The ball of the foot hurts: how to treat it, which doctor to see

We often do not fix our attention on the minor pain that accompanies us during movement, be it walking or other body manipulations. Meanwhile, discomfort or pain, which at first seems trivial, sometimes develops into a real problem or serious pathology.

Doctors constantly urge you to “listen” to your body and, at the slightest hint of pain, seek help. If there is pain in the foot under the toes while walking, you should go to the clinic, as this may indicate a serious illness. Many people attribute this condition to fatigue of the lower extremities from prolonged walking; this opinion is wrong. Let's look at this issue from all sides and find out what the pain that manifests itself in the area of the foot under the toes is fraught with.

Unpleasant sensations

You should be concerned if you have pain in the ball of your foot. How to treat this disease will be discussed further. We must always remember that painful sensations in the legs are not always a sign of pathology, even if they cause serious concern to patients.

Typically, the foot swells when there is increased stress on the leg. This often happens among athletes who place an inappropriately high load on their lower limbs. If you haven’t had anything like this, then most likely your foot hurts due to some pathology. So this situation is worth considering as closely as possible.

To establish a possible cause, you need to determine the location of the pain and understand the reason for the discomfort. Painful sensations in the legs are often diffuse. In this case, diffuse pain is felt throughout the entire foot. It can also be local. The patient is able to indicate the specific location where pain occurs.

When the foot hurts when walking, this may be due to problems in the nervous or muscular system, or pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. Some of the most common causes of leg pain are plantar fasciitis, Morton's neuroma, rheumatoid arthritis, and other traumatic injuries.

Fasciitis

Pain in the foot when stepping can be caused by a heel spur. This is what people call fasciitis. With this pathology, bone tissue grows, which gradually oppresses the blood vessels and nerve endings located in the soft tissues of the heel. The disease manifests itself with the following symptoms:

local edema in the area where the bone growth is formed;
pain when moving and even at rest.

Plantar fasciitis can occur when infectious pathogens enter the body or cause traumatic damage to the heel bone. Another disease appears with longitudinal or transverse flat feet, rheumatoid arthritis.

Plantar fasciitis

This is one of the most common reasons for pain in the ball of the foot. Orthopedists and traumatologists know how to treat this disease, and you should contact them first. With this disease, a person’s foot can hurt, regardless of his build, age and load. In this case, everything depends on the specifics of this pathology.

Fasciitis is a lesion of the elastic tissues of the foot that connect the heads of the metatarsal bones and the heel tubercle. These connections are traumatic in themselves, and athletes, patients with flat feet and excess weight are at risk. They regularly have pain in the balls of their feet when walking.

Tenosynovitis

Pain in the foot under the big toe may be associated with traumatic injury to the soft tissues of the foot. A correct diagnosis can be made only on the basis of an x-ray examination. If the pathology affects the marching foot, then the following is likely to occur:

swelling of the outer arch of the foot;
foot pain.

Tenosynovitis often occurs from wearing shoes that are not the right size. Aching pain in the foot can only be eliminated with the help of effective treatment prescribed by a doctor.

Symptoms

The symptoms of this disease are extremely unpleasant for patients. Therefore, you need to go to the hospital as quickly as possible. After a thorough examination and diagnosis, the doctor, depending on your specific case, will choose surgical or conservative treatment methods.

At the initial stage of treating pain in the ball of the foot, doctors try to overcome the pathology using physiotherapeutic methods. If the patient seeks help in time and carefully follows all the specialist’s recommendations, then he will be able to cope with the disease without resorting to surgical intervention. As a rule, in these cases, shock wave therapy, electrophoresis, UHF therapy, and phonophoresis are used.

A massage that will relieve tension from the heel and help restore the ball of the foot is also effective. This set of measures can provide analgesic, calming and anti-inflammatory effects. When carrying out a full course of treatment, the effectiveness reaches 90 percent.

Erythromelalgia

This is a rare disease in which there is pain in the sole of the toes. When the disease occurs, small blood vessels dilate, the temperature rises, redness and nagging pain appear in the foot. The disease develops from rheumatoid diseases, frostbite, and burns.

