Our feet carry us, literally! They allow us to walk, run, jump, dance, kick, slide, etc. Not only are they constantly in use, they are also home to 25% of the bones in our body, making the opportunity for a fracture or a break or a pain symptom to be fairly common, unfortunately. Since there are so many reasons why a person might experience foot pain, the best way to remedy the pain is to have a proper diagnosis. Often, there might be a few factors at play that all have to be addressed. The Texas Pain Care team in the Sugar Land, Missouri City and Houston areas is highly trained in all aspects of foot pain and has provided their family of patients with the proper and most comfortable treatment possible to help them get back on their feet. Seeking relief for foot pain? Visit Houston, Texas for expert care from Texas Pain Care team.
Foot pain is a common condition that can occur anywhere in the foot. This includes the top, bottom or side of the foot, as well as the heel, arch or toes. The foot contains 26 bones, 33 joints, and a tremendous amount of muscles, ligaments and nerves, so it’s easy to believe that the foot is on high alert at all times (just remember stepping on something sharp or hitting the side of a chair with your toes).
Our feet are complex structures that not only bear the weight of our bodies, but also our daily, active lifestyles. This is what makes foot pain so common. However, there are ways to mitigate the occurrence of foot pain, as well as the severity and duration.
In addition to overuse, foot pain can happen because of a sporting injury, underlying health condition or even as simple as wearing shoes that don’t fit properly. The best way to treat foot pain is to first properly diagnose why the pain is happening in the first place, which is why seeking help from a trained medical professional is so important.
There are several reasons why a person might suffer from foot pain. General causes can include standing for long periods of time, being overweight, wearing improper shoes, injury, overuse or aging, and general remedies include RICE and engaging in a healthier lifestyle.
To get more specific, foot pain is broken down into categories: structural and neuropathic. Structural deals with the structures, i.e. bones, of the foot, while neuropathic deals with the nerves in the foot. Symptoms can affect different parts of the foot, including top, side, bottom, heel and toes.
The most common structural causes of foot pain include:
Bone spurs: typically the result of arthritis, bone spurs generally develop along the edges of the bones in the feet and can irritate surrounding nerves, which leads to pain
Stress fractures: defined as tiny breaks within the bones of the feet, stress fractures can happen to any person of any age. They are most often caused as a result of trauma or sports injuries, including overuse or improper training.
Achilles tendinitis: this most often occurs when a person is heavily involved in sports that require great lower leg involvement, such as running. The condition is inflammation of the Achilles tendon, which is located just above the heel.
Bursitis: this condition is inflammation of the bursae, which are fluid-filled sacs that help to cushion the 33 joints of the foot.
Osteoarthritis: most often seen in older adults, osteoarthritis is the breakdown of the cartilage in the joints, which results in pain, swelling and often the bones rubbing against each other as the foot is used.
Rheumatoid arthritis: a disorder in which the body’s own immune system attacks healthy joint tissues, creating pain and deformities.
Bunions: a bony bump that forms on the joint at the base of the big toe, creating extra pressure on the big toe that pushes it out of its natural alignment toward the other toes.
Plantar fasciitis: the most common cause of heel pain, plantar fasciitis is the painful inflammation of the plantar fascia, which is the tissue in the foot used during walking and movement. This is most commonly caused by type of shoes (high heels or improper size), certain foot structure, overuse, and certain walking surfaces (i.e. incline).
The most common causes of neuropathic foot pain, which might feel like a burning, tingling or electric shock sensation, can include:
Morton’s neuroma: swelling and irritation surrounding a nerve, generally located between the middle toes.
Peripheral neuropathy: inflammation of the peripheral nerves (those located outside the brain and spinal cord) in the lower extremities.
Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD): redness, swelling and temperature changes in the foot that is usually caused by an injury that leads to an abnormal response from the nerves.
Tarsal tunnel: a compressed nerve in the ankle of foot that leads to pain.
Lumbar radiculitis: pain that begins in the lower back (also known as sciatica) that leads to numbness, pain or weakness in different parts of the leg and foot.
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The best way to experience foot pain relief is to partner with a trained pain management specialist who is versed in all foot pain treatments. If the cause of the foot pain is structural, the provider might recommend rest or NSAIDs, which help to reduce inflammation and relieve pain. Additional options could involve a splint or a cast, physical therapy that will help to strengthen and stretch the muscles in the foot, or even steroid injections.
If the cause of the foot pain is neuropathic, treatment options could involve some of the same structural treatment methods (rest, ice, braces, etc.) but also medications, epidural steroid injections, lumbar sympathetic blockade and neuromodulation. If the patient continues to experience chronic foot pain without finding relief, the provider might recommend spinal cord stimulation, which replaces pain sensations with a mild tingling sensation provided by a mild electrical current introduced into the epidural space near the source of chronic pain impulses.
Overall, the likelihood of experiencing effective and long-lasting pain relief increases by seeking the help of a trained medical professional as soon as the pain symptoms are experienced. If you are suffering from foot pain, please schedule an appointment with the Texas Pain Care team in the Sugar Land, Missouri City and Houston areas so you can begin your pain relief journey.
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