Free Spirits Rowing

Has anyone suffered from metatarsalgia (foot pain near the ball of your foot)? I'd welcome any thoughts on recovery and how to avoid it in future.

I woke up on Saturday with a sore foot and was hardly able to walk. It was very painful when pressure was applied next to the ball of my right foot. The physio on Monday thought it might be Morton's Neuroma (nerve issue) but a podiatrist has said it is metatarsalgia caused by my high foot arch. It has never happened before and I can't find anything online about rowing causing metatarsalgia. I have been told to... rest, keep the foot taped with a pad for 3 days, then roll the foot on a frozen bottle of water and to wear spongy trainers.

The problem is I can't row and and the Scottish Championships are in 11 weeks .

And a fatigue fracture ? Difficult to make a diagnosis without examination...but looks like a acute process with sudden beginn- i would also advice to rice schema: rest , ice, compression (diclo-bandage) and elevation maybe a xray to rule out a fatigue fracture, maybe vary the footstrap- is the pain exactly under the footstrap? And in addition to the frozen bottle training- try also propriozeption training when things works better, with a waggleboard...more to stabilize the ankle...

Thanks Claudius. Yes, the pain is under the foot strap (on the bottom of my foot) so I will play around with the height. The physio and podiatrist did not think it was a stress fracture becasuse there was no swelling or redness. A couple of years ago I had orthotic insoles made for a knee problem and the podiatrist suggested wearing these when I row. Balance board ordered and a few trips to the physio will hopefully fix things. Toes crossed .