Pain in feet, Achilles tendons and knees

[eyeberic]

Long story short, I have developed bilateral pain in the feet at the base of the fifth metatarsal, the Achilles tendons, and at the back of the knees. Each pain is brought on by exercise, starts on the left side and eventually appears on the right side as well.

I have now seen two orthodepics, a podiatrist and went to physical therapy. Physical therapy did nothing but agitate the pain. MRI's, X-rays, and blood tests (ESR, ANA Titer, CBC w/ diff and plt, and Rheumatory Factor) all came back negative.

The pain is always there, but in varying degrees of severity; from a minor inconvenience to strong enough I need to stop what I'm doing to wait it out.

The pain is there regardless of exercise now as well. Aside from a Saturday job that requires me to stand for 8 hours, the rest of my week is not strenuous on my lower body. I actually haven't ran, biked, or done any type of exercise in over a month and the pain is still there.

I'm at a loss of what to do or what doctor to go see now. All I get is apologies from the doctors for not being able to help me. Anyone have any similar experiences or know where to go from here?

[CassCore]

Have you tried custom orthotics? Also, you may want to have your hips checked. I know you don't have pain there- but you cannot forget the whole kenetic chain. A chiropractor can ***** your hips and see if they are aligned and if they are causing this pain. Hope this helps.

[realbullet]

You don't say how old you are.  If you are 20 years old or younger, then this advice may not apply.  

All of the symptoms you have described are associated with an excessively tight tendon structure.  There are a number of causes for this, but it may be degenerative.  You may want to see a neurologist.

Custom orthotics will only help you if they are designed to support the base of the fifth metatarsal.  The standard custom orthotics do not do this -- they are designed to primarily support the medial arch.  Custom orthotics will help, but only if they support the lateral arch as well.

I will give you two suggestions that should help.  First stretch your feet and calves as though your life depends on it.  Start slow with moderate stretching, but do it every day & do it often.  Second, find a store near you that sells the MBT shoes.  The pain in your feet will go away almost immediately.  The pain in your calf will take much longer -- so start out slow.  These shoes are extremely expensive and weird looking.  But it costs nothing to try them out -- and you will absolutely be stunned by the relief.