Hi Mr. Unger, my name is Jerry Carroll. I recently bought your book on sesamoiditis. I play baseball and it is so frustrating to play with this pain. I have a bipartite chronic fracture in the sesamoid. I wear orthodics from my foot doctor, but they're not really doing anything to help the pain and inflamation. It would be very much apreciated if you could take some time to answer my questions. What kind of sesamoiditis did you have? How much tumeric should I take? Does doing 3 times of ibuprofen a day going to be that much different then 4? How do I do acupunture and ultra sound back to back, for example is there a doctor that has both of those tools with them? And does this 2 week regimine take away the pain for a short period of time, long period of time, or forevor. What has your experience been like with your program?
Jerry,
All of these answers are in the book. I will repeat them here.
What kind of sesamoiditis did you have?
I had sesamoiditis in both feet. Minor fracture and deformity of the sesamoid bone which made it look totally split on the x-ray. I was in pain just walking/standing and tried to never walk barefoot which really hurt. I opted not to have crutches but you may want 1 crutch until the fracture is gone.
How much tumeric should I take?
1000mg of tumeric as long as you feel no side-effects and no stomach problems – 2 times per day
** Do not take ibuprofen AND Tumeric. One or the other. They are both taken to hedge against inflammation and are not healthy to take simultaneously.
Does doing 3 times of ibuprofen a day going to be that much different then 4?
• Yes it does. You need to keep the level of anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen) in your system constantly. 200mg tablets are effective for 6 hours max. If you sleep 8 hours then just dose up as soon as you wake up and right before bed.
• If you have acid reflux problems (heart-burn), take the ibuprofen with an ant-acid (zantac)
• Do not TAKE ibuprofen indefinitely. You will want to cycle it for 2 week periods. This will help you to determine where you are at pain-wise as well when you get off of it. The amount you take depends on your size, age, effect… Do not take more than 1000mg per dose. Taper the dosage as well… Example: Week 1: 1000mg – 4 times per day, Week 2: 600mg – 4 times per day.
2 weeks on, 2 weeks off (Get off all anti-flammatories for a 1 day to check your progress (No tumeric and no ibuprofen and no icing. Switch to Tumeric during your 2 weeks off once you have assessed how much pain is still there. Also be sure to ice as often as possible, no more than 20 minutes per session. Do not do ICE and then HEAT back to back ever. 20 minutes of ice on the ball of foot then 20 minutes with nothing than 20 minutes ice - repeat)
** Get a small bucket that will fit both of your feet… A storage bin container from Walmart. Fill it up with ice and water and put your feet in that to ice it OR get Dixie cups, fill with water and freeze them and rub the ice on your foot.. OR goto walgreens and get the ice Velcro strap to put on your foot.
The ice bucket works the best.
How do I do acupuncture and ultra sound back to back, for example is there a doctor that has both of those tools with them?
Try acupuncture and STIM-acupuncture (STIM is electrodes hooked up to the pins) to see which one works better for you. Find someone who does both.
Acupuncture treatment first followed by Ultra-sound for like 10 minutes followed by massage (Hard but not hard to hurt the area), follow this by ice for 20 minutes.
** Do not run, walk a lot or carry anything heavy on the days you do acupuncture, you could do more damage than good. (basically anything that irritates your balls of feet on the days you do acupuncture)
And does this 2 week regimen take away the pain for a short period of time, long period of time, or forever?
It reduces the inflammation and with less inflammation you will have less pain. The fracture has to heal 100% before the pain will be gone forever. You are doing the 2 week regimen to help the fracture heal and to keep the inflammation down because you are causing inflammation whenever you put any pressure on the ball of your foot for any reason (standing, walking, lying in bed causes problems if your foot isn’t elevated)
Eventually the pain will be gone forever if you stay on top of this. While you have a problem the pain will come back as soon as you get off the ibuprofen or as soon as you walk on it funny and hurt the area. You can test your pain best by walking barefoot for 20 feet or so on cement.
