The ball of your foot, medically referred to as metatarsal, is generally the part of the foot, minus the toes, left in contact with the ground when you raise your heel. Under certain high impact situations, the area can receive the full weight of your body. And repetitive stress to the ball of foot is a cause of metatarsalgia.
Metatarsalgia simply means ball of foot pain, tenderness and inflammation. Some other symptoms you may encounter with it are:
- arch pain
- toes tingle
- toes are numb
- sharp, shooting toe pain
- pebble sensation with walking
- pain increase when flexing foot
- ball of foot feels like it’s bruised
Metatarsalgia ball of foot pain typically develops slowly.
This type of foot injury pain is often caused by excessively wearing high heals and high impact sports, like running, tennis, basketball and jumping. However, other health related conditions can be the cause metatarsalgia as well, such as:
- aging
- edema
- bunion
- diabetes
- flat footed
- overweight
- hammertoe
- high arches
- stress fracture
- Morton’s neuroma
- poorly fitting shoes
- second toe longer than first
Treating with OTC ant inflammatory (ibuprofen, naproxen) or pain reliever (aspirin) can ease the pain and inflammation in the ball of your foot. Additional suggested treatments to remedy your metatarsalgia:
- use arch supports
- use metatarsal pads
- wear proper footwear
- wear lower heeled shoes
- use shock absorbing insoles
Should these treatments fail to relieve your foot pain, then a cortisone injection or surgery adjusting the foot structure are other options.
When choosing shoes, particularly those used during high impact physical activities, be sure there’s significant padding in the ball of foot area.