Hey all,

Hoping someone out there has perhaps experienced something similar to my problem or can offer some good advice. I am experiencing some significant problems with my feet and lower legs that is making most backpacking and longer hiking trips near impossible.

While descending for significant periods of time or over steep terrain (basically everything here in Colorado), I begin to get severe pain in the ball of my foot (just in front of the arch). If I continue going, it progressively gets worse, spreads somewhat into my toes, and then into my lower leg (starting where on the front of the ankle and radiating up through my anterior tibialis). It gets bad enough that it becomes near impossible to continue descending period, let alone at a reasonable pace. Stopping for a short time and getting the weight off my feet alleviates the issue temporarily, but within a quarter to half mile I will be in severe pain again. This happens worse when wearing my backpacking boots (Oboz Wind River), but still happens with even trail runners (just takes longer to start).

I actually went to a podiatrist to have my feet evaluated and he told me that two little bones in my first metatarsal were protruding or inflamed (sesamoiditis, I believe it is called) and possibly causing my pain. He had custom orthotics made which have significant arch support up to the back of the metatarsals, the idea being to get weight onto the arch and off the metatarsals, I believe. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to have helped much. Descending the Barr Trail from Barr Camp yesterday in Colorado Springs was one of the more painful experiences of my life, and I believe it is only about 6.5 miles with ~3400 ft elevation loss.

I have a couple theories as to what the issue could be:
1) Boots that fit fine for a while, but as my foot expands, they become too narrow causing my foot to compress (this theory is supported by the fact that my pinky toe started to press into my boot and was very raw by the end of the hike, but also unsupported by the fact that my trail runners are plenty wide feeling, and I still experience the pain),
2) Weak lower leg muscles, particularly the anterior tibialis, causing my forefoot to "slap" the ground, resulting in pain from repeated force on the forefoot. I assume this would require strengthening the anterior tibialis somehow -- as of yet, I am not sure how.
3) Being overweight and not having the lightest gear in the world just dooms me to pain, for the time being (until I lose the weight -- it's slowly going down).

Appreciate any input you all have to offer, as at this point I'm getting rather desperate. I love hiking and backpacking, but foot pain is incredibly debilitating and takes most of the fun out of the trip. Thanks in advance!