What has your experience been like with your program?
2012 – 50+ Marathons and Ultra-marathons (up to 100 mile runs)
2013 – 50+ Marathons and Ultra-marathons (up to 100 mile runs)
2014 – 50+ Marathons and Ultra-marathons (no 100 milers until next month)
I got the sesamoiditis in May of 2013. As I said, walking, standing, etc. hurt my foot but with what I detailed in book, I was able to run long distances because I switched my foot strike to a mid to back foot strike which means I wasn’t hitting the balls of my feet when I foot strike to run.
You cant change your foot strike when you walk because it wont feel good. Running like this is different in case you need to stay in shape for baseball.
** Swimming laps and doing hard sessions on a indoor SPIN bike will help to keep your cardio up and not put pressure on the foot. i.e. Cross-train
So the lesson is Walking, Standing, Standing with weight in your hand, putting any direct pressure is bad. Anything you can do that takes the pressure off the ball of your foot is okay. You will know if it hurts.
You have to stay on top of this for it to heal otherwise it can literally take years, surgery or it will never heal right and it will always hurt.
Last but not least…. Ditch whatever orthodic the doctor gave you and go find a Sports Pedorthist… This is very important. The Sports Pedorthist is a master orthodic maker and can keep adjusting the orthodic until all the pressure comes off of the ball of your foot when you walk. Bet on about $200-400. You should make sure you put these in your walking shoes. If you can run in them great but I have found it hard to run with these so I use a normal sports/running orthodic from the store in my running shoes. You walk way more than you will run anyway.
If you really think your orthodic from the doctor is working and you have no pain walking than use it but if you have any pain while walking in that orthodic than spend the money and go to the Sports Pedorthist. Google one your area or find one close to you so you can go into the store and get measured by him/her and so you can go back if you need adjustments made.
** The fracture has to heal before you should even try to run.
Stay off of it until the fracture heals. Go back in and get a new X-Ray done to see if it has healed in a month.
** You might want to try a different Sports Orthopod or Sports Podiatrist to give you a second opinion on whether or not you truly have a fracture as opposed to just being born with it deformed which can look JUST like a fracture (I was born with deformity and a LOT of people have this).
I hope you get over this fast. It’s a terrible problem to have. No one likes to be side-lined by injury. Make sure you keep your spirits up.
Take CALCIUM supplements and STAY AWAY FROM CAFFEINE, any sort of drugs including nicotine, do not drink alcohol at all and try to eat healthy and organic meats and vegetables. Stay away from SUGAR and try to follow a diet that is meant for anti-inflammation.
You do this to heal faster and you do this to help in case you get any sort of depression from being benched which a lot of people get. If you find you attitude is bad or worse than usual, you are probably depressed. Eating healthy will keep your spirits high and your attitude positive.
If you start to get a negative attitude your chances of doing everything you can to heal start to diminish. Stay positive. Focus on healing and focus on what you will do once you are healed. I know this might sound hokey but it isn’t. Believe me. All of the major athletes spend a lot of time training their mind.
I hope this helps.
If the information works for you I would appreciate it if you could give the book a good review on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sesamoiditis-Cure-definitive-understanding/dp/1495466108/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1412812659&sr=8-4&keywords=greg+unger
Keep me posted and let me know how everything goes.
Greg
All of these answers are in the book. I will repeat them here.
What kind of sesamoiditis did you have?
I had sesamoiditis in both feet. Minor fracture and deformity of the sesamoid bone which made it look totally split on the x-ray. I was in pain just walking/standing and tried to never walk barefoot which really hurt. I opted not to have crutches but you may want 1 crutch until the fracture is gone.
How much tumeric should I take?
1000mg of tumeric as long as you feel no side-effects and no stomach problems – 2 times per day
** Do not take ibuprofen AND Tumeric. One or the other. They are both taken to hedge against inflammation and are not healthy to take simultaneously.
