Sesamoiditis Information

That nagging pain in the ball of your foot!

Tons of people have it and if you are a runner like me then it is one of your worst enemies! This type of problem has many names depending on the specifics of what is causing the pain and/or swelling in the ball of your foot. It can sometimes be referred to as sesamoiditis and other times metatarsalgia.

No matter what you call, one thing is for certain, it sucks!

This isn't just a runners problem, this is an everyday persons problem. This is an anyone who uses their feet to walk problem!

You might be suffering from Sesamoiditis if:

• You have sharp pain right under your big toe, in the ball of your foot.
• You feel a dull ache, pain or discomfort when walking barefoot or wearing supportive shoes.
• You have a lot of pain under your big toe when you're active.
• You're suffering from pain with no clear sign of an injury (no redness under your foot, bruising or swelling).

If any of those statements are true for you or you're suffering from on-going pain under your big toe or at the front of your foot then you might have an injury called "sesamoiditis". It's an injury that's not commonly heard - people are more likely to understand that they might have plantar fasciitis, tendonitis or some other injury in their foot. Many people don't know that sesamoiditis is a very real injury affecting the soft tissue and bone in the ball of your foot.

It can happen to anyone who regularly puts a lot of pressure on the front of their foot. Sesamoiditis is one of those injuries that can really bring down the quality of your life. Anyone - young or old - can suffer from this injury, and if you're active this condition will keep you from doing the things you love to do. It will even start interrupting any of your normal daily tasks and make living life harder than it really needs to be. 2 sesamoids are located in the ball of the foot right near the big toe Fortunately for you, professional athletes have had access to state of the art treatment therapies for years that allow them to heal more quickly and completely than you or I.

This is why athletes that have a serious sesamoiditis injury can often get back in the game in a matter of weeks while you could suffer for months or even years (in chronic cases).

Sesamoiditis can happen to anyone, not just professional athletes!

Right now, there are thousands of doctors and physical therapists dealing with patients that require a solution to treat their sesamoiditis fast and heal it (where possible).

Wondering How to Treat Sesamoiditis?

The best information I know is in the book, "The Sesamoiditis Cure - The definitive guide to overcoming and conquering ball of foot pain". How do I know this? Because after having to deal with Sesamoiditis for almost a year, I decided to write about it!

The goal of this post is to give people hope that there are medically proven conservative treatments available for sesamoiditis tendonitis and fracture injuries. There is a lot of conflicting information posted online and we make it a priority to separate the fact from fiction. We all want to begin healing as quickly as possible and with the right information, it can happen sooner than you think (it has for thousands of others who took the time to contact us). You can be assured that my book will answer any question or concern you have.

Living with ball of foot pain is never easy and I can help to provide answers about prevention, causes, treatment options, and ways to manage your injury for the short and long term.

What are Sesamoid Bones?

Sometimes the tendons around the sesamoid bones will become inflamed and irritated. A 'sesamoid' bone is a bone that's not connected to any other bone. Sesamoids are connected to tendons or embedded in muscles.

We have many sesamoids in the body - your knee cap being the largest sesamoid bone. They are also found in our hands and feet, and the sesamoid bones in the foot are where the most common sesamoiditis problems occur.

Sesamoids in the foot have three jobs, first they help the big toe move (providing a smooth surface for the tendons controlling your big toe to move) . Second, they provide you the leverage your need when you 'push off' with your foot (they act like pulleys helping to move other tissue that control your big toe). And third, they absorb the weight placed on the ball of your foot when you walk, run or jump. What is Sesamoiditis? Sesamoiditis is a general medical term used to describe any kind of injury that causes irritation in and around the sesamoid bones. This includes tendonitis (inflammation in the tendon tissue) surrounding the sesamoid bones and any kind of fracture or damage to the bone as well. Sesamoiditis may cause pain and inflammation in the sesamoid tendons that surround the sesamoid bones. This inflammation can spread further into more tendons and ligaments of the ball of the foot if not dealt with quickly.

