Pain On The Feet | Cause, diagnosis, symptoms, treatment and advice

Learn more about symptoms, cause, treatment and possible diagnoses of foot pain. If you have pain in the foot and ankle, there can be a number of reasons for it - and you will find out more about this in this article. Feel free to follow us Our Facebook page. Watch video with exercises further down in the article.

The foot is a complex and advanced area consisting of tendons, muscles, joints and ligaments - where all the structures have their own task to make it work optimally when you stand, walk and move in everyday life. Unfortunately, a number of diagnoses and injuries can lead to impaired function and pain - even on the foot itself.

You may feel that it is very strange to be hurt on the foot, but it is more common than you think. It is important to remember that the most common cause of pain in the foot actually comes from tight muscles and joint dysfunction - possibly referred pain from the hip or back.

Also read: 6 Early Signs of Osteoarthritis

VIDEO: 5 Exercises for Pain on the Foot (Foot Rest)

Click here to watch a video of a training program for pain in the ankle.

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If you want to know more about the pain in the foot, you can read extensively about this in this overview article below. This article on the other hand is specifically attributed to pain on the foot and ankle.

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Damage that can hit the foot

An injury, defined as a sprain or fracture, can strike anywhere on the top - including the top of the foot and ankle. This can happen, for example, due to someone stepping on you or losing a heavy object in that area of the foot.

Possible damage to the center foot - on the ankle - can also be due to a fall with the foot in an extended and twisted position which causes high stress on the associated tendons and bone tissue.

fatigue fracture (also called hairline fracture) may also occur due to overuse of load capacity. For example, due to a sudden increase in hard surface jogging or other stress that causes repetitive trauma to the foot and foot structures.

Such injuries on the middle of the foot can vary in presentation and degree of pain - depending on which tendons and bones are damaged. Mild tendon injuries, without tearing or only slight partial tearing (partial rupture, 1-30%), will normally heal themselves by using which, compression and support.

In contrast, in the case of major tendon injuries (eg total tearing) or bone fracture, plaster, physical therapist training and possibly surgery may also be necessary (if it is very severe and one does not expect it to heal properly by itself).

Fifth metatarsal: A possible cause of pain on the foot

Pain on the outside of the foot (the area below the little toe) is often related to damage to the leg we call the fifth metatarsal. Metatarsus number five is a long leg that attaches the little toe to the middle part of the foot - and which can be affected by several types of fractures, including:

Avulsion fracture of fifth metatarsal: This type of fracture occurs when a tendon or ligament pulls off a bone splint or bone piece from the fifth metatarsal. This often occurs in younger people where the tendon is actually stronger than the bone tissue - and thus physically tears off a bone piece rather than breaking itself. This type of fracture usually only occurs with overuse injuries - and can occur together with other tendon injuries.
Jones Freight: A fatigue fracture or stress fracture that strikes the top of the fifth metatarsal bone - toward the outside of the foot. It can be a hairline fracture that is due to repetitive strain over time without the bone tissue having had the opportunity to heal itself - or it can be due to a fall or sports injury.
Middle fracture: A type of fracture that is normally caused by torsional trauma in the foot. It occurs in the middle of the fifth metatarsal bone.

Violations in the fifth metatarsal should be considered and treated by health care professionals. In order to get the right healing, it is important to have enough resting, relieving support (eg crutch or plaster) in relation to the injury. If the leg is clearly misplaced or if it is a complicated fracture, surgery may be necessary.

Extensor tendinitis / tendinosis (tendon injury and tendonitis of the foot)

The extensor tendons in the foot are located on top of the foot. These tendons are used when you bend your foot upwards towards you. If these are damaged (tendinosis) or inflamed (tendinitis) due to incorrect loading over time - or due to trauma - then this can cause pain on the foot.

An extensor tendinitis is thus a tendonitis that hits the top of the foot - and an extensor tendinosis is a tendon injury on the foot. Both diagnoses can cause obvious and often very troublesome pain on the ankle. As you can read about in this article that we link to below, the treatment for the two conditions is vastly different - and a misdiagnosis can lead to chronic pain.

Normally, both tendinitis and tendinosis will be painful with too much activity - and in many cases you may also see swelling on top of the ankle of the foot. Common causes are too much training on hard surfaces without having sufficiently good enough physical shape in the affected areas to do such hard training. It is important to build up gradually to avoid such injuries. Such injuries are normally treated by the following methods:

Treatment of tendinitis / tendonitis

healing time: Days up to six weeks. Depending on when the diagnosis is made and treatment begins.

purpose: Suppress the inflammation process.

Tiltak: Rest and anti-inflammatory drugs. Possible deep friction massage after the inflammation has subsided.

Treatment of tendinosis / tendon injury

healing time: 6-10 weeks (if the condition is detected at an early stage). 3-6 months (if the condition has become chronic).

purpose: Stimulate healing and shorten healing time. Treatment can reduce tendon thickness after injury and optimize collagen production so that the tendon regains its normal strength.

