Thank you, thank you, thank you @SportsAndExerciseMedicineDoc. Any guidance you can give would be great as I am feeling very lost. I have thrown a lot of money at this in the past week and have had no answers.
Basically I have bunions which I understand cause greater pressure through the second toe.
I was ice skating a couple of weeks ago and got a shooting pain in the ball of my foot which has steadily worsened.
The pain is at the base of my second toe and worsens when walking (all symptoms of a tear I think?). I also have other pain through the arch from time to time.
The second and third toes also have a slightly bigger gap between them then those on my other foot, but tbh I have never looked at my feet before now so perhaps it was ever thus.
I actually paid for an MRI through a private firm but it was shit and the report didn't mention my plantar plate at all. Total waste of money.
The podiatrist gave me an ultrasound but the guy doing it said he wasn't a radiologist (?). He couldn't see a tear but then on looking at my other foot for comparison thought there might possibly be something but he really didn't know.
Since this has happened, I have developed very similar symptoms on the other foot. I wonder if I damaged that side too but not as badly and it too is getting worse.
I am devastated about this as I live alone and at the moment can't really get about as it hurts to walk too far. So I am feeling very isolated.
Also I am supposed to be cycling across Europe in six weeks time and I am just not sure that's going to happen.
No one's really told me anything concrete and I am not sure how to manage this going forward so any advice welcome.
@Whenwillitallmakesense: the plantar plate is a ligament that connects your toes at the ball of your foot. Unlike the fascia which goes from the heel across the sole.