Striking a nerve

Ok, not exactly, but it was a nice segue from "grinding my gears." No stress fracture was detected on my MRI. That's good news. So then, why does my foot hurt? The diagnosis was nerve inflammation. The doctor could palpitate (fancy Daria science word for poking with his finger) the nerve that travels along between the first and second metatarsals (fancy Daria science word for foot bones) and detect some fluid pooling over the tender spot. Now what? He said nerves are slow to heal, and suggested a cortisone shot would reduce the inflammation and speed the process. I've never had one before, but I'd heard horror stories, so I suggested that I was willing to wait it out a bit before going that route. The running race season only goes two more weeks, so I wouldn't be doing those anyway. He agreed, and gave me a script for an oral anti-inflammatory, told me not to run or jump, to keep pressure off of it, and continue with an aggressive course of icing. And that's what I plan to do. Any cortisone experiences you want to share would be super. I've read up and it sounds pretty standard for this particular situation, and the bad rep they have can be traced to earlier times when dosing was higher and administration less focused. But if I can recover without it I'd like to try first.

Moving on to causes and prevention, I'm not sure if this could have been the result of one long run with my shoes tied too tight or not. My feet have been a chronic source of athletic anguish, and I've had several "minor" (non-fracture) impact injuries to them in the past as well. I'm probably going to have to start paying more attention to foot pain and numb feet, and migrate to cycling shoes with a more padded tongue (huh-huh). I already have custom footbeds, but the Rocket7s have very minimal padding all around, instead employing a snug custom fit aimed at light weight. They have three full seasons on them anyway, so I might have to look at having a new upper built to accommodate my new issues. I'll also be talking with the podiatrist about orthotics for running too.

That's the boring straight scoop. Thanks for reading.