Does doing 3 times of ibuprofen a day going to be that much different then 4?
• Yes it does. You need to keep the level of anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen) in your system constantly. 200mg tablets are effective for 6 hours max. If you sleep 8 hours then just dose up as soon as you wake up and right before bed.
• If you have acid reflux problems (heart-burn), take the ibuprofen with an ant-acid (zantac)
• Do not TAKE ibuprofen indefinitely. You will want to cycle it for 2 week periods. This will help you to determine where you are at pain-wise as well when you get off of it. The amount you take depends on your size, age, effect… Do not take more than 1000mg per dose. Taper the dosage as well… Example: Week 1: 1000mg – 4 times per day, Week 2: 600mg – 4 times per day.
2 weeks on, 2 weeks off (Get off all anti-flammatories for a 1 day to check your progress (No tumeric and no ibuprofen and no icing. Switch to Tumeric during your 2 weeks off once you have assessed how much pain is still there. Also be sure to ice as often as possible, no more than 20 minutes per session. Do not do ICE and then HEAT back to back ever. 20 minutes of ice on the ball of foot then 20 minutes with nothing than 20 minutes ice - repeat)
** Get a small bucket that will fit both of your feet… A storage bin container from Walmart. Fill it up with ice and water and put your feet in that to ice it OR get Dixie cups, fill with water and freeze them and rub the ice on your foot.. OR goto walgreens and get the ice Velcro strap to put on your foot.
The ice bucket works the best.
How do I do acupuncture and ultra sound back to back, for example is there a doctor that has both of those tools with them?
Try acupuncture and STIM-acupuncture (STIM is electrodes hooked up to the pins) to see which one works better for you. Find someone who does both.
Acupuncture treatment first followed by Ultra-sound for like 10 minutes followed by massage (Hard but not hard to hurt the area), follow this by ice for 20 minutes.
** Do not run, walk a lot or carry anything heavy on the days you do acupuncture, you could do more damage than good. (basically anything that irritates your balls of feet on the days you do acupuncture)
And does this 2 week regimen take away the pain for a short period of time, long period of time, or forever?
It reduces the inflammation and with less inflammation you will have less pain. The fracture has to heal 100% before the pain will be gone forever. You are doing the 2 week regimen to help the fracture heal and to keep the inflammation down because you are causing inflammation whenever you put any pressure on the ball of your foot for any reason (standing, walking, lying in bed causes problems if your foot isn’t elevated)
Eventually the pain will be gone forever if you stay on top of this. While you have a problem the pain will come back as soon as you get off the ibuprofen or as soon as you walk on it funny and hurt the area. You can test your pain best by walking barefoot for 20 feet or so on cement.
What has your experience been like with your program?
2012 – 50+ Marathons and Ultra-marathons (up to 100 mile runs)
2013 – 50+ Marathons and Ultra-marathons (up to 100 mile runs)
2014 – 50+ Marathons and Ultra-marathons (no 100 milers until next month)
I got the sesamoiditis in May of 2013. As I said, walking, standing, etc. hurt my foot but with what I detailed in book, I was able to run long distances because I switched my foot strike to a mid to back foot strike which means I wasn’t hitting the balls of my feet when I foot strike to run.
You cant change your foot strike when you walk because it wont feel good. Running like this is different in case you need to stay in shape for baseball.
** Swimming laps and doing hard sessions on a indoor SPIN bike will help to keep your cardio up and not put pressure on the foot. i.e. Cross-train
So the lesson is Walking, Standing, Standing with weight in your hand, putting any direct pressure is bad. Anything you can do that takes the pressure off the ball of your foot is okay. You will know if it hurts.
You have to stay on top of this for it to heal otherwise it can literally take years, surgery or it will never heal right and it will always hurt.
