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Ken Rowland wrote: > My PD symptoms have heretofar been limited to a hyper-sensitive left > foot and general muscle tension in the left leg when sitting. In > the last few weeks I have experienced a bruised feeling in my right > heel which, strangely enough, seems worse after not having any > weight on my feet, and better after standing or walking. Does that > sound like a PD symptom or possibly arthritis? I'm clueless about the heel, but I'm curious what you mean by "hyper-sensitive left foot", whether it relates in any way to your medication, and how this in combination with left leg muscle tension when sitting, neither of which are the classical PD symptoms, led to the diagnosis of PD. My own foot experience may be of little relevance in your case, except to illustrate that where PD is involved it can be difficult to determine the causes of aches and pains, and that the experience of a particular practitioner may be misleading. But it may be of interest to someone else, so here it is: I had what my neurologist called "dystonia" in my left foot after 2 or 3 years of my PD diagnosis. I later developed pain and tenderness in the bottom ball area, which first a podiatrist and then a physical therapist who specializes in dance injuries (such a PT could treat foot problems if anyone can, I thought) called "sesemoiditis", which a physiatrist called "metatarsalgia", and which my neurologist said had nothing to do with PD. All these practitioners were highly qualified. My theory, for what it's worth, is that the dystonia was really dyskinesia due to too much sinemet, and that walking on the foot in that condition caused pain that mimicked the other conditions. My reasons are these: The pain would mysteriously come and go. The condition did not yield to physical therapy and padded shoe inserts. It cleared up by itself after about 2 years, by which time my PD had progressed somewhat, perhaps making the level of sinemet more appropriate. I was by then having less "dystonia". I wonder why it is that PD symptoms and/or dyskinesic drug reactions can manifest themselves principally in one area of the body in a very pronounced manner, rather than all over in the same intensity. Phil Tompkins Hoboken NJ age 61/dx 1990