Sucking Big Toe - Health + Injury

XFR Bear

17/12/2002 at 12:15

Hi!

I've just been for my appointment at the hospital and it is as my GP suspected - I've got osteoarthritis at the joint at the base of my big toe :-(

He was quite an understanding doc and got the idea about not wanting to give up running, but even so all he said they could do was mask the pain with stuff like Ibuprofen and injections, but it would just be buggering up the joint all the same.

Anyway - I'm keeping going until FLM2003, and will make a decision after that.

Any chance of the medics on the forum coming up with the URWFRC Bionic Toe in the meantime?

Any advice welcomed :-)

Cheers, Iain

Buney

17/12/2002 at 14:30

Do you take cod liver oil ? its been proven to help improve arthritis

the recommendeation i read was to take liquid cod liver oil for one month - maximum dose then to swithch to high dose capsules and it would help

glucosamine is good

and a physio told me that cider vinegar and honey daily was good for arthritis

maybe something you could try?

alan.

17/12/2002 at 15:32

I don't think there's (necessarily) any (great)reason to get too pessimistic yet

How old are you Iain if dont mind me asking?

BiG Gay Doc Alan

Weep Iglet

17/12/2002 at 15:50

Iain,

I'm v. sorry to read this. If you've not alrady tried it, why not give 1,500mg per day of glucosamine a go? It's fairly expensive in chemists, but can be bought very inexpensively online. If it doesn't help there's nothing lost, but it takes a few months to kick in so if you start now you might feel a benefit by FLM 2003. One way or another, I hope you can find a way around this. Good luck :)

Mr Stumpy

17/12/2002 at 17:15

Hi Iain,

Agree with Wee Piglet, give the Glucosamine a go, if the toe continues to deteriorate after say six months of that there is a new concoction available from the States that is based on some sort of cattle extract (stop me if you're a veggie of any sort) that a client of mine has been taking that, at the monment has avoided him needing a hip replacement. It's not cheap though, comes in at about £170 for the course (a month) but if you go through with the course, and the strict diet that comes with it, it appears to counteract the arthritis.

XFR Bear

17/12/2002 at 17:38

Cheers guys! I'm 39 (40 in a couple of weeks).

Any web sites you can recommend for cheap glucosamine? And is the one with the other stuff in it (chondramine or something??) worth getting?

The pain has actually died down now, but going round Richmond park the other day I could really feel it grinding!

Buney

17/12/2002 at 20:41

start with codliver oil right away Ian - its reasonably cheap - then add the glucosamine

Redhead

17/12/2002 at 22:05

Hi Iain, bad luck mate. Try this site for glucosamine etc;

www.egoldshield.com/csp/gsh/egoldshield/index.csp

XFR Bear

17/12/2002 at 23:01

Cheers Redhead - it looks a hell of a lot cheaper than Holland and Barrett!

XFR Bear

17/12/2002 at 23:02

I'm going to try the other stuff too - thanks Bune and co!

XFR Bear

18/12/2002 at 11:37

Shameless Boing to get this back to page one!

Any opinions from VRap etc most welcome :-)

alan.

18/12/2002 at 15:46

- that boing didn't last long - I'll give it another go

OA of 39 yr old (my age) big toe, as shown up on Xray (and confirmed by Orthopaedic surgeon?) can vary in degree and severity,
and clinical significance.

...you were obviously having enough problems to get to your doctors in the first place

Left alone/ untreated may become more more extensive/painful plus it may become rigid which might make running difficult or could lead to bunions etc.

I'm not myself completely sure to what extent continuing to run (if not too painful) would in itself lead to deterioration, though any uncorrected biomechanical factors should be addressed

I wouldn't automatically baulk at the idea of a steroid injection as only treating the symptoms - one may be worth a try and wont do much harm if you rest adequately afterwards 2-3 weeks.

If things were to progress/or you symptoms persist then there are some surgical options - providing you're in the right hands

- I found an articles somewhere that reported very good results in something like 10 out of 14 athletes followed up 5 years later

..boing!

XFR Bear

18/12/2002 at 20:27

Thanks Al - must admit the guy I spoke to didn't mention surgical options yesterdya. I did ask about other options, but he didn't seem to think they were worth much. Any info you might have would be most welcomed.

I'm a bit worried about the rest after the steroid injection - I'm planning on running the London Marathon, and he told me to time the appointment for the injection so that it was for two to three weeks before that!

Took my first cod liver oil today - in tablet form!

Cheers, Iain

XFR Bear

27/12/2002 at 12:25

Progress report:

Just bought Cod Liver Oil in a bottle (about 5 times the stuff in the tablets, but it tastes like cr@p), and ordered Glucosamine from Saga website. I thought they might reject me for being too young!

alan.

27/12/2002 at 13:38

When you run out of that try Eye-Q from Equazen - Lemon flavour concentrated marine oils - which is ...almost...palatable if chilled in fridge
More expensive but got mine on 3 for two at Boots - also now do sachets of very tiny capsules but they are seriously fishy!

XFR Bear

27/12/2002 at 17:18

Thanks BGA - will check for it tomorrow.

Actually it tastes like fish, which isn't that surprising really, but I never made the connection between Cod Liver Oil and Cod! Doh!

Will try adding some lemon juice or something to kill the taste!

Buney

27/12/2002 at 17:50

the Cod Liver oil does taste foul but it is effective and is only for a short while - 2-4 weeks till you go on to capsules - may have a preventitive effect on the rest of your joints!

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