I have been struggling for quite some time with fat pad atrophy directly under the distal head of my 1st MTP joint.
The bottom of this joint is the first contact the ball of my foot has with the ground. Because of this my foot will down roll through a step. Instead, this contact pushes my foot somewhat to the outside. If I attempt to roll across the ball of my foot like a normal step then I get intense strain along the outside of my calf muscle and up the side of my leg.
My podiatrists suggest orthotics to help cushion moving forward from the current attempts at padding we use now...but the more cushion the more pain...then my makes contact on the heel and 1st MTP area, my arch does not flex properly and I end up with my shoes being broken in with a lump right inthe middle, which pushes up into my arch.
All attempts so far have failed at padding and helped me deal with this. I can effectively do almost nothing physically. The muscles in each leg are now developed differently and I can not figure out what do do.
Just walking around the aparment takes motivation and an acceptance that my foot feels like each step will just jam my movement one way and create improper movement in another way.
Thank you for your time.