Last but not least…. Ditch whatever orthodic the doctor gave you and go find a Sports Pedorthist… This is very important. The Sports Pedorthist is a master orthodic maker and can keep adjusting the orthodic until all the pressure comes off of the ball of your foot when you walk. Bet on about $200-400. You should make sure you put these in your walking shoes. If you can run in them great but I have found it hard to run with these so I use a normal sports/running orthodic from the store in my running shoes. You walk way more than you will run anyway.
If you really think your orthodic from the doctor is working and you have no pain walking than use it but if you have any pain while walking in that orthodic than spend the money and go to the Sports Pedorthist. Google one your area or find one close to you so you can go into the store and get measured by him/her and so you can go back if you need adjustments made.
** The fracture has to heal before you should even try to run.
Stay off of it until the fracture heals. Go back in and get a new X-Ray done to see if it has healed in a month.
** You might want to try a different Sports Orthopod or Sports Podiatrist to give you a second opinion on whether or not you truly have a fracture as opposed to just being born with it deformed which can look JUST like a fracture (I was born with deformity and a LOT of people have this).
I hope you get over this fast. It’s a terrible problem to have. No one likes to be side-lined by injury. Make sure you keep your spirits up.
Take CALCIUM supplements and STAY AWAY FROM CAFFEINE, any sort of drugs including nicotine, do not drink alcohol at all and try to eat healthy and organic meats and vegetables. Stay away from SUGAR and try to follow a diet that is meant for anti-inflammation.
You do this to heal faster and you do this to help in case you get any sort of depression from being benched which a lot of people get. If you find you attitude is bad or worse than usual, you are probably depressed. Eating healthy will keep your spirits high and your attitude positive.
If you start to get a negative attitude your chances of doing everything you can to heal start to diminish. Stay positive. Focus on healing and focus on what you will do once you are healed. I know this might sound hokey but it isn’t. Believe me. All of the major athletes spend a lot of time training their mind.
I hope this helps.
If the information works for you I would appreciate it if you could give the book a good review on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/The-Sesamoiditis-Cure-definitive-understanding/dp/1495466108/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1412812659&sr=8-4&keywords=greg+unger
Keep me posted and let me know how everything goes.
Greg
Greg,
So did you have the same stress fracture as me because my fracture was said to be never curable because I noticed it almost a year after the fracture. So do you think the fracture in the sesamoid could just go away. Just curious, does your sesamoid on an x ray show no more fracture after you did the 2 week regiment?
So did you have the same stress fracture as me because my fracture was said to be never curable because I noticed it almost a year after the fracture. So do you think the fracture in the sesamoid could just go away. Just curious, does your sesamoid on an x ray show no more fracture after you did the 2 week regiment?
Jerry,
Yes on my left foot I did have a fracture but it was a hairline fracture not a complete break off of the bone. If you have a complete break you will most likely have to have surgery to repair or remove the bone.
Nothing will cure a complete break, you will need surgery if it hurts and you cannot play sports.
A hairline fracture should heel but I am not your doctor so I would seek a second opinion if that is what your primary doctor said and see a specialist.
It not being curable doesn’t make any sense. If you noticed it a year afterwards it may be because you never let it heal properly and kept re-fracturing it. It needs to heal properly. You need to stay off of it. You may need it casted.
My book and advice is what you do to heal faster but nothing is going to fix a fracture in 2 weeks. My book also details how to not re-fracture the foot by staying off of it.
Curing this is not a 1 day problem and its not a 2 week problem. It may take longer and will if you still have a fracture.
Once the fracture is healed there will still be a lot of work involved to get rid of the pain in order to get back to sports. You don’t have to fracture the sesamoid to have sesamoiditis. Sesamoiditis can exist without a fracture and so can the pain, for a long time after any fracture heals.
Yes, I think the fracture (unless it is totally broken in half) will heal. I have not seen your x-rays and cannot make a judgement call on your specific case.
Again, see a sports orthopedic surgeon or sports podiatrist and get a second opinion or even a third opinion.
My x-rays show no more fracture at all.
Good luck with everything and I hope that helps.
Greg Unger
