Bone Spur on my big toe! Ouch!

I found out that I had a bone spur on my big toe a few months back. I stopped running and thought that would help. I was wrong. Now we're going into ski season, and I'm hoping this isn't going to wreck if for me. Last season my shoulder was messed up and I had to ski all season without poles. Does anybody here know of anything that I can do to keep it from getting worse and to alleviate some of the pain? Our insurance just changed from Blue Cross to HAP and it sucks! My awesome Orthopedic foot doc isn't in my network and I want to avoid any surgery until after our ski season is over.

Only thing I would suggest is get your boot punched in the area of your big toe. Talk to your boot fitter about it, and see if they can put a bit of padding on the area on the outside of your liner to provide a bit of cushion between the shell and your bone spur. I am dealing with a small bone spur on my little toe, just to the side actually and not right on the toe itself. Was impossible to ski more than 2 runs before it would become unbearable. After getting the boot punched (twice) and some padding added, I was able to ski pretty much all day with a bit of discomfort building as the day wore on.

I know several people who have had some pretty serious foot bone spur surgeries, and it was a min. 3 month recovery process. Good luck.

There is a difference between a bunion and a spur. If you are developing a bunion I would rethink your foot wear. The surgery to correct one is a bitch. The surgeon needs to section your big toe joint to re-align it. Avoid narrow shoes with a sideways compressing force like climbing shoes. Perhaps your running shoes are too narrow in the tow area.

Spurs are your bones response to pressure. Punch you boots to stop their formation.

Thanks for the responses Toadman and Jethro! It's definitely not a bunion. My big toe is already fused from traumatic arthritis from a much earlier injury, but the first knuckle is pretty tender to touch and it hurts to walk unless I tense all of the muscles in my foot. It's a little swollen, but is not deformed like a bunion gets. Maybe a little extra padding would help though. I'll give that a try, if not I'll get the boots punched there. I've seen the surgery online for bone spurs and your right about it being a bitch of a surgery. Hopefully I can avoid it, but I'll at least wait until the end of the season.

Thanks for the great suggestions!

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Originally Posted by Snowmiser

I found out that I had a bone spur on my big toe a few months back. I stopped running and thought that would help. I was wrong. Now we're going into ski season, and I'm hoping this isn't going to wreck if for me. Last season my shoulder was messed up and I had to ski all season without poles. Does anybody here know of anything that I can do to keep it from getting worse and to alleviate some of the pain? Our insurance just changed from Blue Cross to HAP and it sucks! My awesome Orthopedic foot doc isn't in my network and I want to avoid any surgery until after our ski season is over.

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Sorry to hyjack this thread - snowmiser, would you please contact me at harley0711@yahoo would like to talk to you about broken heel dr and other info..

Thanks,,,, Michael