Overall, this condition will make it extremely painful to walk, as fresh waves of pain can be felt every time the big toe moves or is stressed while walking or doing any other sort of activity. To reduce pressure on the big toe while walking, most people will try to walk while applying their weight only on the heel of their foot and turn the affected leg out to one side - creating a shuffling / limping type of movement. Long-term changes in your gait (the way you walk) - such as shuffling to reduce pain on the ball of your foot - can impact other areas of your body and possibly result in compensation in other parts of the foot and body which will cause pain.

Do You Really have Sesamoiditis?

Our feet are some of the most complicated joints in our bodies with 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 tendons, muscles and ligaments. Big toe pain can be from injuries to the sesamoid bones or the soft tissue in the foot, some of the more common injuries being: •Foot bursitis - Bursitis can occur in the toe joints, the side of the foot, the heel and around the ankle. As we walk, run or jump, the ground surface and the shoes we wear play an important role in how much trauma our feet experience. Every step can cause a small amount of damage to a particular area in the foot which can increase the risk of bursitis. foot or toe bursits can be the cause of foot pain

• Morton's neuroma - This condition usually causes burning pain in the ball of the foot that may radiate into the toes. The pain generally intensifies with activity or wearing shoes. You may sometimes feel that you are "walking on a marble," and you have persistent pain in the ball of your foot. You may also have numbness in the toes.
• Metatarsalgia - This condition can also cause pain in the ball of your foot, that area between your arch and the toes. Metatarsalgia is a common over-use injury, persistent stress can lead to chronic irritation and inflammation of the bone covering and surrounding tissues, such as ligaments and tendons.
• Plantar Fasciitis - Pain associated with plantar fasciitis normally starts as a dull ache and then progresses to a sharp, knife-like pain or constant throbbing feeling that is worse when you put weight on your foot. The most tender areas tend to be in the center of your heel and along the inside and bottom of your foot towards your toes, where your heel and arch meet.
• Turf toe - This can happen when the big toe joint is pushed beyond its' normal range (backwards or downwards). A 'pop' is felt at the moment the injury happens followed by sharp immediate pain. Symptoms include swelling in the foot, the entire big toe joint is affected and limits the motion in the toe.

What Causes Sesamoiditis?

With high arches more pressure is placed on the outer edge and ball of the foot. Sesamoiditis can happen when you increase the pressure on the ball of your foot in activities like running, playing basketball, football, golf, tennis, taking a step class or ballet lessons. In activities like running, more than half of our weight-bearing travels through our big toe and sesamoid bones. Any changes to the structure of your foot can also lead to sesamoiditis. This would include if you already have high arches, wear high-heeled shoes regularly, wear a new pair of shoes that don't give your toes enough room, naturally run or walk on the balls of your feet or have bony feet without enough fat to cushion your sesamoid bones. Sesamoiditis is an overuse injury caused by the same toe movements that are performed over and over again.

What are the Symptoms of Sesamoiditis?

If you have sesamoiditis you may experience: Sesamoiditis will usually present with pain in the ball of the foot.

• Pain that will come and go in the ball of the foot just beneath your big toe joint.
• A gradual onset of pain over time if you're still continuing on with the activity that has caused and/or worsens this condition.
• There may not be a visible sign that you even have sesamoiditis - swelling of the ball of the foot and bruising may or may not be present.
• Pain that increases when your big toe is stretched up (when your toes push off at the end of a step). Limited range of motion in your big toe, espeically when straightening it out.
• Moderate or severe cases of sesamoiditis may result in a catching or popping of the big toe followed by increased pain.
• Most people with sesamoiditis may notice the pain decrease as soon as the activity that caused your injury is reduced or stopped.

How Do I Diagnose Sesamoiditis?

First your docotor will perfrom a physical exam of your foot. The best way to diagnose this condition is with a quick visit to the your doctor for a physical examination of your foot. The doctor will be looking for tenderness at the sesamoid bones just below your big toe.

