3 Reasons Your Feet May Be Aching

Posted on: 5 December 2017

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Your feet put on a lot of miles over the course of your lifetime. The feet are amazingly complex for as comparatively small as they are. They have to be since they carry your entire weight around. Each foot has 33 joints, 26 bones, and over 100 different ligaments, muscles, and tendons. It is understandable, then, for people to have occasional foot pain. Here is a look at some common conditions that may be causing your foot problems.

Plantar Fasciitis

On the sole of your foot runs a ligament band from your heel to your toes called the fascia. It can become inflamed, and when it does, it causes a stabbing pain in the heel and ball of the feet. The pain usually occurs first thing in the morning with the first step out of bed. It gets better as the day goes on, but the pain can return after sitting in one spot for a while. Plantar fasciitis is common in overweight people as well as runners and joggers. Icing, rest, over-the-counter medications, orthotic shoe inserts, steroid injections, and surgery are all possible treatments.

Arthritis

With all of the bones and joints in the feet, it's not uncommon for people to develop foot pain from osteoarthritis as they age. Osteoarthritis is the type of arthritis that is caused from the degeneration or breakdown of the joints, causing them to rub together as they lose their lubrication and causing pain and tenderness.

A person may also develop another type of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis. This is an autoimmune disease. The body begins attacking its own tissues for some unknown reason. If the immune response is in the joints of one foot, it usually occurs in the other foot as well. Arthritis can also develop in joints after an injury or other trauma. Your doctor may use x-rays as well as blood tests to confirm an arthritis diagnosis, and treatment will depend on what kind of arthritis it is. Physical therapy, medication, reducing high-impact activities, and surgery are all treatment options.

Diabetes

Peripheral neuropathy is a condition where the nerves in the feet are damaged. As a result, the feet may ache, tingle, go numb, or feel as though they are on fire as the nerves go haywire. This can happen from uncontrolled diabetes. In fact, some people aren't even aware they have diabetes until they visit the podiatrist for their foot pain. Treatment involves relieving pain, and improving management and slowing progression of the disease.

Reach out to a center like Foot & Ankle Care Center PA for more information.