Foot Pain – How to Identify Issues

Foot Pain can come with all manner of discomfort or disfigurement, and while it’s important to stress that anyone experiencing even minimal discomfort is best served by visiting a professional, here are a few ways to assess if one has some of the more common foot-related ailments affecting them.

• Toes – Toe pain can come from a number of sources, and are generally among the easier issues to spot.  Bunions are bony prominences, and can often be accompanied by hammer toe, when a toe the near joint of a toe is bent to create a hammer-like appearance.   Ingrown toenails occur when skin grows over the nail—these can be very painful and can lead to infection. 
• Ball – Pain and inflammation in the ball of the foot, likely caused by ill-fitting shoes or heavy activity, might be metatarsalgia.  Morton’s Neuroma can cause foot pain, odd sensations, or numbness.
• Arch – The arches have two major causes of discomfort.  The first is fallen arches or flat feet, when the arches flatten out and cause foot pain and other issues.  The other likely cause is plantar fasciitis, or the inflammation of the tissue connecting the heel to the toes, which is often also associated with heel pain.
• Heel – As stated above plantar fasciitis is a likely culprit, especially if the pain is worse in the morning when getting out of bed.  Heel spurs, or abnormal bone growths on the bottom of the heel can cause pain while standing or walking.   Another potential injury may be fracturing of the heel bone—likely caused by a strong impact and is characterized by pain, swelling, or difficulty walking.

What’s the best way to prevent these issues?  A surprising number of them can be caused by ill-fitting shoes, which means good comfortable shoes should be sought out to minimize the risk of foot pain.

Self-assessment is never the end of treatment.  If you have foot pain of any kind, regardless of whether or not you believe you know the cause, it is always a good idea to get the opinion of a professional.   Sheldon H. Nadal D.P.M., Toronto Podiatrist, can help you fully determine the cause of your problem, and begin a treatment that’s right for you.  Schedule a visit today.

Coming soon.