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Pain on the bottom of your foot can significantly alter your lifestyle.
Because so much of what we do every day involves our feet, it’s important to take the proper precautions and treatments to ensure our feet are feeling at its best. But, because we’re on them so much, whether it’s for work, exercise, or for pleasure, our feet are susceptible to injury.
Below, we break down four common injuries and reasons for why you may be experiencing pain on the underside of your foot.
Plantar fasciitis
Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common injuries among runners, let alone the general population. The pain comes from irritation of the plantar fascia, a thick tissue on the bottom of the foot. You generally feel pain in the heel and the arch.
If you experience plantar fasciitis, follow the PEACE & LOVE method – PEACE focuses on the early stage—protecting the area, avoiding aggravation, and allowing the body to naturally start healing. LOVE comes next, where you gradually load the area with movement and exercise, support blood flow, and rebuild strength and function while staying positive about recovery. In short: protect early, then progressively move and strengthen.
An additional trick: fill a bottle full of water and freeze it. Once frozen, while sitting, rest your foot on the bottle and roll back and forth. This acts as both a massage tool to break up the tissue and encourage blood flow, as well as a way to reduce inflammation with cold therapy.
If you have plantar fasciitis, it’s also a good idea to get a biomechanical assessment and gait analysis to figure out what’s actually causing the pain. There’s often an underlying factor, like flat feet, which can make you more prone to plantar fasciitis.
In some cases, custom orthotics can help by giving extra heel support and improving foot mechanics. Unsupportive footwear, or wearing the wrong shoes for your gait pattern, is often part of the problem too, so sometimes switching to better shoes or adding orthotics can make a big difference.
To help prevent it from coming back, exercises like calf raises, foot doming, and towel pickups can also be really useful.
Heel spurs
A heel spur is a bony growth that develops on the underside of the heel and can sometimes be the source of heel pain.
If you’re dealing with sharp heel pain that gradually worsens, a heel spur could be involved. Swelling or a noticeable bump on the heel may also be signs.
In most cases, heel spurs develop from overuse. Repeated strain on the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around the heel causes the bone to respond by laying down extra bone over time.
While surgery is the only way to actually remove a heel spur, most people manage symptoms through conservative care. This can include stretching and strengthening exercises, custom orthotics or over-the-counter insoles, and switching out unsupportive footwear.
If you’re experiencing pain in the toe area, a bone spur there could also be a possible cause.
Morton’s Neuroma
Have you ever felt like there’s a pebble in your shoe that you can’t seem to get rid of? It may be Morton’s neuroma.
Morton’s neuroma is a type of nerve compression syndrome which involves nerves in the lesser toes. It is characterized by fibrosis and thickening of nerve tissue between the third and fourth intermetatarsal space and is a result of repetitive trauma. Pain is typically in the area between the third and fourth toes.
Because of the area of the injury, ill-fitting shoes, specifically those with a narrow toe box, can be the cause. By forcing your toes inwards and squeezing them into a small area, you put more pressure on your third and fourth toes.
According to the Mayo Clinic, high-heeled shoes have been linked to the development of Morton’s neuroma. Many people experience relief by switching to lower heeled shoes with wider toe boxes. Sometimes corticosteroid injections or surgery may be necessary.
Common treatment options include custom orthotics, wearing shoes with a wider toe box, and using metatarsal pads. These pads sit under the ball of the foot and help open up the space between the metatarsal bones, reducing irritation on the nerve.
Ultrasound-guided steroid injections can also offer fast pain relief. However, to really address the root cause of a Morton’s neuroma, it’s a good idea to have a full foot assessment and gait analysis. This helps identify any biomechanical issues that may be putting extra pressure on the area.
Sesamoiditis
There are many types of tendonitis in the foot, but sesamoiditis is pain in the tendons close to your big toe. This type of pain is prominent in athletes including gymnasts and runners because of the pressure on the ball of the feet.
According to Healthline, the primary symptom of sesamoiditis is pain that develops under the ball of the foot. The pain tends to build gradually, and you may notice some swelling or bruising. Often, bending and straightening your big toe can be difficult, and you may experience popping sensations when you walk.
As tendonitis is inflammation and overuse of the tendons, sesamoiditis is exactly that: overuse of the tendons near your big toe. Also, tenderness near your toes is a sign as is the toe’s flexibility. Typically, mild cases of sesamoiditis are treated with rest, ice and anti-inflammatory medicines. If pain persists, visit a professional to be properly diagnosed and for best next steps.
Have pain on the top of your foot and not the bottom? Read about why you might be experiencing pain on the top of your foot.
