Foot Pain
Foot pain is very common as there are multiple bones, joints, ligaments, muscles, and nerves in the foot. Typical causes of foot pain can be divided into two different classes, structural and neuropathic.
Structural
- Abnormalities involving foot structures
- Bone spurs: bony projections along the edge of the bones in the feet
- Stress fractures
- Achilles tendinitis: inflammation of the Achilles tendon above the heel, usually occurs due to sports that heavily employ the ankles and calf muscles
- Osteoarthritis: occurs to the breakdown of cartilage in the joints
Treatments for Structural foot pain
- NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatories)
- Opioid medication
- Physical therapy
- Splint/cast
- Steroid injections
- Surgery
Neuropathic
- Morton’s neuroma: swelling around a nerve usually between the third and fourth toe
- Peripheral neuropathy: inflammation of outer nerves in the legs and/or feet caused by diabetes mellitus, infections, and vitamin deficiencies
- Lumbar radiation: nerve impingement at the lumbar spine
- Treatments for Neuropathic foot pain
- Lyrica, Neurontin, Cymbalta
- Lumbar epidural steroid injections
- Lumbar sympathetic blockade
- Physical therapy