Are you having trouble bending and straightening your toe?
Range of motion movements / tests, will be done to see how much movement has been lost in the toe. Your foot might hurt from the doctor poking and prodding at it, but by doing this the doctor will know for sure the source of your pain, the level of tenderness in and around your sesamoids and how well your toe can move with this condition. Your doctor may also consider any previous foot injuries or joint stiffness that you may have had in the past. This will help the doctor to determine if you have a more complex injury in your foot and rule out any other foot injuries that may be present.

An x-ray will clearly show the sesamoid bones and any separation or fracture in those bones. An x-ray of the foot will ensure proper diagnosis, sometimes they will x-ray both feet looking for similarities in bone structure when comparing both of your feet. This x-ray will show your sesamoid bones and whether there is any separation in each bone. For approximately 10 to 30% of people the sesamoid bone closer to the middle of the foot (the medial sesamoid) will be naturally divided into 2 or more pieces. The doctor will have to find out if you naturally have a divided sesamoid bone OR if you have a fracture in this bone. If you do have any evidence of seperation it's likely your doctor will have to perform more tests to find out for sure if you have a fracture in these bones. Usually if the x-ray shows the bone is jagged there may be a fracture in the sesamoid bone, and if the separation is smooth then this means you have a naturally separated sesamoid bone.

Other tests like a bone scan, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) or blood tests may be done if an x-ray looks normal or the doctor is unsure whether you have a fracture or natural separation in your sesamoid. These tests will also rule out any infections of the bone or tissue and help to determine if you are suffering from other injuries around your sesamoids - like arthritis or gout.

What's the Difference Between: Sesamoid Tendonitis, a Sesamoid Bone Fracture vs Other Sesamoiditis Pain? What is Sesamoid Tendonitis?

Tendonitis is inflammation of a tendon from micro-tearing of the tissue. Sesamoid tendonitis (sometimes spelled tendinitis and pronounced 'tendinitus') is irritation and/or inflammation of the tendons surrounding the sesamoid bones. You will feel this irritation and/or inflammation when there is a strain, damage or micro-tearing in the tendon tissue. Anyone can suffer from sesamoid tendinitis - for younger people it usually happens from repetitive movement of the toe in athletic activities like baseball and ballet. In adults, this injury can happen from over-use OR degeneration of the tissue as we age.

You could have different types of sesamoid tendonitis including:

• Tendinosis - a condition caused by chronic degeneration (wearing away) of the tendon fibers over time.
• Tendinopathy - chronic inflammation of the sesamoid tendon(s) that results from many small tears over from over-use or repetitive movements.
• Tenosynovitis - damage or micro-tearing to the sheath covering the sesamoid tendon(s). It's possible to have tendonitis / tendinosis / tendinopathy AND tenosynovitis at the same time, creating a more complicated sesamoid tendon injury.

What is a Sesamoid Bone Fracture?

Sesamoiditis can sometimes involve a break or fracture to your sesamoid bone. A sesamoid bone fracture causes many of the same symptoms as sesamoid tendonitis - with pain, irritation and/or inflammation in the ball of the foot. Unlike sesamoid tendonitis, an acute or traumatic sesamoid bone fracture can result in a lot of swelling in the front of your foot and possibly a bruise under the big toe. Your doctor will be able to tell if you have a sesamoid bone fracture by performing an x-ray.

There are 2 types of sesamoid bone fractures:

1. Acute ("Regular") Fracture - is caused by a direct blow or impact to the bone - like landing heavily on your feet from a fall / jump. An acute sesamoid fracture produces immediate pain and swelling at the site of the break, but usually does not affect the entire big toe joint. With a "regular" fracture the entire material of bone, including the outer lining of the bone (sometimes called the 'cortical') will crack. This fracture can be straight, diagonal, jagged, in several pieces, etc.
2. Chronic ("Stress") Fracture - is a hairline break usually caused by repetitive stress or overuse - like running regularly or jumping up and down from platforms all day. A chronic sesamoid fracture produces longstanding pain in the ball of the foot beneath the big toe joint. The pain, which tends to come and go, generally is aggravated with activity and relieved with rest. With a "stress" fracture the outer lining of the bone will be fine, but the inside of the bone will have hairline fractures (sometimes on a microscopic level). "Stress" or chronic fractures usually take much longer to heal because they will often remain in a long-term state of non-healing.