Usually the pathology spreads symmetrically, that is, on 2 legs. The pain is sharp, throbbing. As the disease progresses, the pain will become stronger, and the affected area may expand. To make a diagnosis, you need to undergo an examination in the form of x-rays, ultrasound, and analysis. To do this, contact a surgeon or rheumatologist. The disease is treated with ointments, antipyretics and painkillers.

Medicines

There are other methods that help when the ball of the foot hurts. Your doctor will tell you how to treat this problem. For example, he may recommend orthopedic patches that are glued directly to the foot. They are made on a natural basis, activating blood circulation, normalizing metabolic processes that develop in the limbs.

These patches have a warming effect, and the duration of therapy directly depends on the severity of the lesion and the individual characteristics of the body. On average, recovery takes three to six months.

Conservative treatment

For aching pain in the foot, depending on the cause of this phenomenon, the doctor may prescribe medications. The following drugs will be effective:

non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
analgesics;
warming ointments and rubs;
chondroprotectors.

In case of injury to bones and ligaments, elastic bandaging of the painful limb, taping, and application of a splint or plaster cast are used.

If your foot hurts under your toes, then massage can eliminate the discomfort. The procedure improves local blood circulation, normalizes lymph flow and exchange in soft tissues.

Self-massage of the feet is allowed. It consists of light stroking, rubbing and gentle kneading. Warming and analgesic ointments and gels that are used during massage can improve the effect.

Gels and ointments

Also, for fasciitis, it is recommended to use gels and ointments to treat pathology when it is painful for the patient to step on the foot. These medications help not only relieve pain, but also have an anti-inflammatory effect. They are effective for tissue swelling to restore lymph flow and blood circulation.

For pain on the sole of the foot under the toes, use Chondroxide, Voltaren, Diclofenac, Viprosal, and prednisolone ointment. Remember that many ointments have contraindications, so you should consult your doctor before taking them.

Injuries

If your foot hurts and it’s painful to step on, then this is probably due to various types of damage. Localization is determined by the location of the damage. The injury can be from an intense blow, regular microtrauma to a certain area.

Pain in the foot when walking under the toes occurs when:

fractures of the phalanges of the fingers, punctures, cracks in the heel bone caused by falling on the feet;
sprain or rupture of large and small ligaments.

The second type of injury occurs due to unsuccessful jumps and quick jerks from a standstill. When the ligaments are torn, local swelling and pain occur in the affected area. In case of traumatic injuries to the feet, the situation can only be corrected by a doctor.

Surgery

If conservative treatment methods do not bring the desired result, the possibility of surgical intervention must be considered. In particular, for this disease, blockers are used, which can relieve the patient of pain for several months, and sometimes completely relieve discomfort in the foot. Diprosan, Kenalog, and Hydrocortisone can help with this. To achieve the effect, two or three procedures are required. When destructive processes lead to rupture of the plantar fascia, urgent surgical intervention is required.

During the operation, the doctor removes tissues that have undergone pathological changes and removes growths that have formed during this time. The operation is possible only with wide access and modern equipment, since endoscopic intervention is required. As a result, it gives virtually no complications. After the operation, the patient requires a recovery period, during which the foot should not be loaded; massages and baths are recommended.

Treatment

Based on the findings after diagnostic measures, a diagnosis is made and treatment is prescribed, which includes a number of different methods. It completely depends on the nature of the disease, its stage and locality.

It happens that an ingrown toenail causes pain, and then surgical treatment is indispensable.
Hormonal treatment will be necessary if you have a disease such as osteoporosis. Here you will need the help of calcium supplements and vitamins; vitamin-mineral complexes are a good example.
Flat feet are corrected with the help of special devices, which are orthopedic insoles or shoes for flat feet.
Pinched nerves require specialized assistance from chiropractors and physical therapy with the selection of exercises unique to this case.
In case of mechanical damage, the area of the foot that was injured is examined, a bandage is applied, and if fixation is required, a cast is made.
If the pain is caused by an inflammatory process, anti-inflammatory therapy with the use of medications, compresses, ointments and other medications is recommended.

