This year it’s been a bit of an uphill struggle with my health which is all mechanical but the pain has not been where I usually get my pain.

I had successful surgery in April for a trapped ulnar nerve in my elbow which has healed well and now have no pain from it, then a few weeks later I started having pain on the outside of my foot.

I treated it like any other foot problem with ibuprofen and rest but it didn’t help much so I popped to A&E to check it wasn’t a small stress fracture but the x-ray showed nothing. I was told it was probably a sprain and to keep it strapped up and carry on doing what I was already doing as it can take a few weeks to settle down.

As the weeks went on the pain stayed so I then decided a visit to my GP was my next move who immediately said that she thought I had a neuroma and referred me to see a Podiatric Surgeon.

My Consultant Podiatric Surgeon,  Mr. Julien Pavier who is a very gentle, kind and understanding man found the neuroma straight away and felt that my pain around my ankle was probably referred pain from the neuroma. He then sent me for a scan and steroid injection into the neuroma. 

The pain relief was immediate which apparently is a great sign that he had hit the spot (as they say).

Four weeks on from the injection my foot started to play up again and over a week came back as before but only on the outside of my foot and ankle. My follow-up appointment was due so I decided to just treat it like I had done before until I saw Mr. Pavier. 

When he touched the neuroma I could feel the lump but did not get any pain but when he pressed around the ankle area and outside of my foot I felt a lot of pain. He said he thought that the pain was from another problem and not from the neuroma and wants me to have another scan and if it shows up then another steroid injection into that area to settle it down. He thinks that I have probably ruptured a tendon (Peroneus Brevis).

He said it could have come from the way I was walking, which really didn’t surprise me as my left gait is not correct due to my low back surgeries but I am now starting to walk with a limp.

Getting low and fed up with chronic pain in inevitable for anyone but coping with new and extra pain can be a bit disheartening but I’m sure after my next injection I will be free from pain again and back to normal, or as normal as life can be in chronic pain.

The English tradition of ‘keeping ones pecker up’ is something I think you can either do or not, for me there’s no other way, life’s too short to dwell on it.