What causes metatarsalgia

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One week after my trip to the local bar with Al, we met again at the same place. I was afraid to ask Al if he had gone to the podiatrist yet, fearing he might retract himself and change the subject or use some other tactic to skirt the issue. So I started off with small talk about the weather and then we talked about baseball. Al loved baseball and that was always a subject that would get him talking.

As we were talking, the bartender had brought us both some ice cold beer; Al always had Budweiser; I stuck with Coors. There is something about Coors that I like over other beers. What it is, I do not know. Anyway, as the evening conversation was just getting underway, Al suddenly brought up the topic of his metatarsalgia foot pain.

“You know I went to my podiatrist yesterday.”

“And what did she say?”

“Believe it or not, she said exactly what you told me. She said I had all of the symptoms of metatarsalgia.”

“Were you surprised?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. I told her you told me the same thing. I then asked her what causes metatarsalgia?”

“I can tell you that Al,” I interrupted. “You see, when the metatarsals which are the long bones just behind the toes, get overloaded and stressed beyond acceptable limits, you feel the pain that you are feeling. Sometimes, the nerves between the second and third toes may get squeezed and inflamed and that can cause pain too. You see, Al if you were a lady that wore high heel shoes all the time, then your body weight gets pretty much put on the balls of your feet and you would become a prime candidate for metatarsalgia.”

“But I am not a lady. I am a male machinist.”

“Yes, but you stand on concrete all day and I have seen you over and over again, stooping over your machines to do some set ups or some programing and things like that when you are basically supporting your whole body by the balls of your feet. No wonder you have metatarsalgia.”

“And by my wearing cheap flimsy shoes, I am not helping the situation, the doctor told me.”

“Precisely.”

“I tell you, I am so happy I went to see the podiatrist, thanks to your insistence.”

“You are welcome, Al.” And we left for the evening.