If we divide therapeutic methods into several types, we can identify the main ones, which we will consider further.

Conservative way

With this method of treatment, the following medications are prescribed:

Non-steroidal agents for external and internal use;
Painkillers;
Rubbing and warming agents;
Chondroprotectors.

Traditional treatment includes plaster, splints for fixing injuries, and taping. To better supply blood to the sore spot and lymph nodes, massage can be prescribed; it improves metabolic processes and helps tissue healing.

Gymnastics

Therapeutic gymnastics includes several simple exercises:

In a lying or sitting position, it is recommended to rotate the feet in different directions 10 times;
Rolling a small ball across the floor or picking up (grabbing) small objects with your toes.

All exercises are done with bare feet.

Folk way of healing

Here it is worth highlighting several very useful procedures that come as an addition to the above methods:

Therapeutic baths to which essential oils and herbal infusions are added greatly help speed up the recovery process. Natural ingredients in the form of juniper oil, lavender, eucalyptus can improve blood circulation, relax muscles and relieve pain.
A contrast shower for the lower extremities also improves blood flow and stimulates tissue regeneration.
Cold lotions help relieve swelling and inflammation. Here it is important to act without fanaticism, otherwise the body may become hypothermic; 3 minutes for the procedure will be enough.

Arthritis of the foot

If a patient is diagnosed with foot arthritis, treatment should begin as early as possible. This therapy is aimed at neutralizing painful sensations. For this, the patient is prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. After a few days of intensive therapy, the patient will begin to feel that it has become easier for him to walk, and the pain in the joint is reduced.

When inflammation develops, antibacterial drugs may be needed to relieve the suppurative process and swelling.

During therapy, chondoprotectors must be taken, in particular, Chondroitin. This remedy helps maintain the volume of cartilage tissue in a normal amount, the patient stops suffering from pain in the feet.

Additionally, for such problems, doctors prescribe physical therapy, physiotherapeutic procedures, massage, and sanatorium and resort treatment helps. Doctors may also recommend taking a course of electrophoresis with hydrocortisone, phonophoresis, or UHF procedures. Mud or iodine-bromine baths, radon baths, and paraffin therapy are effective.

Functions of the foot

The main supporting part of the human lower extremities is the foot.

If you feel pain or discomfort at the base of your foot when walking, you cannot ignore these negative phenomena.

Often it is shoes that serve as a source of irritation to the tissues of the feet when a person experiences discomfort from poor-quality shoes or high heels. There is a high probability of developing various pathological processes inside the foot.

Pain in the plantar part can be experienced by people who are overweight, because the load on a small area of the foot increases several times. Patients forced to lie down for a long time, adhering to bed rest, often suffer from thinning of muscles and bone tissue. When you press on the sole when walking after lying for a long time, you often feel pain, spasms and numbness.

Folk remedies

There are also folk remedies that are used for foot arthritis. One of the most effective and proven recipes is iodine with aspirin. Several aspirin tablets should be applied to the affected joint, first crushed, and then a gauze bandage soaked in water should be applied on top.

Put a sock on top. It is best to do this procedure at night. If the foot has become severely deformed, the treatment does not have the desired effect. you need to undergo surgery.

Traditional treatment

If your foot hurts near your toes when walking, then traditional medicine can be used in addition to conservative treatment. The following methods are used as therapy:

Therapeutic foot baths. They allow you to get rid of discomfort and pain. Natural oils of rosemary, juniper, eucalyptus, and lavender are added to warm foot baths. Water is poured into an enamel and plastic container, essential oil (4-5 drops) is added. It is important that the temperature is 38-40 degrees.
Contrast shower for feet. Thanks to this procedure, blood circulation in the legs is not only normalized, but the entire body is strengthened. It is advisable to carry out contrast dousing of the legs in the morning.
Cold treatment. Applying a container of ice eliminates inflammation and swelling. In this procedure, it is important to ensure that hypothermia does not occur. The duration of ice retention is 2-3 minutes.