Tiltak: Resting, ergonomic measures, support, stretching and conservative movement, frosting, eccentric exercise. muscle work / physical therapy, joint mobilization, Shockwave Therapy and nutrition (we go through these in more detail in the article).

First and foremost, let's consider this statement from a larger study: "Sener spends over 100 days putting down new collagen" (Khan et al, 2000). This means that treating a tendon injury, especially one you have had for a long time, can take time, but seek treatment from a publicly authorized clinician (physiotherapist, chiropractor or manual therapist) and get started with the right measures today. Many of the measures you can do yourself, but in certain more serious cases it may be necessary Shockwave Therapy, needle and physical therapy.

After the injury has healed, it is also important that you pay attention to exercise and think progressively.

Ganglion cyst on top of foot

A ganglion cyst forms below the skin surface and can be seen as a charcoal or fluid-filled sac. The cause of ganglion cysts is not known - but it is often linked to trauma or injury in the area. Such ganglion cysts can also occur on the ankle. It is not dangerous, but can cause pain if it exerts pressure and pressure on nearby muscles or joints in the foot. Nerve irritation can also occur if it is located in the immediate vicinity of one of the many nerves in the foot. Depending on the size of the ganglion, it can also cause discomfort or pain when you wear shoes - especially pen shoes and the like.

Normal treatment for ganglion cysts is as follows:

Small ganglion cysts: If they do not cause pain, measures are awaited
Large ganglion cysts: For larger cysts that lead to pain and discomfort, invasive measures such as aspiration and surgery may be possible solutions. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that it will be successful - and the ganglion cyst may return even after such measures.

Relieving footwear is also recommended to not further irritate the ganglion cyst itself.

Health conditions that can cause pain on the foot

We must also remember that pain on the ankle is not due to injuries, incorrect loading or overuse. There are also a number of health conditions that can cause pain in this part of the foot - especially the type of conditions that can nerves and joints. Some examples of such diagnoses are:

Arthritis and Osteoarthritis

The foot has over 30 joints, so naturally it can be affected by both joint disease and joint wear. Osteoarthritis can also affect the fifth metatarsal or the other metatarsal joints - and thus cause discomfort and pain on the ankle.

Diabetes

Diabetes can provide the basis for diabetic neuropathy. A nerve condition in which the nerves are damaged and cause subsequent pain of the affected nerve fibers. Uncontrolled diabetes can cause numbness, tingling and nerve symptoms in parts or the entire foot.

Sciatica and nerve clamping in the back or seat

Nerve irritation in the back, depending on which nerve root is affected, can provide a basis for numbness, tingling and radiation down to the upper side of the foot and toes. Read more about how sciatica can cause nerve symptoms in the legs and feet by clicking on the link above.

Gout

This type of gout occurs due to greatly elevated uric acid levels in the body. The most common is that these uric acid crystals settle in the big toe, but they can also hit other parts of the foot, though less often. The pain is sharp and severe, and you can see swelling and redness in the affected joint.

Prevention of pain on the feet

You cannot prevent all types of causes of pain on the ankle, but you can certainly reduce the risk by following these tips:

Build up gradually when it comes to training: Many foot injuries occur due to the person becoming too eager and doing "too much in too short a time".
Think warming and cool down when exercising: Spend time stretching both before and after training.
Rest your feet after a lot of strain: Sometimes joints and muscles can benefit from a little rest and a possible day of recovery - especially for those who do a lot of sports or get a lot of shock against their feet. You can also train alternatively with training that does not give as high a load on the feet - then e.g. in the form of swimming or yoga.
Wear good footwear: Discard the old shoes when they start to wear out and make sure you wear quality shoes in everyday life.
Bruk compression clothing adapted to the foot (see image below) to stimulate increased blood circulation to your feet if you are still cold on your feet or have foot pain.

Tips: Compression noise can be used to provide locally enhanced healing in the form of increased blood circulation. You can read more about this product by clicking the picture or here .

Self-help: What can I do even against pain in my feet?

1. General exercise, specific exercise, stretching and activity are recommended, but stay within the pain limit.

2. Trigger point / massage balls we strongly recommend - they come in different sizes so you can hit well even on all parts of the body. There is no better self help than this! We recommend the following (click the image below) - which is a complete set of 5 trigger point / massage balls in different sizes:

3. Training: Specific training with training tricks of various opponents (such as this complete set of 6 knits of different resistance) can help you train strength and function. Knit training often involves more specific training, which in turn can lead to more effective injury prevention and pain reduction.

4. Pain Relief - Cooling: Biofreeze is a natural product that can relieve pain by cooling the area gently. Cooling is especially recommended when the pain is very severe. When they have calmed down then heat treatment is recommended - it is therefore advisable to have both cooling and heating available.

5. Pain Relief - Heating: Warming up tight muscles can increase blood circulation and reduce pain. We recommend the following reusable hot / cold gasket (click here to read more about it) - which can be used both for cooling (can be frozen) and for heating (can be heated in the microwave).

6. Prevention and healing: Compression noise like that like this can increase blood circulation to the affected area, thereby speeding up the natural healing of injured or worn muscles and tendons.

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