My right toe has been painful for years. Something I've gotten use to over the years and now my right thumb has joined the party. Just turned 52 so it's like arthritis of some sort. Just curious if they might be related.
Right Big Toe and Right Hand Thumb Pain?
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
Joined
·
4,600 Posts
I suggest a doctor for this one, not a saxophone discussion list with more opinions than stars in the sky.
I will but many members deal with hand issues and I always enjoy insights for musicians particularly on hand issues.
Joined
·
5,699 Posts
Don't know if related at all, but yeah a visit to an ortho will tell the tale. My right thumb is tendonitis related and the pain comes and goes. A cortisone shot helped for a few months.
Joined
·
4,600 Posts
In that case, practice your long tones. :spam1:
Joined
·
2,815 Posts
:thumbrig:
Joined
·
1,309 Posts
Because it appears to be unrelatedly affecting your extremities my guess is gout, which is a form of arthritis. Seriously. I know two musicians who are bothered by it. Stay away from rich foods like seafood and cheeses for a week or two and see if that lessens the pain. There are numerous online sites giving causes, symptoms, and remedial treatments.
Joined
·
115 Posts
Cod liver oil and tart cherry juice helped me with gout.
RH thumb pain is pretty typical among sax players. Since you seem to be a veteran player, the RH toe problem may also be related to sax playing. This could be true if you're a player who tenses-up at times during playing, and its possible you are holding your foot in such a way that it is strained. With me, its my left foot. You may not be aware of doing it.
Arthritis obviously is involved but the docs might be able to give you some exercises that will help.
Arthritis obviously is involved but the docs might be able to give you some exercises that will help.
Joined
·
23,292 Posts
Huh. I was going to suggest amputation.
Joined
·
14,435 Posts
See a doc but gout can come in at many levels. A quick blood test will offer valuable clues. I have to watch certain foods in large quantities or I start to get flareups.
As noted by Sigmund, gout can hit on different levels, from slight swelling and slightly annoying pain all the way to completely debilitating, excruciating pain. Certain types (and quantities) of food consumed result in worse flare-ups compared to others. I've witnessed it with my dad and cousins over the years. My dad hasn't eaten meat in several years, but will get incapacitated when he eats significant quantities of certain processed nuts/legumes and fish. Thankfully I haven't been hit with it so far (knock on wood).
OP already said they were going to see a doctor, which is what makes the most sense here.
Joined
·
2,961 Posts
Don't know, but from everything I've read, and I've read a lot, being a former sufferer of gout, the pain is intense and debilitating in all cases and therefore I tend to doubt the OP is suffering from it if he is, as stated 'putting up with the pain for years'.
Joined
·
26,884 Posts
But only of the big toe so you stop trying to play sax with it at those Toe Jams you frequent. It's unsightly for audiences at normal gigs to have to see someone do that, aside from the aroma of foot wafting through the club.Huh. I was going to suggest amputation.
My Brother-In-Law suffered from it during the past couple years of his life and couldn't work as a result because his job required wearing steel-toed boots. It was a real pain for him to deal with, in addition to the actual pain. I'm pretty sure that he had to avoid ceertain foods and take meds for it and was supposed to not drink, but I think he drank wine anyway which maybe exacerbated it. IDK the ins and outs of the problem even though my father suffered from it all his life. Rich foods, especially seafood like lobster, exactly what he loved, was a big no-no as I remember.
I don't know, but my Brother-In-Law didn't say it was intense, just that it hurt and kept him from working because he couldn't wear the work boots required by the OSHA rules because that was too painful. Then again I think it was only over the last two years.
I once had Plantar Fascia that made walking really painful. I remember on one vacation in NY limping all over the city and feeling every step. Of course I wore Timberland deck shoes at the time, so those probably didn't help either. The pain was in my instep though. Finally I went to a specialist and he told me that it was the tendon that goes from between the 2nd and 3rd toes back to the heel. He gave me 3 injections of cortisone, one a week, right between those two toes. I still remember it because that hurt more than the problem itself. However I don't know if a pain in the big toe could be that as well.
As 1saxman said above, it could be exacerbated by the way you stand while playing. I know that when playing tenor on stage I found my feet cramping up, my toes in particular, probably because of the way I was standing with my left leg ahead of the right one. I think I was curling my toes inside my Nikes for some reason, maybe tension due to the intensity of blowing a solo IDK. All I remember is that after about 3 tunes I had cramps in my feet and had to flex them and move around or it became painful. However, that was in the instep more I think and probably due to having flat feet, which is another thing it might be due to if you have them.Do you? And what about bone spurs.....cough cough?
You'll get answers like smoke some weed or maybe my favorite, "Butch up".
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