Traditional medicine methods should be used only when the procedures are agreed upon with a doctor. Self-medication can lead to exacerbation, which will worsen the condition.

Calluses on feet

A callus on the ball of your foot should seriously concern you, as if it is not removed promptly, it can lead to the development of a serious disease. The fact is that the callus will regularly put pressure on specific points associated with a specific organ. Because of this, excessive stimulation of these points begins.

Therefore, it is necessary to pay special attention to the condition of your feet, take care of your feet, prevent the formation of corns and calluses, and always wear comfortable shoes.

A callus on the pad, located along the four fingers, indicates that attention needs to be paid to the respiratory system. These same calluses can lead to overstrain, nervous exhaustion, and depression.

Reviews

Svetlana, 44 years old, Moscow “Quite recently I ended up on the surgical table under the surgeon’s knife with inflammation of the ligaments between the fingers. The doctor said that this disease is associated with wearing heels and advised to reduce their height. Indeed, I have been wearing high heels my entire adult life. I didn’t think it could cause such problems.”

Mikhail, 38 years old, Voronezh “I constantly have pain in my feet. After a visit to the doctor, I realized what was wrong, the weight was interfering. I weigh 120 kg, which is too much for my height and leg size. I went on a diet, I will lose weight, because the pain prevents me from walking, and my legs began to ache even at night.”

Seals on the foot

Don't ignore lumps on the ball of your foot. If it hurts you to step on it, you should immediately consult a doctor. Only a specialist will be able to find out the reason for its formation.

The causes of the formation of compactions can be serious pathologies - fasciitis, the treatment of which has already been described in detail above, arthritis, neuroma, traumatic injuries to the Achilles tendon, gout.

To treat such seals, a method based on liquid nitrogen, classic or hardware pedicure, laser removal, special patches, antiseptic and softening agents, and pencils for corns are used.

To prevent such compactions from appearing at all, you should always wear comfortable shoes of a suitable size made of natural material, select the heel at the optimal height, use insoles made of felt or silicone, regularly care for your feet, and at night apply a softening cream that will give complete rest to your feet. legs This is the best prevention of this condition.

Numbness of the foot

When the ball of the foot goes numb, this causes reasonable concern among patients. They note with surprise the loss of sensitivity. This is caused by bending of nerve fibers and blood vessels. Often, such a symptom indicates poor circulation, the development of cancer, and problems with the musculoskeletal system.

One of the most common causes of foot numbness is osteochondrosis. This is a very common disease that is accompanied by disruption of the normal functioning of the limbs.

After diagnosing this disease, effective treatment can be prescribed. One effective technique is manual therapy. Specialists actively use personal experience and deep knowledge to effectively help the patient. Such treatment usually gives results.

Foot injuries

Serious problems for the patient can arise when a foot injury occurs. The most common are fractures and bruises, which can occur not only on the street, but also at home. This injury is common among athletes, but you can get a serious injury just while walking along the beach.

If you feel acute pain immediately after the injury, swelling, notice blue discoloration at the site of impact, sharp pain when moving, stiffness, deformation of the phalanges of the fingers, then you may suspect a fracture.

When the pain spreads to the entire foot, there is a hematoma, swelling, redness, then it looks like a bruise.

And if you have severe pain, in which it is difficult to move the foot, sensitivity is reduced, and the victim cannot stand on his leg, then a sprain or dislocation may be suspected.

With such an injury, it is important to provide the patient with effective first aid immediately after the injury. The injury should be examined for open wounds. If they are present, they should be washed with water, cleaned of dirt and small parts, and then a clean bandage should be applied.

Lock your foot to immobilize it as much as possible. A splint or any rigid plate and dressing material are suitable for this. A cold compress should be applied to the swelling. An ice bag is ideal for this, but if you don't have one, you can use a cold water bottle.

