? Is this normal??

[Tia1]

OK, this is getting to be ridiculous! So I am bringing my question to the experts.

In the last few weeks, I have destroyed 3 pair of shoes. Two pair of tennis shoes and 1 cute pair of dress flats and I am well on my way to destroying a fourth pair.

Here is the problem. My big toe is putting a hole in the top of every shoe that I own on my right side. My husband is getting a real kick out of promising me steel toe shoes for Christmas.

But, this is really concerning! Why is this happening? Has anyone had this problem before and if so was it MS related? At first I wasn't concerned, then my second pair of tennis shoes were heavy duty leather. Not the new light weight shoes like the first pair.

I thought maybe my toenails needed needed to be clipped but no, it is my toe pushing up, every step that I make.

Is this something that I should be concerned about?? Please share your experience. Part of me thinks this is silly, another part is concerned. Not to mention, I can't afford to buy shoes every two weeks.

[misslux]

Are you experiencing foot drop at all and slightly dragging your foot?

[Fed Up]

You might consider seeing your doc and having them check the reflex's of your feet. Then ask if you need a podiatrist.

First, make sure you have the correct shoe size. Your feet continue to grow as we age. Maybe, you have one footed growth?

The feet never stop growing in length. we can have decades of no growth and spurts of growth, like a teenager.
fed

[tired_teacher]

Bless your dear dear heart. The first thing that comes to my mind is gout--a type of arthritis that starts with the toes. I agree with the others about seeing a specialist, a podiatrist. I saw one a few years ago, and he told me things about my feet and MS my neurologist had never mentioned. Gout flairs up with certain foods we eat (like everything else!)

Love and prayers,
Melissa

[aspen]

Ditto to the reflex check. I have an abnormal babinski in my right foot -- I've noticed that even when relaxed, my right toe is very slightly lifted up compared with my left. It's worse when I'm also having spasms in the leg. This might be contributing to the demise of your shoes ...

[Tia1]

Thanks for replying.

I think that my shoes fit well and I don't have any foot drop or weakness that I can tell. I'm not having any pain in my toe although I do have arthritis in other places.


I will call my neuro and mention this. I hope that he doesn't think that I've lost my mind.

Aspen is your abnormal reflexes affecting your shoes?? If so, what are did you do about it?

[Leeaura]

Balance?

Tia1,

I've been told that MSers bodies will compensate for their uneven balance as long as they can. When I'm barefoot and standing, my left foot is reared up on its L side and most of my toes r off the ground. Now it's beginning on the R side.

I haven't torn up shoes because of this issue but I've had trouble for years w tennis shoes that hurt my big toe. Pair after pair until 1 day an 18 yr old kid at FootLocker said I walked on the sides of my feet and needed tennis shoes w mesh on the top. Has made quite a diff for me.

So check out your toes and see if they're doing their own thing!

[Tia1]

Leeaura, My right toe is lifting up when I walk and doing its own thing. lol The mesh tennis shoes will last me three weeks tops.

It seems like such a small thing in the grand scheme of things. Yet, I am afraid to ignore it and also really I can't afford this particular problem.

Those steel toe boots are looking like a possibility if I can't get my toe to coorperate.

Is there some type of guard that I could put in my shoe?

[Thinkimjob]

I'm down to one pair of shoes. They're the only ones I can walk in - leather with a velcro strap across the top of my foot.

Every other pair I own catches on the ground, thanks to foot drop, which is now on both sides, and that nearly trips me over every time.

My big toe on the left side used to be black and blue, but my walking was better in those days. I just can't pick my feet up properly any more.

[aspen]

So far, Tia, I haven't noticed problems with shoes. I'm wearing one pair 90% of the time. Once I read your post, I looked at them. They are sturdy Under Armor trainers, and although they are mostly mesh, there is a leather overlay right across the great toe area, on an angle. That puppy is trapped :-P. I wear these or birkies in the house, and other shoes only briefly to events. I started wearing them in April, so doing okay.

My toe doesn't hurt and it's not lifted all the time (or maybe I don't pay attention!) ... it's been a bad week with my whole leg on high alert and it's worse -- lifting off my birkie as I type now. That leather cross piece is obviously saving my shoes!