Your feet are important. They help you mobilise your entire body while walking, running, jogging, exercising, etc. However, foot inflammation can also make your life inactive and painful.
In this article, let’s discuss the causes of foot pain and its treatments.
Anatomy of Foot
Your foot is a very complicated part of the entire skeletal system.
It is basically composed of the following parts:
Bones: These are the most vital part of each joint and thus your feet as well. When you get breaks in your foot bones, it results in inflammation, pain, swelling, redness, tenderness, and everything you don’t want.
Joints: Your foot is also the place where two bones meet. A foot usually has several joints.
Muscles: The muscular system covers your entire body. Without muscles, a foot would not have the cushioning quality that both your feet have. You would have difficulty walking as muscles are required to reduce the stress of walking, running, exercising, etc.
Tendons: These are soft tissue ropes that offer muscle-to-bone connectivity in your foot and any other joint. When these soft bands get inflamed, it is called tendonitis.
Ligaments: Like tendons, ligaments are also soft tissue ropes though they connect one bone to another.
Cartilage: This soft part is found between two bones. It is there to reduce the effect of friction and external traumas that might affect the concerned bones.
Nerves: These are specific cells found in the nervous system that are there to transmit signals from the rest of the body to the brain. These are also vital parts of your foot.
Why do we have foot pain?
There are multiple causes of foot pain. For the exact diagnosis, you better talk to an orthopedic doctor or foot ankle specialist in Delhi.
Injury: If you have recently injured your foot or nearby structures, this is the reason for the pain or inflammation you are facing.
Overuse: Suppose you don’t walk a lot regularly. And, all of a sudden, you had to walk a really long distance. This will strain your foot muscles, thereby causing pain and discomfort.
Medical Conditions: In addition, there are certain conditions as well that can cause a lot of foot pain like fractures, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.
Improper Footwear: Footwear is crucial. Ensure that you wear the right footwear to keep all foot problems at bay. Improper footwear can cause foot pain.
Structural Issues: If your foot has certain abnormalities that could be either right from birth or others sustained post-birth, it might also be the reason for your foot pain. Certain abnormalities are tarsal coalitions, calcaneal varus, calcaneal valgus, bunions, claw toes, and mallet toes.
If you want to learn more about such abnormalities, you can search the web via the internet. You will find information on them easily.
Nerve Issues: Nerves are found all over the body and their basic work is to transmit signals from the rest of the body to the brain with the help of the spinal cord. Sometimes, these nerves are also responsible for causing lower leg and foot pain.
Certain nerve conditions are neuropathy and nerve entrapment. Peripheral neuropathy can cause pain in the foot because of nerve damage.
Nerve entrapment is a condition of nerve compression, usually between a ligament and a bone. When the nerve gets compressed, it causes inflammation and you experience concomitant pain, swelling, and tenderness.
Infections: There are several types of infections as well that can cause inflammation of the foot, for example, athlete’s foot, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, etc.
Poor Circulation: Have you heard of peripheral artery disease? This is a medical condition related to the circulatory system in which blood veins become shallower than their normal size and thus the blood supply to the limbs gets curtailed, causing foot pain.
Treatments
If your foot pain doesn’t go away within a week’s rest permanently, you must consult a doctor. Visit the following link for the best orthopedic doctor: best joint pain doctor near me.
The following are the treatments available for foot pain.
Rest and Ice: Normally, a good quality rest will fix everything along with ice water or ice bag for compression. Drink plenty of water and liquid things, rest, sleep adequately, and put your painful foot into the ice water as ice is famously known to combat swelling and reduce pain.
Pain Medication: A doctor can treat foot pain with the help of painkillers.
Proper Footwear: If your foot pain is because of using the wrong footwear, switching to the better one will resolve the problem.
External Devices: Here, you will have to wear certain types of specialised footwear to correct temporary foot abnormalities and restore a pain-free foot once again. These devices are called orthoses technically in the field of orthotics.
Splints and braces are the most common orthoses.
Physical Therapy: Here, foot pain will be fixed with the help of massage, stretching, exercise, and heat temperature.
Injections: Corticosteroid injections are great anti-inflammatory drugs that can be injected into the inflamed foot to ease the discomfort.
Surgery: Foot pain if caused by some condition that cannot be handled without a surgical intervention will require you to undergo foot surgery like a foot replacement after a road accident that has traumatised the foot bone severely.
Prevention
If you want to avoid foot problems in the future, make sure you take care of the following things.
- Don’t wear inappropriate footwear.
- Avoid high heels.
- Work on your obesity.
- Practice good foot hygiene.
- Trim toenails carefully.
- Wear protective footwear while playing sports.
- Stretch, flex, and exercise your feet regularly so they will grow in strength and resilience.
- Take enough breaks while engaging in arduous activities.
- Avoid going barefoot anywhere as it can hurt your foot parts.
Conclusion
There are many reasons for foot pain and thus, for the exact diagnosis and post-diagnostic treatment, you will have to meet an experienced and well-qualified orthopaedic specialist.
If you get results, there is nothing wrong with treating your foot pain at home. But if it doesn’t work, you mustn’t ignore the situation. Book your appointment immediately with the right doctor.
