Different Types Of Foot Pain (And Relief Techniques)

The risk of getting foot aches has been higher than ever before during these recent years, latest statistics from American Podiatric Medical Association show that every 3 out of 4 people experience foot health problems at least once in life.

In this post, we will provide an overall look to the most common types of foot pain so that you can easily prevent as well as treat them.

Which part of your foot have the pain?

This is the first question that doctors ask you or you ask yourself about foot pain. Foot trauma and disease is quite easy to diagnose, different parts have different problems.

In this article, I also categorize foot disease according to the positions, the parts where it hurts. There are 3 major parts, so here are top 3 causes of foot pain.

Table of contents

Heel pain

Arch pain

Toe pain

Treatment and prevention

Heel pain

Heel pain is usually caused by plantar fasciitis or heel spurs.

	Plantar Fasciitis	Heel Spur
Definition	The inflammation of Plantar Fascia, a ligament connect the heel bone and toes	Your heel bones do not grow normally
Cause	Excessive physical activities Effects of other diseases like diabetes or flat feet… Wearing wrong shoes	Wrong posture when doing exercises Effects of other foot health problems like high arches or flat feet Wearing wrong shoes
Symptoms	Sharp pain at your heel or arch when stepping out of your bed or standing up after long-time sitting	Most cases there’s no pain. But when you have other problems with your foot, you will feel a sharp pain like a pin sticking into you heel.(I will explain more below)
Treatments	Exercises, stretches to the foot muscles Massage and soak your foot with natural recipes Using medications Supporting shoes and socks Surgery
Prevention	If you move a lot throughout the day, relieve your feet after coming home Find the right shoes for your feet Exercises regularly, stay fit!

These foot diseases have close associations. Because the spur is right next to the ligament(Plantar Fascia), getting one can easily lead to getting the other.

I also have a thorough guide for plantar fasciitis patients, you should check it out whether you have PF or other diseases that cause heel pain.

Arch pain

The number one cause of arch pain is Plantar Fasciitis, because Plantar Fascia’s role is supporting the arches. But I won’t talk more about PF since I have above.

Now let’s learn a little bit about human arches.

Foot arches is a curved structure of the foot including bones, muscles, ligaments…that helps to support the weight of the body. There are three types of arches(picture):

1. Flat or Low Arch
2. Normal Arch
3. High Arch

If your arch is in type 1 or 3, you’re likely to have arch pain if you don’t take care of you foot properly. Usually, the shape of your arch is congenital, in which case you will feel no pain or have any problems. But flat feet is also caused by injuries that hurt your arch, that’s why it’s also called fallen arches. You can get swollen sole and it’s very painful every time you walk or stand. People have flat feet or high arch should invest in a good pair of shoes as well as other supporting items like insoles or foot sleeves…

Toe pain

	Bunion & Bunionette	Hammer Toe, Mallet Toe, Claw Toe
Definition	A lump on the side of your big toe (Bunion) or your little toe (Bunionette)	An abnormal toe that bends toward the foor unaturally, happend on 4 smaller toes. Bend at the last joint: Mallet Toe Bend at the second joint: Hammer Toe Bend at the first and second joint: Claw Toe
Cause	A joint of the big toe get swollen when too much pressure put on it in a long time	The toe is forced to bend for too long that make its bone actually bends, which forms a deformity
Direct cause	You wear too tight shoes that put strains on your toes. For instance, high heel, a lot of women wear high heels wrongly and painfully just for the beauty.Wearing too small toe box for a long time create discomfort may hurt all of the five toes, which forms bunions and bending toes.A bending toe may also be a congenital disorder or caused by a trauma, injury.
Symptoms	Persistent pain and soreness Inflammation in the side of your big toe, the big toe lean toward to second toe Unable to move your big toe	Painful when touching or walking The toes bend like a “V” shape, swelling at the joint Corns and Calluses forming at the joint

Treatment and prevention

You should come to a podiatrist because your treatment depends on the severity of your case.

A podiatrist knows exactly about your condition and can provide the right amount of medications and proper treatments.

Here are some effective methods to relieve soreness before going to the doctor:

• Wearing comfortable shoes with a broader toe box. You can try shoes inserts and toe paddings.
• If you have to wear high heels, it is acceptable but no more than 5cm.
• If the pain is severe, use some pain relief medications, make sure you have asked doctors about them.
• An ice pack is a simple but effective choice to nursing you foot at the end of the day
• Exercises and stretches for your toe, check out this video, you can find the right technique to do it.

Finally and maybe the most important part is prevention. You should wear comfortable shoes with fitted toebox and choose suitable footwear for separate occasions. Don’t wear too high and tight heel, risking your health for a little bit more beauty is not a good choice at all!