J,

I get this is many parts of my body and i get it in that same part of my foot. What i do is I get a tennis ball, cover it with a soft blanket so its soft on my foot and roll it back and forth to kind of break up those knots. I have seen a massage therapist that sees alot of rsd patients, and she said that just because we are in so much pain its how the body reacts by tightening up the muscles. What I found that works for me is while I am laying down to move my toes up and down back and forth up and down, etc, and bend my ankles, roll them in circles, just to loosen up the leg muscles around it. Also, Aveda has a foot lotion that has peppermint in it that helps tired feet that has really helped *maybe its just in my head who knows * but it feels good on the my redonk dry skin. and then the tennis ball. If you sit at the end of a bed and just roll your foot, or get 2 balls and do both feet, and just have the ball do the massage for you. it is the best thing rather than using your hands, because you wont weaken your hands and for pressure you just stand up a little on it. It will hurt allllot the first few times, but just keep doing it and it will really help your feet. It has helped me so much with the knots in my feel. I get the knots on the inside of my feet in the arch of my feet and man, its painful... hence why I cant sleep most nights. I hope this helps! You can always try maybe a rubber ball but just make sure it has some what of support to put pressure on your foot.

Also, I take a muscle relaxant to help. Baclofen is great. Or even Flexerol. That doesnt really help the knots though... the tennis ball will help get the knots though. It helps to do it after I get out of the shower or a bath or after I put a heatpack on my feet to warm the muscles up first.

H