So I finally have a diagnosis, and my foot problems have a name

For the first time in about 6 months of knee/foot problems, I finally got a diagnosis, at least on my feet.

I saw my pawdiatrist (Dr. T) today, 6 weeks after getting my orthotics. I told him that I was still in pain, with several flareups having happened since I started wearing the orthotics, which otherwise have felt just fine.

He did another examination and told that I have something called "Cuboid Band Syndrome" [2], or muscle spasms in the outer part of my feet. It can be caused by overuse, and in my case: by walking around without arch support for 33 years. This is the pain that started at Anthrocon and continues through today. The orthotics didn't make it any worse (and in fact are still medically necessary for me), but I had enough issues going on with those muscles that they did not heal even with the orthotics.

The treatment for this consists to two things. First, a muscle relaxer (Cyclobenzaprine) to relieve the symptoms. Second, physical therapy to strengthen the muscle. I was fortunate to get the same physical therapy place as before, and even get assigned to the same specialist. Since she gave me knee exercises to do earlier in the year (exercises that I still do every night), adding in some foot exercises shouldn't be much of a problem either.

The Cyclobenzaprine could be interesting, though. My pawdiatrist said that it will "knock you out", and not to even think of driving a car or drinking booze after taking my dose. So this means I will probably not be consuming any alcohol while at WPAFW this coming weekend, but hopefully in less pain too.