What could be wrong with my foot? 2months ago i drove my jeep, a manual, on a jeep trail in the desert. the next morning i awoke with swelling, pain, redness to the top of my left foot. it has been this way since, just not as severe. the pain is mostly ra

Without : Without more specifics, it's hard to give a specific answer, but based on the information you provided, here are my thoughts: since you pointed out you drove a manual and the pain is in your left foot (used for the clutch), and given that you were probably doing a lot of shifting on that dirt road (sounds like fun!), you could have some kind of overuse syndrome or a tendonitis (since so many tendons connect leg muscles to foot muscles). Try resting it and ice massages and some advil (ibuprofen) for 24 hours. (the best way to use an ice massage is to break up some ice in a zip-lock bag and rub it up and down the sore areas for 2-3 minutes, wait 10 minutes and repeat.) and as long as you mentioned you were in a desert, there is always the remote thought that you were bitten by one of those desert things survivorman is always munching on. Did you step out of the vehicle or remove your shoes at any time? If you really were bitten, you would most likely see a localized area of redness and swelling, and perhaps even a little bite mark in your skin. I honestly doubt this is the case, but it was worth mentioning. If you don't see any improvement after 24 hours of rest, ice and advil (ibuprofen), it's time to see your doctor and get a real live diagnosis. Feel better and good luck!

Of : Of course more history and an exam are required to give more than general medical possibilities. In addition to suggestions of repetitive stress injuries to tendons or possible insect bite already mentioned by colleagues, i would add possibility of lumbosacral degenerative spinal disease (low back arthritic disease) aggravated by the bouncing around in the jeep. Low back pain can present as pain in the back, pain in a leg (radicular back pain) or pain in both back and leg. Your foot pain may be radicular low back pain, not uncommon in people with some degenerative low-back aging changes who drive clutches aggressively.