Foot pain under laces where I tie them. On and off for last 5 years...

I have this weird pain where no matter how loose I tie my shoes, it hurts! My laces can be so loose that my shoe is about to fall off any moment walking and my foot still hurts. It hurts right under where I knot my laces, I have this pain on and off for the last 5 years. Some shoes are fine, some used to hurt and are fine now, then other shoes which were fine hurt now! Needless to say I have a large shoe collection!

Without shoes it's fine. I can press on this area super hard without shoes and no pain at all, yet very slight pressure from shoes = pain?!

I have tried to treat it as TMS but I am not having much luck. Well it might get better for a short while then it comes back. I do find worrying about 99% about any pains I have tend to make them worse as well.

I think I made another mistake...I sometimes ask ChatGPT (AI chat tool) to discuss TMS (I don't want to bother people here). Sometimes it's very helpful. I was convinced my sore throat was TMS, and it gave some good TMS advice. I asked about this foot pain, and it doesn't think it's TMS. Now I am questioning everything! If it even thinks it could be extensor tendinopathy. I thought all Tendon related injuries are just TMS? Isn't that what Dr Sarno said?

ChatGPT said I should probably see a physio about this. I can't face another doctors appointment to get a referral. I see the doctor so much about various other problems. The doctor is going to think I am literally crazy if I go and see them with yet another body part hurting!!!

I did cure myself of Plantar Fasciitis and hip/leg pain a few years ago using TMS approach, so I have had experience with foot pain before. I get regular sore throats which I think are TMS as well. I do try and read TMS stuff and apply the theories, I just find it hard. I think I also have depression (maybe TMS related as well) which makes doing TMS work very difficult as well.

Just looking for any advice/help/reassurance. Am I just a lost cause?!

 

Hi @Logan Cale,

I followed up by asking ChatGPT to develop a brief (two paragraphs max.) response to your post--with the assumption that this is 100% TMS.

This is the response provided by ChatGPT:

What you describe sounds absolutely classic TMS to me. In Sarno’s world, the inconsistency is the giveaway: laces can be practically falling off and it still hurts, hard pressure with your fingers causes nothing, but light contact from a shoe does, and the “bad” shoes keep changing over time. That is not how a true structural problem behaves. It is exactly the kind of bizarre, illogical, context-dependent symptom pattern that points to TMS. The brain is linking danger to the situation, not reflecting actual damage.

I also would not let the ChatGPT/tendinopathy label throw you off, because labels like that can create the doubt and fear that keep TMS going. You already know worrying makes symptoms worse, and your past recovery from plantar fasciitis and hip/leg pain with a TMS approach is very important evidence. You are not a lost cause at all. The next step is to stop trying to solve the shoe, stop testing and monitoring it, and shift your attention back to stress, emotions, inner pressure, and the fear cycle itself. Depression and discouragement can make this harder, but not impossible. Be patient, be persistent, and keep reminding yourself: the irrationality of this pattern is exactly why it looks like TMS.

 

I have exactly the same problem, but in my pelvic region. I can press hard on the spot that hurts without fabric covering it and there's no pain whatsoever, but any amount of clothing pressure causes symptoms. On better days since beginning this work I don't experience this as much and can often go most of a day without this sensitivity. I think this is classic TMS/conditioning.