banerjek

Wondering what people have been doing that they've found effective?

Unfortunately, my cycling shoes are part of the problem -- I've found curling my toes and loosening the shoe provides some relief. But that comes with significant expense to my stroke, and I'm not optimistic that swapping cycling shoes will help much given that they're supposed to be stiff and tight.

JohnDThompson 

Have you considered seeing a Physical Therapist who specializes in Sports Medicine?

Jim from Boston

Pedaling with metatarsagiaI have symptoms when biking in my Specialized shoes that I consider metatarsalgia on the plantar, and slightly lateral side of the fifth metatarsal in my left foot. I have devised a remedy that helps a lot.

As pictured below, I use the callus cushions, or the moleskin pad, over the metatarsal and tape it to a thin foot sock (using wide blue painters tape as shown). I usually then wear an athletic sock over it. It fits well in my shoe. I just googled “metatarsalgia” and came across ads for commercial metatarsalgia pads that most seem to cover the entire plantar metatarsal surface.

I once posted to an A&S thread in 2015 “Bicycling or not, what items do you take with you that you never leave home without?” Back then as noted, I had a painful callus over the fourth right metatarsal, and now I’ve adapted it to my painful left fifth. I put it on for any ride with clipless pedals, and I still carry extra callus cushions and tape.

BTW, for sometime after a bike ride in clipless pedals, I don’t feel the metatarsalgia as I walk in normal shoes, but I can recreate it if I slightly rotate (pronate) my foot to apply pressure in that direction.

PS: I use a stack of 2 or 3 callus cushions, or 2 or 3 folds of the moleskin. As has been subsequently commented:

canklecat

I got hot spots on my metatarsals, mostly in fast group rides when I had to modify my usual pedaling style from when I'm riding solo. If I ignored it the pain would turn into spasms and I'd need to drop out to yank off my shoes and stretch and massage my feet.

I switched to Profoot Miracle Insoles on both my Fizik and Scott shoes. Problem solved.

I've had foot problem since I was a kid, mostly due to very narrow, bony feet with high arches. I've had everything from custom shoes and orthotics to off the shelf stuff from Dr. Scholls and others. The Profoot Miracle Insoles cost less than $10, a fraction of the custom orthotics, and work great for me. The maker recommends changing 'em every six months or so but I'm going on 18 months with one set and they're still comfortable.

They're very light, 2 oz, less than any other insoles including those original fitted into my Scott and Fizik shoes. These aren't gel -- more of a thin, lightweight memory foam, very dense and resilient for being so thin and lightweight. Feels comparable to the pad in my Przewalski shorts, very different from other pads -- retains its loft and density longer.

fishboat

This (hot foot) can be surprisingly easy to fix. I had it bad on my left foot and moderately bad on my right.

Rather than buy metatarsal pads that are too thin and too pricey..go to ebay and find some 1/4 to 3/8ths inch thick self adhesive closed-cell foam ("neoprene foam") and cut your own pads. For size and placement location..google/you tube hot foot pads or metatarsal pads..they work like magic. I was riding a couple days ago and my left foot-ball was starting to hurt..pulled off my shoe and found the pad had slipped a little forward. I slid it back into position (about 1/2 to 3/4 inch behind the met-t heads) and poof..pain gone.

..and shoes should be stiff and comfortable..don't buy into the hype. More room in the toe-box area helps too.

Also..sliding your cleats toward your heel, as far as they go..assuming SPD cleats..helps too.

I have zero issues with hot foot now (yay..in the past it could stop me for repeated 10 minute breaks during a ride..it hurts).

Or..skip all of this, take some IBUs before a ride and hope for the best..

And..as has been mentioned..insoles can help too, but not just the metatarsal area, but the entire foot. Search insoles here on BF..it's been discussed recently.

banerjek

Thanks for the word -- this gives me some things to try.

With regards to whether I'd considered seeing someone, I have. But I avoid getting entangled with my HMO. Guaranteed to be expensive and time consuming, and may or may not help in my experience. So I don't go until I've exhausted other options.

banerjek

This solution was simple and cheap so I tried it first.

Really liking the results -- improvement was immediate and dramatic.

canklecat

Glad it helped. I'm still using the Profoot Miracle insole I got for my Scott shoes in early 2018. I have a new spare set but have needed to replace them yet.