OK, several posts ago I hinted that my doctor may have come up with a solution to my numb toe problem. At my recent physical examination, I described what was happening — numbness after a certain time on the bike. Turns out, the problem is not in my toe after all, but in my foot.
The doc says a nerve running along the side of the foot is being compressed by the shoe. That’s what leads to the numbness in the toe. The way to fix it, he said, is to apply a corn patch to the side of the foot, back from the toe. Putting pressure there will ease the pressure on the toe, and should alleviate the numbness.
Interesting idea. I haven’t tried it yet.
Why? Because lately, the toe hasn’t been bothering me as much. After my ham-handed homemade remedy of a few weeks ago, the numbness has flared up only a couple times. I’ll still get it, but it’s not the bother it was, and it doesn’t happen on every ride.
In fact, on my ride this evening, the numbness started, but I discovered it was because the tongue of the shoe had wrinkled a bit, and was putting pressure on the toe. Once I stopped riding and took off the shoe to fix the problem, the numbness disappeared.
So, I guess I have a new remedy in my back pocket, should I ever need it. Besides, the doc isn’t making any promises.
“If it works, I get the credit,” he said. “If it doesn’t, it was just another one of your hairbrained schemes.”
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