rsi from foot tapping!!

[Cariad]

Hi
Anyone else ever get a kind of rsi from tapping their foot too much with the music? Seems bizzare but I can't drive, walk or foot tap without a great deal of pain at the bottom of my right leg when I slightly raise my foot. Doctor said its caused by an injury and the sheath to the nerve is all swollen up (a movable soft lump over the shin bone). He said it won't get better and the only treatment is to cut it out (ouch!) and then lose sensitivity there as the nerve would be gone. It takes months to get to see the consultant anyway so keeping options open today I went to an alternative healer who did all kinds of arm testings and such. This resulted in the intelligence that the nerve got damaged/over strained by too much foot tapping and can repair with lots of rest etc. and she also did a healing which I will monitor to see if there is a result... Even if ai manage to get it improved its very difficult to stop the habit of foot tapping with my right foot. It just doesn't work with the left - it helps me keep in time. Hmm - bit problematic this - any ideas from anyone would be much appreciated!
Thanks
sarah

[Cynth]

I'm afraid I can offer you only my sympathy because I have not had your problem. It sounds just terrible! I do hope that it will get better without the surgery if you are very careful. I suppose your left foot does not tap well because of some brain thing, just like what makes a person left or right handed. I wonder if you could start at a very slow tempo and train your left foot to tap. Maybe you should just train the toes of your left foot to tap in case vigorous tapping would damage the nerve in that foot as well. I do use my right foot to tap, but I think I could get my left foot to do it if I had to. Good luck and take care of that foot!!!

[Lambchop]

Even if ai manage to get it improved its very difficult to stop the habit of foot tapping with my right foot. It just doesn't work with the left - it helps me keep in time. Hmm - bit problematic this - any ideas from anyone would be much appreciated!
Thanks
sarah

When you tap, do you raise your toes or your heel? Sounds like toes. Medical transcriptionists, who operate a foot pedal continuously, often get the same sort of thing. It usually goes away with rest, massage, and a drastic icing technique.

See if you can transfer that motion to a thigh movement of some sort. Maybe you can rock your thigh to the right a smidge instead of tapping with your foot.

There is a really ghastly icing technique which can work wonders. It's worth a try. You'll need to immerse your foot and lower leg to just above the level of the bump, so get a container large enough. Maybe a waste basket. Fill the container (but not so that it will overflow) with ice and water. You want enough ice that it stays freezing and doesn't melt.

You have to follow the instructions exactly or it will not work at all. You cannot dip your foot in and out. You will want to keep taking your foot out, but you can't do that. You have to leave it in there.

Fill your container and immerse the leg. It'll feel ok for a second or two, then it will become really miserable. You'll want to take your foot out, but you have to leave it in. Leave it in until it begins to feel toasty warm. Truly, it will eventually do this. The cold causes the blood vessels to constrict, then to dilate later to provide warmth. This is really good for reducing swelling and improving blood flow, along with relieving pain.

To summarize, fill the container with ice and water (not just cold water). Totally immerse the leg and leave it there. You'll feel extreme cold, followed by pins and needles, followed by numbness, followed by warmth. When you've felt warmth for five minutes or so, you can stop. The whole process will take about 15 minutes.

You'll hate this at the beginning, you won't care in the middle, and you'll love it at the end.

I've used this on all sorts of injuries with good effect. Tennis elbow that I'd had for months went away with one treatment and never came back. A lady I know who had such horrible chronic low back pain after a fall that she was considering surgery filled up the tub with ice and water and, I swear, sat in it. She got up a half-hour later perfectly fine and never had a recurrence of the back pain. Said she never wanted to repeat the treatment, but she was delighted that it worked.

Ice applied to the area does not have this same effect. It's just not drastic enough.

This is a rather famous hydrotherapy technique, but isn't often used because patients really don't enjoy it. And it's messy. Hot and cold packs are easier and very pleasant, even if they don't do much good.

It also works so well that patients don't have to keep coming back for treatments, thus ruining the therapist's income.

If you've ever had frostbitten toes, you might want to do this with your toes out of the water.

And, of course, the standard disclaimer: Don't do this if you have diabetes or circulatory disorders like Reynaud's, and consult your physician beforehand, particularly if you have any sort of medical condition.

[hans]

Peggy, this is cool! I will definitely try it next time I feel all sore from abusive physical work.

Hi Sarah, hope your foot heals quickly! Last summer I damaged my ancle trying to keep time with vigorous foot-stomping, while sitting on a chair playing my flute. I was beating the heel very hard into the ground with the beat of the music, without noticing it, because I was trying too hard to keep time. I was hobbling for weeks after. I wish now I submerged my leg in an ice bath instead.

See links about ice baths here (apparently rugby players and endurance athlets do it regularly):

http://www.crowathletics.com/node/2920

http://www.givemefootball.com/display.c ... 640&type=2

[andrewK]

Have you tried wearing lead boots ?

[hans]

No I use straps now nailed to the floor.

[Cariad]

Thanks for replies everyone!
Yes its the lift of the toes that's done the damage. Hmmm the ice bath stuff sounds sooo extreme but.... if it does the trick.... I'll have to prepare myself for that (and make some ice!) I definately can't go on like this, driving this afternoon (what chance r&r in our busy lives) was hell! So I'll check out those suggested links and psyche myself up for it... Peggy thanks for your care in going into such good and clear detail!

Yeah lead boots - or straps like Hans - would be good! But Peggy's suggestion to try and retrain the system to move elsewhere is a good idea - problem is I get too enthusistic and carried away so I guess any tapping/beating time is going to have to be Gentle..

[lixnaw]

Thanks for replies everyone!
Yes its the lift of the toes that's done the damage. Hmmm the ice bath stuff sounds sooo extreme but.... if it does the trick.... I'll have to prepare myself for that (and make some ice!) I definately can't go on like this, driving this afternoon (what chance r&r in our busy lives) was hell! So I'll check out those suggested links and psyche myself up for it... Peggy thanks for your care in going into such good and clear detail!

Yeah lead boots - or straps like Hans - would be good! But Peggy's suggestion to try and retrain the system to move elsewhere is a good idea - problem is I get too enthusistic and carried away so I guess any tapping/beating time is going to have to be Gentle..

i think it has all to do with wrong shoes, try some without any heels http://www.baer-manufaktur.de/orbiz/Dig ... index.html
try to tap with the ball of your foot instead of your toes and your use your
heel too.

[Cariad]

[quote="]i think it has all to do with wrong shoes, try some without any heels http://www.baer-manufaktur.de/orbiz/Dig ... index.html
try to tap with the ball of your foot instead of your toes and your use your
heel too.[/quote]


I usually have flat or no shoes -

[lixnaw]

if there's something wrong with your feet, the cause might be just a blocked back bone. if you have pain in the back aswell, maybe visit an osteopath.

[rebelpiper]

cariad, i have alot of pain in my left knee after a gig. i didnt think much of it at first but then i realized it was coming from stomping my foot on the floor. i guess it doesnt help that i wear workboots when i play.