Metatarsalgia; The never ending pain
Hello all, for last 1 and a half year, I’m going through a painful medical condition which took me good 6 to 8 months to understand that It’s not just the exertion rather something unusually painful instead. So, I finally decided to visit a doctor and found out that its called Metatarsalgia. So, I thought to share it with you all whatever I got to know and did, to get rid of it. Maybe anybody could benefit out of this information without wasting time like me. As it has started to go up in the body and giving me good pain in my knees and lower back too.
Metatarsalgia: It’s a common overuse injury. In a lay man’s language its pain and inflammation(swelling) in the ball of the foot. Its more likely to be taken as a symptom to other disease rather than any specific disease itself.
Reasons: Its common in athletes involved in high impact exercise/sports. Like running or jumping and it can also occur in the people who hit the gym so hard and sometimes forgets to listen to their bodies and put traumatic force to the forefoot. Ill fitted/improper Shoes could be the reason such as tight toed shoes which doesn’t provide room to the forefoot to adjust. Wearing high heels can also develop and increase the inflammation in the forefoot and midfoot area and can increase with time. And of course the excess weight can also cause this problem .
Symptoms and Causes: The primary symptom of metatarsalgia is pain at the end of one or more of the metatarsal bones. The pain is typically aggravated when walking or running. Athletes who participate in high-impact activities and may also have an inflammatory condition such as bursitis often have diffuse forefoot and midfoot pain.
Most often, the pain comes on over a period of several months, rather than suddenly.
Diagnosis: These are the evaluation tools through which the problem can be identified. It depends on the intensity of the pain what your physician would prescribed you to go for.
- X ray
- Ultra sound
- Bone Scan
- MRI
Treatment: The treatment mainly focusses on easing out the pain. - Using anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen or naproxen which reduce the inflammation and reduce the pain. However, it rarely provides the long-term relief.
- Applying ice 2 to 3 times a day. Shouldn’t apply it directly to the skin.
- Massaging with olive oil in circular motion
- Do not put excessive pressure on the feet
- Keep the feet up while resting
- Wearing proper footwear
- Use of insoles (tailored made)
- Shedding off few pounds can also help.
- Taking a few physio therapy sessions
- In more severe cases doctor may prescribed the steroid injections or surgery.
I hope this information could create awareness as sometimes we don’t pay attention to such pain considering its maybe due to exertion and will go in a day or two. But trust me its really a bad one, make you feel it on each and every step you take. So better take care of yourself and remember YOU NEED YOU. Tc
I have the same problem from a stress fracture which has now led to metatarsalgia, so the flexion in my ankle is now a little limited, cant squat all the way down anymore, not even in the slightest, but I walk and run normal which is a relief. Don't know what I'd do if I had to penguin walk everywhere!
it's a big relief I must say that you can walk and even run as my doctor suggested me to avoid walking and running is a dream now. for exercise I can only do the cycling. but yes I can do squats but not the lunges as it put pressure on the knees which is kind of became the problem area for me.