Has my smart heels store job become a mysterious pain in the foot?

QA few years ago I had pain in both my foot arches and was told it was partly because I walked with my ankles turned in – unlike most people I wear down the inner corner of the heel of my shoes, not the outer one.

I was given arch supports to put in my shoes and they worked really well.

Recently I’ve had pain in my feet again, but this time on the top. This time arch supports don’t help.

I must be one of the few women wearing heels in the past year, as I have to look smart in my customer relations job in a supermarket. Could this be the cause?

AOne of the most common reasons for pain on the top of the foot is inflammation of the tendons that attach to the muscles that flex your foot upwards.

This can be caused by overuse, for example through running. But overstretching of both the muscles and tendons can also be to blame and can occur if you wear high heels.

I think the first thing you need to do is change your footwear.

Although you may feel smart in heels, the past year has seen a massive change in shoe fashion and it’s possible to look very polished in flat shoes. Make sure they don’t rub on the top of your foot, so maybe avoid brogues for now.

It may also help to rebalance your foot position with a support under the inner side of your instep, so your foot doesn’t tip over quite so much.

Pain in the top of foot can also be due to arthritis in the joints between the numerous little bones of the ankle, so if it persists, see your GP.

QI’m 60 and had a flu jab for the first time just before Christmas. A couple of days later I developed a cough and cold.

The runny nose has got better, but I’ve still got a dry cough.

I’ve had a couple of Covid tests, both negative, so I can’t help thinking the flu vaccine is to blame.

What can I do to cure the cough, and also should I have the Covid jab?

AThough the flu jab can cause soreness at the injection site, it has no live virus particles and cannot cause illness, such as a runny nose or a cough. So the symptoms you developed afterwards were more likely due to a viral infection you caught around the same time.

Similarly, neither of the Covid vaccines being used in the UK can cause a cough, though like the flu vaccine they can cause a sore arm and other reported side-effects have included headaches and tiredness.

Coughs caused by viruses can last three weeks and the chances are that by the time you are called for your Covid vaccine it will have gone. If this is the case, and you don’t have a fever, then I would strongly encourage you to be vaccinated. I should add that if the cough persists longer than a month – or you fell short of breath, have chest pain, a temperature, or cough up blood – then see your GP.

QI’m 66 and for the past few months I’ve been waking in the night, drenched in sweat. It’s like the menopause all over again. I took HRT from the age of 50 but stopped it at least four years ago as I was a bit worried about breast cancer. Now I hear that the risk of breast cancer with HRT has been overplayed, so should I restart it?

I’ve found a couple of packs left over in my medicine drawer.

AFlushes and sweats at the menopause are the body’s response to dramatic fall in the levels of the hormone oestrogen – and the same thing can happen when you come off HRT, especially if you stop it suddenly.

However, this happens within days or weeks of stopping treatment, not years later, so I really don’t think that changing hormone levels are to blame for your symptoms now.

While there has been some disagreement between experts about the link between HRT and breast cancer, there is a risk, which increases with the length of time you take HRT and also with your underlying age.

So I do not think you should be restarting HRT, especially because those packs in your cupboard are almost certainly out of date!

Many people sweat in hot summer nights, but I have seen this problem in people who use electric blankets, or have very heavy duvets and sleep in a poorly ventilated room.

It might help to take off a layer of bed linen and switch to covers and nightwear that is made of cotton, with no polyester.

Short-term night sweats can be due to an infection, such as a viral infection, a sore throat or cystitis, and also anxiety. But these are very unlikely to cause symptoms that last for months.

Long-term ones like you are suffering can be due to medications, including some anti-depressants, as well as some underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, an overactive thyroid, and auto-immune disorders like lupus.

Less commonly, but more importantly, they can also be a sign of some cancers affecting the blood or immune system, such as lymphoma or leukaemia.

So if your sweats continue, please contact your GP who can arrange tests to sort out the underlying cause.

If you have a health question for Dr Leonard, email her in confidence at yourhealth@express.co.uk. Dr Leonard regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence or reply to everyone.