right?

James and Jessica Use the Internet Machine to Diagnosis His Foot Problem

What Are the Symptoms of Morton's Neuroma?

• A feeling as if you're standing on a pebble in your shoe
• A burning pain in the ball of your foot that may radiate into your toes
• Tingling or numbness in your toes  (Mayo Clinic)

Mayo says taking your shoes and socks off helps (YES!) and rubbing it is good (NO! Get your hands off my feet..it'll hurt or tickle and so no!)

The doctor would tell you this, so I will too...if you experience this, and the pain doesn't go away in a few days, see a doctor, OK? Thank you and have a great day.

As always, if you have a comment, complaint, or concern about something I wrote here, please let me know: james.rabe@townsquaremedia.com

Listen to James Rabe and Jessica Williams 6a to 10a on Y-105 FM's Early Morning Show.