Treatment for both kinds of sesamoid bone fractures is basically the same as treatment for sesamoid tendonitis.

What if You Don't Have Tendonitis or a Fracture?

There are 4 more injuries that can happen in or around your sesamoid bones resulting in sesamoiditis pain:

1. Intractable Plantar Keratosis (IPK) - this is like a callus or corn that's formed on the ball of your foot under your big toe that can cause sesamoiditis-like pain. Over time this callus / corn can develop into a larger lesion with a very painful sore-spot in the center. If left untreated, this condition can lead to a more serious sesamoiditis injury, reduce range of moition / mobility of your foot and change the way you walk on your foot. Conservative treatment methods are used to treat this injury. Surgery is only ever recommended if you continue to feel pain and have reduced range of motion even after using conservative treatment methods. Sesamoiditis can sometimes involve a break or fracture to your sesamoid bone.
2. Osteochondritis (Avascular Necrosis) of the Sesamoid Bone(s) - This is a condition where blood supply to 1 or both of your sesamoid bones isn't available. Over time reduced blood flow to your sesamoid bone can actually cause a portion of your bone to die (this is also called 'necrosis'). Your body will try to heal this injury by building up extra calcium (bone) around the dead spot. This can sometimes happen if you've suffered from a chronic ("stress") fracture in your sesamoid bone that hasn't healed properly. In most cases conservative treatment methods won't work to treat this condition and surgery will be needed to remove the sesamoid bone. If surgery is required, conservative treatment methods can then be used during post-surgery rehabilitation. Sometimes sesamoiditis pain is a nerve entrapment injury.
3. Nerve Entrapment - There is a major nerve that runs near our big toe and second toe called the 'Medial Plantar Nerve'. Even though this nerve is usually not close to the sesamoid bones, nerves can sometimes naturally be in areas where doctors don't expect them to be. It's possible to be suffering from sesamoid pain, with the pain really coming from your medial plantar nerve if it's running under one of your sesamoid bones. If you've had an x-ray and mulitple tests done to see if you have sesamoiditis or a sesamoid bone fracture and there is no definite result, you might be suffering from nerve entrapment in that area. Your doctor can see if you have nerve entrapment in this area by doing a test called 'Tinel's Sign'. During this test the doctor will lightly tap near the painful area to see if you feel any tingling or 'pins and needles' sensations. If you feel tingling that runs down your big toe, you might be suffering from nerve entrapment.
4. Sesamoid Arthritis - Sometimes you may have cartilage damage under your sesamoid bones between your sesamoids and the bones in your toes. This cartilage damage can lead to arthritis, a painful inflammatory condition causing stiffness and swelling in your joints. You could have sesamoid pain that is really a case of arthritis under your sesamoid bones. Any signs of arthritis around your sesamoid bones should show up in an x-ray.

How Do I Cure Sesamoiditis - What You Can Do!

First your doctor will perform a physical exam of your foot. The good news is that most cases of sesamoiditis will heal with simple home conservative treatments and surgery is often not needed! It's generally understood by doctors and surgeons, that surgery will introduce more scar tissue into the foot. This added scar tissue will be problematic, requiring physical therapy and conservative treatment options post-surgery.

When it comes to sesamoiditis and bone fractures there's only a few surgical options for treatment - removal of the sesamoid bone(s), scraping of the sesamoid bone(s) or a bone graft. This is why surgery is only performed as a last resort for chronic sesamoiditis injuries or a fractured bone that won't heal with conservative treatment methods.

