Foot numb days after dancing in heels

I got married this past Friday and wore 2-inch heels for about 10 hours and was on my feet walking, standing, or dancing most of the time. I am normally a flip-flop girl. I didn't notice any pain while wearing them, but when I took them off at the end of the night all my toes and the front parts of my feet were a little numb and stiff. After a couple days they started to get better, and my right foot is almost at 90% original feeling. However, my left foot has just started getting worse as of yesterday. When I stand on my tiptoes on that foot (or while walking up stairs), I get a sharp, tingling pain that shoots up the middle of the bottom of my foot. That happened a couple of times, and each time, my toes started tingling and the numbness got worse. Basically my foot feels like it's asleep, and I have a hard time moving my two smallest toes. The numbness is mostly in the toes and the front pad of the foot. I have tried massaging, rest, stretching, soaking, but I'm not sure what to do. We left this morning for our honeymoon so I won't be able to see a doctor until I get back next week. Does anybody know what I should do in the meantime, or what could be wrong? Could this be permanent? Should I be resting or trying to keep it moving? Thanks!

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without a clinical evaluation it would be difficult to determine the cause of your pain. Possibilities that may need to be considered include stress fractures, muscle/ tendon/ ligament injury, nerve impingement etc. I would suggest getting this evaluated by an orthopedician at your earliest convenience for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate management. Meanwhile I would suggest resting the foot and avoiding putting pressure on it. Ice-packs and tylenol may be helpful for pain relief.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!