Ball of foot pain

Any ideas what this could be?

I am intermittently getting pain on the ball of my foot - slightly towards the rear, inside of my foot.  If I prod it I can feel the edge of the bone there.

It comes on mainly when I am driving, when the pain can get quite intense.  It's when I release the pressure on my foot that it hurts - not when I push down on the pedals.  It also hurts sometimes when I walk or run, but more commonly it hurts when I rest after a walk or run.

I think there might be a small amount of swelling compared with the other foot, but if I use ice the swelling doesn't appear to go down, so maybe it is just that my foot is a slightly different shape.

I am most comfortable and least likely to get pain when I am barefoot, but it doesn't appear to make a difference what type of shoes I wear - trainers, heels, sandals...

Comments

  • Is it worst first thing in the morning Caz, on weight bearing when you get out of bed?

    You could try rolling a frozen water bottle underneath it to ease pain.

    If barefoot is comfortable, do that more often, also add some foot exercises like scrunching a towel and stretching the plantar fascia underneath your foot (google plantar fascia stretch). 

  • It's not PF - I get that in the other foot so I would recognise those symptoms.

    I've been looking as sesamoiditis on the internet - it's the nearest diagnosis I can find although the pain is in a slightly different place.

    If you think of the ball of the foot as a clock face then the pain is at about 4 or 5 o'clock on the outside of the foot.  It never hurts in the morning, but tends to ache more at the end of the day.  I think that driving agrevates it, but I'm not sure whether that is the cause.  I spend between 2 and 4 hours a day in the car.

  • Which foot is it? Clutch or accelerator?

    The plantar fascia extends up to the metatarsal heads where you're getting the pain, so rolling & stretching it is still recommended, along with icing the 5th met area where your pain is.

  • Accelerator.  Last night it hurt when driving so I got Hubby to drive me home.  The pain was worse as a passenger, i.e. at rest, than when I was pushing on the accelerator.

    I will ice and stretch as you suggest as I know that I tend to suffer rom tight calves.  It is difficult to roller where the pain actually is but I can do the rest of the PF.

    When I saw the podiatrist with the PF he said that I was likley to get it in both feet eventually because of the shape of my foot (high arches with my toes sticking up in the air).  I have a custom orthotic for my left foot - is it worth going back to him?  He said that he would supply the orthotic for the other foot free of charge when I needed it, although I suspect he will still charge consultation fees.

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