Some conservative treatment methods recommended include:

• Rest - This is important for initial healing because without proper rest you're at risk for increased pain, inflammation or even fracturing your sesamoid bone if you haven't already. This can make your sesamoiditis even worse and turn an acute injury into a chronic one.
• Avoid Activities that Caused Your Injury - While resting your foot it's also important to avoid all activities that may have caused your sesamoiditis (especially any repetitive toe or foot movement). Continuing on with regular activities will not only make your injury worse, but limping / shuffling just to get by can also wind up giving you over compensation pain in other areas of your body.
• Apply Cold Compression - Immediate cold (using a Cold Compression Wrap) will help you to manage pain while getting rid of the pain and inflammation. Immediate pain relief and reduced inflammation can also relieve some of the pressure that's being placed on your sesamoid bones and stop your injury from getting worse.
• Wear Low-Heeled Shoes with Less Arch Support, Flat Insoles, and/or a Soft-Sole - Wearing a stiff-soled shoe (like clogs) with less arch support, or flat insoles that keep your big toe straight, can help to reduce the pressure being placed in your sesamoid bones. For some people, a soft-soled shoe (like flip-flops) are even more comfortable and reduce the pain. If you've recently started wearing a new pair of shoes with a different type of arch support insole then this might even be the reason why you now have sesamoid pain. Many doctors will advise their patients to wear stiff-soled shoes as a conservative treatment method to heal sesamoiditis before even considering surgery.
• Put Orthotics in Your Shoes - Use of any kind of orthotic or insert for added support in your shoe should always be done through the recommendation of your doctor. There are certain shapes of padded inserts / orthotics that are designed to relieve pressure on the sesamoids and keep the big toe straight. You have to be careful with your choice of orthotic and may need to get some custom-made by your doctor because there's always a possibility that using the wrong orthotic will make your injury worse. Your doctor may want to cast your foot to heal a fracture in the sesamoid bones.
• Tape Your Big Toe - You can try taping or strapping your toe in a flexed position (bent down) to reduce any pressure placed on your sesamoid bones.
• Immobilize Your Foot with a Cast for a Few Weeks - If you're suffering from a fracture of your sesamoid bone that has the potential to heal on its own then your doctor might suggest casting your foot in order to avoid surgical removal of your sesamoid. Usually the doctor will have you wear the cast for about 6 weeks and advise you to wear stiff-soled shoes after you're out of the cast. Whether your doctor will recommend casting totally depends on their preference - some doctors prefer not to cast and will recommend surgery right away.

Other Conservative Treatment Methods can be Risky Cortisone (Corticosteroid) Injections Cortisone injections can be harmful to tendonitis injuries Some of the options your doctor may recommend include drugs or medications like NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication) to manage pain and inflammation. Alternative medications like cortisone injections are advised with caution for any type of tendon condition. This is because there is increased risk of rupture of the tendons around the sesamoids following a cortisone injection.

Doctors won't give you a cortisone shot if it's at all possible that you have a fracture (acute or chronic) in your sesamoid bone(s). If cortisone is used with even the slightest stress fracturing, the cortisone will make the injury worse by stopping the bone's natural healing process. Over time if left untreated, your fracture will get worse and surgery will be more likely needed.

Effective Conservative Treatment Options are Available If your doctor's decided that your sesamoiditis can be treated with conservative treatment. If you need to have surgery, talk to your doctor about using these same products for post-surgery recovery.

You'll find Cold Compression Wraps effective for reducing post-surgery inflammation, enhancing range of motion and minimizing the growth of scar tissue in your foot.

What if You Need Surgery?

Whether you need to have surgery and the type of surgery you'll have depends on the severity of your sesamoiditis and whether you have a fracture in your bone. The longer you've waited to have surgery or try conservative treatment methods will also be a factor to decide if you need surgery. Has it been weeks or months since the injury? An acute (recent) case of sesamoiditis is usually treated with conservative treatment methods, like rest, minimizing activity and cold compression.

