Today I added cayenne, garlic and hypericum to my homeopathic regime. These supplements are intended to aid circulation and the nervous system, with my foot and ankle being the most needy these days.
The five toes on my right foot wiggle very slowly. Today my foot is elevated here on the desk next to the keyboard. The skin on my toes is a technicolor tapestry of icey white to spicy pink and burgundy. If it wasn't a foot, but rather a bouquet of flowers, I would consider it to be quite a pretty palette.
Its been three months since I've enjoyed a normal gait.
What happened? Tedious circumstances, uneventful injuries piled atop one another until my toes throbbed, tingled and said "no more walking." I sprained my ankle then experienced ligament damage in my foot, where five years ago I ground my foot's soft tissue into a curb. If I were to mimic the injuries in my other foot I would press the soft tissue surrounding the ball of my foot against the swift blades of a food processor.
Simple solution: go to the doctor. A podiatrist in town X-Rayed the foot and put me in a cast for six weeks. The diagnosis was sesamoiditis. The bone in the ball of my foot could be dead. We shied away from paying for an MRI. I have no health insurance. I feel as though I have attained the maximum healing on my own and I just can't "climb" to the peak without more help.
Reaching out
Last week I asked to borrow a friend's cane. What a relief from the pain! It is beautiful as an accessory, a linseed oil stained tree root reaching from the palm to the floor in a sturdy and lightweight curve. I step carefully with it in what must be a painfully slow pace for able-bodied companions. Tuesday tallied the third re-injury when I rolled my ankle over the edge of a sidewalk. It's no surprise -- the muscles in my right calf, ankle and foot are withered and half the size they were in November.
I do what I can to help my body heal. In addition to taking Arnica Montana for inflammation, I have added the supplements Cayenne, hypericum and garlic to aid my circulation and nerves. It feels like the tip of my longest toe has nerve damage, a "sleeping" tingle, and I hope that doesn't bode poorly for the parts of my foot that I can't see.
Acupuncture is a viable treatment for nerves, as I have heard, so this is next on the list-- as is buying a health insurance policy to help me cover the cost of the MRI.
