Exercises stretch & massage for big toe sesamoiditis

Sesamoiditis is a slow-to-develop condition. It is one of those runner's injuries that you wait a few months for before you go to the physio. Sesamoiditis is very common in young dancers and is also seen in young sprinters and those who do running sports. The other at-risk group is older folk who have developed Hallux valgus (or "Bunion toe").
The video explains what causes Sesamoiditis, and armed with this knowledge, suggests what you can do to heal and normalise it.
Please visit & subscribe to my Pilates blog because this is a great way to keep in touch and you can always ask more questions!-
brucethomson.substack.com/

[@marina54181]

thank you so much! a great help to find relieve !! too much appreciated

[@biblesaysnz]

You’re welcome. Go well.

[@robertschrum5496]

Excellente! Superior demonstrations of effective techniques. Gracias.

[@BruceThomsonDoesPilates]

Thank you, de nada. Let me know how it goes.

[@vincenzopetrillo8623]

Thank you!

[@BruceThomsonDoesPilates]

You are welcome!

[@pinman2000]

Thank you for this do the toe shoes help at all ?

[@juniorilyasse8179]

So much informations thank you

[@btpilates-solutions]

Thanks for your feedback. Go well.

[@MichelleKohlerArt]

Thank you for this video ❤

[@skabara1]

Many thanks, Bruce. Very clear video which provides helpful guidance. It’s very rare. Much appreciated

[@BruceThomsonDoesPilates]

Thanks for your feedback. For what it's worth, I'm finding that the extra strength and agility this gives to my forefoot, is taking away the pain from an old ankle injury. Something that I wasn't expecting. Please visit & subscribe to my Pilates blog because this is a great way to keep in touch, and you can always ask more questions!- brucethomson.substack.com/ -:)

[@marianlipari7372]

I have been experiencing sesamoiditis the past 2 months. I am 11 months post Hallux Rigidus surgery, with 2 screws at that joint. Can you recommend additional exercises that can accommodate that fused joint?

[@merristaylor1594]

Thank you for this video! Been struggling with this condition for 7 months, I’ve watched many videos and seen doctors and tried all sorts of things with minimal relief. I’m excited to try these exercises as I haven’t seen anyone else recommend these. Thank you.

[@Andy_Russell]

Did they work?

[@merristaylor1594]

No. I was completely misdiagnosed and didn’t have sesamoiditis. I have big toe joint osteoarthritis and nothing helps 😥

[@Andy_Russell]

@@merristaylor1594 I’m sorry to hear that. Thanks for your reply.

[@btpilates-solutions]

@@Andy_Russell Hi Andy and @merristaylor1594 Try the suggestions that I made for @marianlipari7372 If the comments are sorted by "newest first", it will be slightly above this reply.

[@saiiiiiii1]

How was the onset?

[@austinstein4066]

Thanks for this. Do you think FHL might be involved as well given it crosses over the sesamoid?

[@BruceThomsonDoesPilates]

A good description of the anatomy of the FHL and the sesamoids is found here:- radiopaedia.org/articles/hallux-sesamoid There is likely some squeeze on the flexor hallucis longus as it glides in its joint-fluid-lubricated groove that runs between the sesamoids. But I do not think it would be greatly involved. More usually the problem with the FHL is pain at a spot halfway between the Achilles and the back of the medial (inner ankle) bone. This pain is easily confused with Achilles pain. Ways to tell if FHL strain is contributing to pain at the ball of the big toe include (all of these answer the question, "are you overusing your FHL? - A painful ball of big toe in the sesamoid region may be at least partly caused by FHL overuse if:- (1) your wear out the part of your shoe immediately under the pad of the big toe (2) you feel pain behind the medial ankle bone (describe above) (3) you find the Flexor hallucis longus muscles painful upon massage

[@benjaminhenderson4472]

Has anyone tried these and they actually work?

[@lfoster2091]

Thanks Bruce for the video, just a question about the exercises - when is it best to do these? I got sesamoiditis from running and am really struggling to heal. It has swollen again and I wondered if I should be doing the exercises yet or if I should wait until the swelling has gone down first?

[@BruceThomsonDoesPilates]

Sorry for the slow reply. It's an empowering principle of the Joseph Pilates method that you can always experiment with **doing an exercise in a de-loaded way, with minimal pain**. If you sit in a chair, you can do the exercises more gently than if you are standing. You can work at moving a joint very gently with no load (I call this mobilisation). You can put a modest load on the sore part with no movement (isometric loading: this prevents the bony components of a joint from rubbing against each other while at the same time stimulating tendons to heal and muscles to stay strong). Or you can load a tendon without the tendon going around a sharp corner. These are all strategies that you can play with, provide you go slowly and thoughtfully. You can at least walk or run slowly if you don't vigorously toe off (this loads the sesamoid tendons while they go around their sharp corner). Ideally you would wear a stiff-soled (non-flexible) shoe and jog or walk with gentle steps and a short stride (without lifting your heel high at the toe off). Bicycling and aqua jogging would be good toe-resting exercises. Are our hip flexors tight? - Tight hip flexors would force you to lift your heels higher at toe off.

[@lfoster2091]

@@BruceThomsonDoesPilates really interesting, thanks very much for taking the time to reply!

[@1111italia1111]

@@lfoster2091 how it goes bro ? me too with trail running :(

[@SpicyLikeTakis]

On one foot mysesmoid bones never merged so instead of the 2 bones you should have I have 3. On the other foot the 4 bones that you start with as a child never merged into the 2 you should have as you are older. So on my other foot the sesmoid is in 4 pieces. Had great pain growing up playing sports it caused me to stop playing. Im 20 now and my warehouse job + work boots have caused the pain to come back. Going to give these a try!

[@btpilatesonzoom534]

No harm in giving it a try. All the best!

[@someowl6330]

My doctor said: “never be barefoot for sesamoid fracture”

[@LuisLopez-om8zr]

Do you recommend orthotics?

[@lesterdaniellopezosorio2139]

Alguien que lo ponga en español que me ayudara

[@BruceThomsonDoesPilates]

I understand your frustration but am unable to help... possible solutions:- translate.google.com/?sl=es&tl=en&op=translate editor.flixier.com/ A friend who is bilingual? Or is there a viewer with any ideas?

[@fedeferrara5296]

​@@BruceThomsonDoesPilates You could turn on auto subtitles, the default is english (like closed caption). Then you are able to choose another language, Español is in the list.

[@fedeferrara5296]

Hola! podes activar la opción de subtitulos automáticos, te van a aparecer en inglés. Lo que podes hacer después es elegir cualquier otro idioma, para hacer esto tenes que ir a los ajustes del video (el engranaje, donde también se cambia la definición del video y otras cosas), ir a subtitulos > opciones y ahi elegir Español.