Doctors will explore every method of treatment before considering surgery for sesamoiditis. Doctors and surgeons will always avoid surgery if possible because recovery from the surgery can be a lengthy process, in most cases your sesamoid bones will have to be removed reducing the mobility of your foot. Most doctors always prefer minimally invasive treatments which is why they suggest conservative treatment first. Your doctor and surgeon know that a surgery will involve altering the structure of your foot, and so they will recommend treatment to avoid surgery at all costs.

If you have a fracture that's not healing of you have a fracture that puts your bone in multiple pieces, your surgeon might perform a sesamoidectomy (removal of the sesamoid bone). Scar tissue will be problematic for long-term recovery after surgery. As with any surgery there are risks to every procedure depending on a lot of factors, including your age, the severity of your injury and your level of health going into the procedure. It's always best to discuss all possible risks and complications with your doctor, orthopaedic specialist and/or surgeon before the procedure.

It's important to be aware of the risks you may face with any procedure intended to fix or relieve pain from your sesamoiditis. Sesamoidectomy If you suffer from a regular (acute) fracture or stress (chronic) fracture in your sesamoid bone and conservative treatment methods haven't been successful in healing or relieving pain, then your doctor may suggest a sesamoidectomy surgery. During this procedure your fractured or injured sesamoid bone (or pieces of the bone) will be removed. Removal of this bone is meant to ease pain and promote healing in the area. This procedure will be done by making an incision on the side of your big toe. The surgeon will then seperate all of the underlying soft tissues to get to your sesamoid bones and visually inspect it. Once removing some or all of your sesamoid bone the surgeon will use sutures to attach the end of the tendons together or connect it to the remaining bone. The sesamoid bones are accessed through an incision on the side of the foot.

One of the major risks of this surgery is how removal of your sesamoid bone(s) will affect the structure of your foot. Since the sesamoid bones act as pulley's on the bottom of the foot for tendons that control your toes, removal of one or both of these bones will remove important leverage needed for the foot to work properly. There is always a risk that removal of your sesamoid bone(s) could affect the shape or angle of your big toe. You might end up with 'claw toe' (where your big toe is bent up) or your big toe could slant towards your second toe. You could also end up needing to have the rest of your sesamoid bone left removed if it gets fractured in the future. This is why doctors encourage conservative treatment methods first, and surgery only second IF the conservative methods of healing don't work.

Sesamoid Bone Graft Surgery: The only other option for sesamoid surgery is a bone graft. This is usually only performed when you continue to have issues with a stress (chronic) fracture in your sesamoid bone(s).

During this procedure your surgeon will take some bone from big toe (this is called an 'autogenous bone graft') through a second incision, and then use that bone to repair the areas that aren't healing properly in your sesamoid. Sesamoidectomy is always preferred over a bone graft as it's a minimally invasive surgery. This bone graft procedure is also only ever considered for high performance athletes.

Conservative treatment methods are also recommended by your doctor for recovery after your surgery and your rate of recovery after the surgery will depend on how dedicated you are to the conservative treatment method recommended by your doctor, the type of procedure that you had and your efforts in physical therapy. No two rehabilitation plans are alike - Generally speaking the less invasive your surgery is, the quicker your road to recovery will be.

After your cast is removed your doctor may have you use a walking boot to recover from sesamoiditis surgery.

• Sesamoidectomy - You may need to wear a cast for 2 to 3 weeks, then follow that with a walking brace for another few weeks. Physical therapy can start 2 to 3 weeks after your surgery and you may be able to return to some modified form of your regular activity by week 8.
• Sesamoid Bone Graft Surgery - This procedure will have a longer recovery period, starting with you wearing a cast for 3 to 4 weeks. That's followed by a walking cast or boot to be worn for another 3 to 4 weeks. Physical therapy may start anywhere from 4 weeks after surgery to 8 weeks after surgery. Other assistive devices like orthotics or arch supports may be prescribed to help you along with your recovery. Use these conservative treatment methods to avoid surgery and speed healing after surgery!

