Foot pain and foot problems

Most people will suffer from some kind of foot related pain, discomfort, or injury at some point during their lifetime. The feet are the foundations of the body and they are subjected to huge forces and lateral pressures every time that we stand up or walk around.

The big mistake that nearly every foot pain suffer makes is that they tolerate the pain, often until permanent or semi-permanent damage is done, before seeking medical assistance or looking for a remedy.

Preventative action, in the form of orthopedic shoes, comfort shoes, diabetic shoes or orthotic inserts, can frequently avoid the damaging stages of a foot problem developing if the sufferer takes action quickly enough. This action may be as simple as buying and wearing some sensible and comfortable orthopedic shoes.

For some tips on determining if your shoes are "past their sell by date", take a look at this when to replace your shoes page.

Causes of foot problems

Foot problems can of course be caused by an extensive array of external factors ranging from badly fitting and poorly designed shoes, to the onset of age, arthritis, obesity, injury and lack of exercise.

Many foot problems do however follow an evolutionary pattern that sees the mechanism of the foot start to fail in a sequential manner. Ultimately, the arch of the foot starts to collapse and the heal of the foot leans inward. As the arch continues to become more unstable, walking becomes both painful and unnatural and the normal pronation of the foot (a rotational movement) becomes exaggerated and problematic.

The outcome of this bio-mechanical failure is that the middle part of the foot is left unstable and without the (arch) foot structure required to absorb shock, bear weight and initiate the walking process. The rest of the foot (and the body) try to compensate, but Standing and walking become difficult and both are accompanied by pain.

Below are some examples of foot problems resulting from pronation and, as can be seen, whilst these problems may originate from the foot, they can quickly affect other parts of the body.

Specific foot problems resulting from pronation

Arch or plantar fascia problems

The arch of the foot is vitally important and when it collapses it signals serious long term foot pain. The arch is supported by a muscle-like group of ligaments called the plantar fascia. This muscular arch acts almost like a spring in that it absorbs shock, but also allows the energy from one step to be used to start the next. It is a vital structure of the foot and our ability to walk and run without it is hampered. When this mechanism fails it also signals the start of foot pain.

Heal problems

Heal pain can result from arch failure at the point where the plantar fascia connects to the heal bone. But heal pain can also result from joint pain, or the heal pad becoming irritable or sore.

Toe problems

Over pronation can cause the toes to become painful. This is particularly true of the big toe which is twisted when there is an exaggerated pronation. This unnatural movement turns the ball of the toe, causes joint miss-alignment and inflames the joint. It can also result in bunions.

Ball of the foot

Over pronation prevents the foot from spreading the standing and walking loads correctly. This in turn causes areas like the ball of the foot to take excessive and uneven loads that can result in several different symptoms. These can include, arthritis, Morton's neuroma, hammer toes and calluses.

Lower leg pain

Because pronation causes the affected foot to twist inwards, this action is compounded through the rest of the leg which tries to resist the “collapse” by compensating for the foot. This can see symptoms like strains and aches, but all resulting from the collapsed arch. Knee problems can also be traced back to over pronation and in severe cases the knee can become inflamed and even unstable.

Body pain

Whenever one part of the body starts to fail, the other interacting parts will try to remedy the problem by compensating for it. When this happens, abnormal stresses and strains can be placed on the muscle groups around the hips and pelvis and sensitive areas like the sciatic nerve may become aggravated. The pelvis can develop an anterior tilt and the curvature of the lower spine may be increased. At this stage a problem, that originally started with a foot disorder, is now manifesting body wide symptoms of pain and discomfort.