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I've been struggling with a foot problem for about 30 years and now I have arthritis in it at as well and I'd really like to find an answer. I've been to Orthopedic specialists and podiatrists and they can't figure out what's wrong.

Short version: Broke left 5th metatarsal getting thrown out of a raft in about 1991; wore a boot/cast, healed. About 2-3 yrs. later, I developed a pocket of fluid on the top of that foot. It restricted my movements, hard to describe but in my non-medically trained mind, the pressure from it was pressing on the nerves and my foot not only wouldn't obey my brain but it hurt like the dickens. Dr. DX ganglion cyst and drained it. It would occasionally begin to fill up again but he'd told me to massage it and wear a brace to squeeze the fluid out. I did and it worked. After about 10 yrs., no more issues.

But a few years ago, it began to act up again. No fluid but I described it as "something in the top of my foot feels like it got caught in the wrong spot and now it can't get loose." It would happen every now and then and I'd just walk on my heel until it released, usually a matter or hours, never for more than a day.

In Feb, 2020, I went on a cruise and my left foot had a huge, I mean really huge, pocket of fluid on the top. I could only wear flip flops but that's all I usually wear because I can't ever stand to have a shoe on that covers the top of my foot. I bought $200 sneakers and then added a $50 insert so I could take walks but after an hour, I'd be miserable and take them off.

Gee whiz, now that I write all that, I can see I should have put all the pieces to this puzzles together a long time ago!

Anyway, after the cruise I hobbled in to my podiatrist. He drained it (clear liquid like water, not gelatinous like ganglion cysts usually are), wrapped it tight and had me come back a week later. It filled up again. he drained it again. The 3rd time he drained it, he simply stretched the spot to open the little incision and the fluid shot out like a rocket, sprayed 8 ft. up the wall which was pretty funny but I digress. 5 times he drained it and then ordered an MRI which revealed nothing.

So I've just been putting up with it but after I moved, I went to a new doctor up here, an orthopedic foot specialist. She examined it, took an xray and sent me off with no answers. I do have a lot of stiffness in both feet at this point and end up walking like a penguin after I've been sitting, until they loosen up. So I think the doc ascribed my problem to said arthritis and that's so frustrating because they just don't listen when we explain things.

Just got back from a family trip where my foot was a hassle the whole week so I sat down and googled "pictures of tendons in the feet" and I think the problem is with the one tendon so I read about it and came across an article about tendinosis (as opposed to tendinitis) and how it's a chronic thing because it's do to damage rather than inflammation and so now I have a kazillion questions like maybe I injured that tendon when I broke the foot in 1991? I'd sure like to get some answers; even if it's a permanent condition, I'd at least like to know so I can quit spending time trying to figure it out. And I'd really love some suggestions about how to prevent a flare up.

So, ify ou've read this far, thank you! Any thoughts, recommendations, ideas, etc. a very welcome.

Josiep, have any of these doctors done a Lyme disease titer on you? That clear fluid shooting out sounds suspiciously like what I've heard Lyme disease can do to an isolated spot in the body....and sufferers often go to doctor after doctor and get no answers. Just a suggestion.

Funny thing, I am going through similar weirdness. Last November, my left heel suddenly started barking when I put weight on it after I'd sat in a vehicle for hours. I first thought it was a blood clot or some circulation issue. But over weeks, the pain kept moving around, less on the heel and more toward the side of the ankle, then months later, tender down along the left edge of the left foot, to where sometimes 2 middle toes are painful or stiff! A podiatrist I saw thought it was plantar fasciitis, but xrayed and said no fracture, although a heel spur was seen.

Suspiciously, this all started 4 months after I'd crashed through a rotten floorboard in the barn and my left leg had gotten scraped up...maybe I landed on my heel, as the floor was the same height above the dirt as my lower leg, but I have no memory of that impact, since upper leg injuries hurt so bad I didn't feel anything in the foot! About 2 weeks later, however, the left ankle got all bluish on the inside, but I assumed it was gravity draining the huge hematoma I'd sustained in my upper inner calf just below the left knee. Months went by, my chiropractor started to think it was not the usual case of plantar fasciitis. I even had accupuncture done, which did help a bit.

Trying to say that I have learned that the foot is an incredibly complicated mechanism!

Don't know who to recommend you to see next but, to me, your chronic symptoms seem to be beyond the typical podiatrist's arsenal; sound more like you need imaging and tests.

Keep us posted!

Did anyone ever send the fliid off for pathology, culture, and sensitivity, and rheumatoid?

This is clearly an inflammatory process and using it clearly causes it to fire up. Any use of an NSAID orally to see if you can prevent it from getting pissy? Like high dose ibuprofen prior to whe. You know you are going to be using it more than normal? Ever try the diclofenac or Voltaren gel on it 2 times a day for a while to see if that helps?

I suspect there is more than just an arthritis here. Sometimes people get an infectious arthritis which means there's some bug hanging around in the joint space and then using it more than normal or a change to your immune system allows it to go crazy. And yes fluid can be clear but still have bugs. I also wonder about Lyme or like it some Rheumatoid or autoimmune process.
Often if it's suspicious for an autoimmune issue they would put you on a low dose DMARD (disease modifying med) like Hydroxychloriquine. But sine the ortho and podiatrist got nothing the next thing would be to aspirated fluid when it flares, and test it for EVERYTHING possible. Also a trial of a steroid injection or oral round of steroids can tell us a lot by how it reacts. Also the next time it happens s you need blood work.
CBC, CMP, ESR, CRP, and antibodies. This will allow them to determine if its inflammatory in nature.
The problem with ortho and podiatry is they are surgeons. They look at it as surgical issue and if surgery won't fix it then they tend to not go further to give you answers.