KM injury–hyperextended toe

[d-f]

Hi all,

I started KM only a couple weeks ago, and am loving it so far. Or perhaps I should say I _was_ loving it, because after my Monday AM class I noticed my right foot hurting a reasonable amount right at the joint with the big toe. It got a bit worse through the day, and is at its worst when I take the basic KM fight stance (I’m right-handed, so this requires frequent flexion of the right big toe).

It’s been diagnosed preliminarily as a hyperextended toe, and will take 2-3 weeks to heal, during which time no training. I’m bummed as hell about it, since I was just getting to the point where I didn’t suck embarrassingly in class. But since I’m forced to take some downtime, I wanted to ask a couple questions about this.

First, is this a common injury in KM–perhaps something like “tennis elbow”? I can imagine that there might be a repetitive stress concern from constant flexion of the back toe/foot joint.

Second, is there any way to prevent this kind of thing from recurring? Related, does the injury mean I’ve been doing something wrong? I tried very hard last class not to “blade” my feet, but to keep them facing forward instead, and this may have meant that I exaggerated the stance or something, causing the hyperextension.

Third, is there any way to prevent foot injuries of this kind? In particular, is there a recommended shoe to wear during training? I’ve been using an old pair of running shoes so far. My brother in law is the doc who diagnosed the toe as hyperextended, and he suggested that a stiffer sole shoe might place less stress on that joint.

Finally, given that I am not allowed to do anything that requires use of the lower body/feet save for walking (and even that is supposed to be limited), any thoughts on how I can exercise/train so I don’t completely lose fitness? I’m thinking ab work, pullups, dips, etc., but any other suggestions would be great.

Anyway, thanks for any thoughts about this.

[jjbklb]

Re: KM injury–hyperextended toe

I have the exact same injury but with the next toe in.It occurred during BJJ class.
I was doing the class in bare feet.By the end of each subsequent class,my toe would swell up & wake me up at night.

I had to go back to wearing shoes during class.Now,no swelling.I think that I’ll go another month before trying shoeless workouts again.

[d-f]

Re: KM injury–hyperextended toe

quote jjbklb:

I have the exact same injury but with the next toe in.It occurred during BJJ class.
I was doing the class in bare feet.By the end of each subsequent class,my toe would swell up & wake me up at night.

I had to go back to wearing shoes during class.Now,no swelling.I think that I’ll go another month before trying shoeless workouts again.

Interesting–I got this injury despite wearing shoes, which is kind of a problem. What shoe do you wear during training? Is there a particular kind of shoe recommended for KM?

[jjbklb]

Re: KM injury–hyperextended toe

I wear ASICS Rulon Wrestling Shoes

http://www.amazon.com/ASICS-Mens-Rulon-Wrestling-Shoe/dp/B0028QFQ0I

[tomo]

Re: KM injury–hyperextended toe

I wear these…to be quite honest they seem to work amazingly well. thumbsup

[d-f]

Re: KM injury–hyperextended toe

Good tips, guys, thanks for the info. I think the problem is not the shoes, but that my form/stance sucks and this screwed up my toe.

[Author]

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