Causes of pain

The foot and the area between the toes can hurt for several reasons. Finding out the factors causing pain is a mandatory step, as this can serve as a reason for the development of more dangerous diseases and disorders. So, what provokes pain syndrome:

Bursitis is precisely a disease that can cause inflammation and spread to the area under the fingers. Bursitis is localized in the Achilles tendon, and the site of inflammation is the periarticular capsule. It is characterized by symptoms such as swelling, pain, and redness of the skin around the Achilles tendon.
Uncomfortable shoes and chafing caused by them can eventually lead to the development of flat feet. In this case, the symptoms are: cramps, flattening of the sole, fatigue after a short period and, of course, pain. This disease can be either congenital or acquired. With an uneven load on the foot, discomfort and pain quickly arise, which is concentrated on the inner or outer arch.
Pain between and under the fingers usually occurs in people who are overweight. The foot experiences a lot of pressure and the joints of the foot become deformed. If an overweight person walks long enough, the pain intensifies and becomes unbearable.
Plantar fasciitis, or “heel spur” as it is commonly called, is also a fairly common cause of foot pain. This is explained by the inflammatory process in the connective tissues; it is the inflammation that prevents you from walking fully and prevents you from walking. When diagnosed with a spur on the heel, patients most often feel pain in the morning. Today, many people suffer from this neoplasm, which appears as a consequence of chronic fasciitis.
In small joint arthritis, foot pain is concentrated in or under the toes. Aggravated inflammation is a very common cause of limited movement. Here there is redness between the toes, swelling of the soles, rapid fatigue when moving, stiffness in the phalanges and joints after sleep.
Osteoporosis is a bone pathology that appears against the background of metabolic changes. Severe pain is concentrated in the foot under the big toe, often due to osteoporosis. Severe pain can only be relieved with medications. Patients experience pronounced pain when pressing on the plantar part of the leg.
Due to insufficiency of muscle and ligamentous tissues, pain in the foot area may occur. Such problems often plague women during pregnancy, overweight people and those who have been bedridden for a long time as a result of injury or serious illness.
With age, the composition of ligaments and joints and their structure changes. This category of people is prone to developing dangerous diseases of the entire musculoskeletal system. Pain around the toe is just one of the symptoms.
Obliterating atherosclerosis can cause many destructive processes associated with the vessels of the legs. For those who smoke, this problem is especially relevant, since the disease is complicated by nicotine influence. At the initial stage, the fingers and soles lose sensitivity and become numb, then the process spreads to the feet. Such health-destroying processes should not be ignored, since if treatment is not started, the disease will reach an advanced stage and can lead to amputation of the lower limbs.
Neuromas and other benign tumors can cause foot pain. Morton's neuroma is a local swelling of the soft tissues that forms just under or between the fingers.
Tenosynovitis in the form of external edema is provoked by various soft tissue injuries, which can only be shown by x-rays. This disease often occurs after wearing tight shoes or those that do not fit.
Injuries, sprains, fractures and cracked toes often cause pain. A person may jump, step unsuccessfully, or simply twist his leg, in which case it is necessary to urgently consult a doctor; such injuries, as a rule, do not remain without consequences.

Special insoles

For many people with foot problems, custom orthopedic insoles are a salvation. They are made literally within a few minutes, taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient’s foot. They are made by a specialist, taking into account the existing pathology, from high-quality materials.

Custom orthopedic insoles correct the deformation of the foot, as well as all structures of the musculoskeletal system, providing the leg with elastic support that does not hinder natural movements. Such insoles also help eliminate overload of the patient’s musculoskeletal system and are especially effective when running.

No less effective is correction using special “wedges” that are glued into the lower surface of the insoles. They make it possible to change the angle of the foot relative to the horizontal surface. For many patients, judging by their reviews, such insoles become a real salvation, the main element in the treatment and prevention of flat feet. They have been used successfully for a long time.

Gymnastics

Foot pain can be treated with therapeutic exercises. It is usually prescribed for tendovaginitis and flat feet. Exercise therapy includes the following exercises:

Rotation with both feet. It is advisable to perform this exercise in a sitting or lying position with your legs down. Rotation is carried out simultaneously for 10 repetitions in each direction.
You need to lift the parts with your toes. It is better to grab a cloth or pencil from the floor.
You should roll a small ball on the floor. You can take a tennis one. Feet must be bare.