If you suspect you have sesamoiditis:

• Usually conservative treatment methods are all that's needed to treat sesamoiditis, surgery is only ever used if long-term conservative treatment methods don't work or if you've suffered from a stubborn stress (chronic) sesamoid bone fracture. Conservative treatment options for sesamoiditis typically includes rest, icing of the injury, avoiding activities that cause or worsen the pain that you're feeling, wearing comfortable shoes that keep your big toe straight and anti-inflammatory over-the-counter medication.
• Second, if your doctor has decided that your injury can be treated with conservative treatment options, then you'll find that many of our customers have had great success treating themselves with our powerful conservative treatment products.
• Or, if surgical intervention is required, talk with your doctor about using these same products for post-surgery recovery as you'll find them to be effective for reducing post-surgery inflammation, enhancing range of motion and reducing scar tissue growth.

No one is immune to sesamoidits or tendonitis, you can easily reduce your risk of further injury with consistent conservative treatments
Priority number #1 is to reduce pain and swelling with cold compression therapy. We need to reduce the swelling and "open up" the area for more blood flow.

Anyone in the health-care business knows that your blood supplies the oxygen and much needed nutrients required to heal sesamoiditis injuries. This is why for years doctors, trainers and other medical professional have recommended RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) to treat the pain and swelling of fresh injuries, chronic pain, and after any re-injury. Although RICE can help to treat these symptoms, ice and freezer gel packs reach temperatures so low they can cause cryoburn, an ice burn on your skin.

The problem is, up until now there hasn't been any other option to treat painful conditions and injuries, so ice and blue gel packs (full of anti-freeze and chemicals) have been the only choice up until now. Fortunately you no longer have to settle for these ice cold methods that are uncomfortably cold against your skin, provide short term relief, cause ice burns, numb your skin and underlying tissue beyond feeling so you don't even notice the ice burn until it's too late and pool around your injury putting the cold everywhere except for where you need it most.

A cold wrap allows you to treat your foot in an effective and convenient way. You will need a cold wrap that will wrap around your foot keeping the cold right over your sesamoid injury for the entire length of your treatment.

Cold compression therapy slows nerve and cell function - reducing the swelling that blocks blood vessels from doing their job. This is important because once blood vessels are blocked or damaged, they can no longer carry oxygenated blood through the tissue and tissue cells begin to break-down. Without cold compression therapy cellular break-down and tissue damage continues as the cells don't get the oxygen they need to survive. By limiting the amount of damage done to your tendon, you also limit the amount of healing that needs to occur. This is a very important step to heal tendon injuries faster and with less pain! This is why you need to treat your sesamoiditis foot pain right after it's hurt, when you notice pain / swelling / inflammation, or directly after a re-injury.

Applying a cold wrap right away will stop the damage immediately and unblock your blood vessels to let your body's natural blood flow in to start healing the tissue. Cold compression therapy will seem weird for you to read this, but there are a LOT of people out there that don't understand how fast cold compression can get the swelling / inflammation around your sesamoid bones under control! After you get rid of the swelling for good you can start dealing with your sesamoid injury and pain head on.

Use cold compression wraps:

• 24 to 72 hours after your initial injury or when you first notice pain and swelling in the ball of your foot to stop cellular damage, relieve pain, and decrease swelling.
• After exercise, workouts or activity of any kind to prevent re-injury of your sesamoids. Before and after surgery during rehabilitation to control pre and post-surgery pain and swelling.
• Anytime you feel your sesamoiditis has made your foot tender, painful or you're having a flare-up of an old sesamoiditis injury.
• Anytime you have swelling, sharp throbbing pain or inflammation in the ball of your foot. •Any other situation where you need to draw the pain and inflammation out of your foot. Tendinitis injuries heal faster with an Inferno Wrap Continue the healing process by resting your foot. Limit the activities that may be aggravate your foot tendons and bones. Without proper rest and limitation on activities, being active as if your foot is healthy can lead to re-injury.

We spend hours on our feet through simple daily routine, recreational activities, exercise, or participating in athletics. To get back to doing the things you love you need to give your body proper care and attention.

If this information helps you please let me know!