Ball of Foot Pain Treatment
If you’ve experienced pain on the ball of your foot, just behind the toes, you’ll understand how dramatically it can affect your lifestyle. In good news, ball of foot pain is a relatively common condition, and Dr. Joseph Stern has been helping patients in Vancouver overcome this problem for more than 30 years.
What Is Metatarsalgia?
Pain in the ball of your foot, also known as metatarsalgia, is a common occurrence and affects many people at some point in their life. It affects the metatarsals, or the long bones of your feet to your toes, which bear the majority of your body weight while walking.
Metatarsalgia can have several different causes that result in similar symptoms, making diagnosis and treatment challenging.
Not all cases of metatarsalgia need medical attention. Sometimes, you may experience ball of foot pain from standing for too long or straining your foot during a heavy workout. However, if the pain persists or worsens after home care, it may be time to see a podiatrist.
While metatarsalgia isn’t a life-threatening condition, it can seriously affect your quality of life. It can discourage you from participating in activities such as walking and exercise and can even sideline you from other hobbies and sports that you enjoy.
In most cases, at-home treatments are sufficient to treat metatarsalgia. Removing the pressure from the front of the foot allows the metatarsals time to recover, while wearing metatarsal pads or insoles can reduce the impact of any strenuous activity that may worsen the condition.
What Causes Ball of Foot Pain?
In general, metatarsalgia manifests due to several causes working together. While the ball of your foot can handle most daily stressors, it needs time to recover. By placing several different stresses on the metatarsals, you’re more likely to do damage that results in pain and discomfort.
Intense running or other exercise is a common cause of ball of foot pain. Distance runners, in particular, suffer from metatarsalgia due to the constant impact on the front of the foot. While correct shoes with extra cushioning can help mitigate stress, they may not be enough if you run long distances several times per week.
Certain foot shapes, like high arches, can put extra pressure on the metatarsals. A high arch usually puts much stress on the front of the foot and can lead to foot pain. Individuals with longer second toes than big toes also tend to suffer from ball of foot pain due to the increased strain on the second metatarsal.
Hammertoes and bunions can affect the way you walk, which can cause ball of foot pain. As you shift your weight to accommodate these aspects of your foot, you may put more strain on the metatarsals, resulting in discomfort and stress on the joints.
Poorly fitting shoes are a common culprit of metatarsalgia. High heels transfer most of the person’s weight onto the front of the foot instead of the heel, resulting in a high occurrence of the ball of foot pain. Shoes that are too tight or have a narrow toe box can affect your foot shape, resulting in an uneven gait that can stress the metatarsals.
In some cases, metatarsalgia may not result from lifestyle or activity but as a symptom of Morton’s neuroma. This condition is a non-cancerous growth of tissue around the nerve situated between the third and fourth metatarsal head. The growth puts pressure on the nerve, which results in numbness and tingling radiating into the toes and can sometimes cause pain similar to metatarsalgia.
Who Gets Ball of Foot Pain?
Anyone can develop metatarsalgia at any point in their life. However, there are risk factors that can increase your chance of suffering from the ball of foot pain, such as:=
Participation in high-impact sports that put pressure on your feet. Sports that involve running and jumping are common causes of metatarsalgia.
Wearing shoes that don’t fit properly or affect how you walk, including high heels, cleats, and shoes that are too tight.
Other foot problems include calluses, bunions, hammertoe, or high arches.
Obesity or rapid weight gain.
Inflammatory arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout.
Common Symptoms of Metatarsalgia
Symptoms of metatarsalgia can develop rapidly or may result from steadily-worsening pain. The main symptom of the condition is a pain in the area just behind your toes. The pain can be sharp, burning, or a constant ache. Other common symptoms include:
Pain worsens if you stand, flex your feet, walk or run.
Numbness or tingling in the toes
A feeling similar to having a pebble in your shoe
In many cases, the pain worsens during activity and tends to go away with rest. However, if the ball of foot pain doesn’t go away after several days of rest, it’s a good idea to visit a healthcare practitioner for advice.
Since metatarsalgia affects your gait, it will impact other parts of your body if left untreated. You may develop hip or lower back pain as they compensate for a new and uncomfortable gait. Some people even develop hammertoes due to untreated metatarsalgia.
Diagnosis
If you get a recurring ball of foot pain or your symptoms continue to worsen after several days of rest and home care, you should schedule an appointment with your foot and ankle specialist. In some instances, metatarsalgia may be a symptom of a more severe underlying condition, like a stress fracture or Morton’s neuroma.
Podiatrists use several tests to determine the cause of metatarsalgia. The exam will often begin with questions about your lifestyle and symptoms to identify the potential cause of the pain. The physical portion of the exam involves physical manipulation of the foot to replicate your symptoms.
Dr. Stern may also take an X-ray to rule out stress fractures and an ultrasound or MRI to check the soft tissue around the metatarsals and joints.
Treatment of Ball of Foot Pain
In most cases, home care and some lifestyle changes are enough to treat metatarsalgia. In cases of Morton’s neuroma, patients who fail to respond to non-surgical treatments may need surgery to remove the growth, putting pressure on their metatarsal joint nerves.
Most doctors recommend the following tips to ease ball of foot pain:
Rest
Avoid placing additional stress on the ball of your foot. You can still participate in activities that don’t put stress on your foot, like swimming or cycling but avoid high-impact activities involving running and jumping.
Ice
If you have any swelling, apply an ice pack to the affected area for 20 minutes and repeat several times per day.
Correct your shoes
If you have poorly fitting shoes, get ones that fit better and conform to your foot shape. Avoid wearing high heels as much as possible, and get appropriate footwear for your activity level.
Consider orthotics
Orthotics can provide additional cushioning that can reduce the stress on your metatarsals. Metatarsal pads, in particular, have soft padding in the correct area to reduce ball of foot pain caused by metatarsalgia, neuromas, and hammertoes.
Avoid walking barefoot
Walking barefoot changes your gait and how your foot connects with the ground. If you’re not used to it, it can cause metatarsalgia or other foot pain due to increased pressure on new areas of your foot.
Remove calluses
Calluses at the bottom of your foot can put extra pressure on your metatarsals. Removing these calluses with warm water and a pumice stone can remove this pressure and reduce pain.
If these approaches don’t work, Dr. Stern may recommend medication. NSAIDs such as ibuprofen or aspirin can reduce inflammation and pain in mild metatarsalgia cases. More severe cases may require injection therapy that uses cortisone or local anesthetics to provide pain relief and address potential inflammation.
In the most severe cases, your doctor may recommend surgery. The most common reason for surgery is a metatarsal deformity caused by hammertoes or other foot conditions that permanently change the foot’s structure. The type of surgery and recovery time will depend on the severity of your condition.
Ball of foot pain is common, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t dramatically affect your quality of life. Patients suffering from metatarsalgia may start to limit their favourite activities or stop exercising altogether.
Dr. Stern Will Help You Get Back on Your Feet
Dr. Joseph Stern is a foot and ankle specialist with over 30 years of experience and offers a broad range of advanced orthopedic and non-surgical treatment options for metatarsalgia.
Working out of their Vancouver office, our doctor and his team offer the highest level of care so you can overcome foot pain and return to your daily activities.
If you’re ready to understand your treatment options better and say goodbye to foot pain, schedule an appointment today.
