Often people turn to doctors because they feel pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. However, visually in most of these patients, the sole skin is not damaged and there are no visible reasons for what may cause discomfort. A diagnosis can only be made after a comprehensive examination.
Causes of pain
Experts identify several factors that can lead to unpleasant sensations in the foot area. The main causes that can cause
pain in the foot under the fingers when walking are the following:
- flat feet;
- erythromelalgia;
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- Morton's neuroma;
- age-related changes;
- osteomyelitis;
- traumatic lesions;
- ingrown nails;
- funicular myelosis;
- pain neuropathy;
- lack of calcium.
All these factors can lead to the appearance of pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. Treatment should be prescribed by a doctor only after a thorough examination of the patient and determining what exactly caused the unbearable discomfort.
Flat feet
Incorrect setting of the foot leads to the fact that its depreciation properties are lost. Pain occurs when it is necessary to stand up, walk or run for a long time. Flat feet can be congenital or acquired. It occurs due to the effect of prolonged loads on the ligamentous and muscular apparatus of the foot.
Flat feet can develop:
- after injuries and fractures of the legs;
- with increased load on the feet: during work associated with the need to constantly stand or walk;
- due to overweight;
- with a sedentary lifestyle, which becomes the cause of muscle atrophy;
- due to wearing narrow, uncomfortable shoes;
- against the background of the development of rickets, diabetes mellitus, polio.
If a person has already been diagnosed with flat feet, then soon he may feel pain in the foot under his fingers when walking. Which doctor should be consulted with this disease can be obtained from your local GP. It is best if the diagnosis is performed by an orthopedic surgeon.
Other orthopedic problems
Not only flat feet can cause pain. Often the cause of discomfort is a lack of calcium and developing osteoporosis. This disease can cause severe pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. Which doctor to contact in this case, it is more difficult to find out. After all, for a full examination it will be necessary to consult with an endocrinologist, rheumatologist, orthopedist and traumatologist. Often this disease occurs due to hormonal disorders. Therefore, the consultation of the endocrinologist is so important.
People aged also often experience the appearance of pain in the area of the soles of the feet. The cause may be the development of bursitis or gout. In the first case, the problem develops due to the fact that the fat layer, located in the region of the heads of the metatarsal bones, loses its shock-absorbing properties. This causes inflammation.
With gout, which is characterized by metabolic disorders, the concentration of salts in the blood rises, and they begin to be deposited in the joints on the legs. But with this disease, pain bothers the patient mainly at night.
The choice of treatment tactics
Depending on the diagnosis, the doctor prescribes treatment. In almost all cases, orthopedists recommend choosing an individual insole and wearing only comfortable shoes. This is necessary not only with flat feet.
Relieve the condition and help reduce the load on the legs. After all, pain occurs in most cases just after a long walk, standing on legs for a long time or running. After any load, they need rest: it is advisable to raise their legs above head level for at least 15 minutes.
It will be useful to do warm foot baths and foot massage. You can just walk along a special massage rug or uneven surface (for example, on scattered small stones).
With a calcium deficiency and the threat of osteoporosis, it is necessary to drink special preparations containing this trace element. Conventional vitamins and products designed to strengthen blood vessels will be useful.
Arthritis and arthrosis
Excessive load on the legs, regular severe hypothermia can cause inflammation of the joints in the foot. This disease is called arthritis. It can cause pain under the toes when walking. Treatment is selected depending on the causes of the disease. After all, arthritis can develop due to exposure to viruses or bacteria.
Not only pain, but also redness and severe swelling in the area of the joints will testify to its beginning. With advanced forms, people cannot even stand up normally. Exacerbation of the disease may occur after acute respiratory infections or normal hypothermia.
Arthrosis often causes pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. Which doctor should you go to if you notice a “bone” on your thumb? Any arthritis and arthrosis should be handled by a special doctor - an arthrologist. But such a narrow-profile specialist is difficult to find in ordinary clinics. Therefore, for problems with joints, you can contact surgeons, orthopedists and rheumatologists.
With arthrosis, cartilage in the joints is destroyed. This causes a sudden short-term pain. Arthritis develops in the elderly, but with excess weight, excessive exercise, or a genetic predisposition, the disease may occur earlier.
Leg injuries
Even a minor blow can cause serious problems. Therefore, with pain in the feet, many are advised to do an x-ray and consult a traumatologist.
There are many small bones and joints in the foot. Even with a dislocation, severe pain can occur. The condition worsens with any load on the problematic foot. In this case, not only pain in the foot under the fingers when walking, but also a change in the normal position of the leg, swelling and redness will help suspect damage.
The tactics of treatment are selected depending on the condition. In some cases, the doctor may advise immobilizing the leg. This option is preferred for fractures.
Mortana Neuroma
With a pathological thickening of the nerve of the foot located between the fingers, doctors diagnose intertarsal neuroma. She is also known as Mortana Neuroma. With this disease, pain is concentrated between 3 and 4 toes.
Compression of the nerve by the head of the bones leads to the development of intertarsal neuroma. Because of this, he thickens, and the patient begins to feel pain. Mostly women who prefer tight shoes with high heels suffer from this disease.
Surgeons or orthopedists are involved in the treatment of this disease. But first you need to establish a diagnosis. To do this, you need to know the symptoms of neuroma. These include:
- backache in the area of 3 and 4 toes;
- the feeling of a foreign object in shoes;
- burning and tingling in the forefoot;
- pain that occurs after exertion on the legs
If the doctor, after listening to the patient’s complaints, suspects the development of Morton’s neuroma, he should conduct a symptomatic diagnosis. For this, the patient's foot is compressed from two sides. After about 30-60 seconds. of such exposure, the patient develops numbness, a burning sensation, or pain. An x-ray or MRI can help exclude other pathologies.
Neurinoma Treatment Tactics
Getting rid of Morton's neuroma can be quite difficult. It’s not enough to understand why there is pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. What to treat, it is necessary to select individually. Changing shoes and using orthopedic insoles helps some.
If the symptoms do not go away, then physiotherapeutic procedures are prescribed. It can be acupuncture, magnetotherapy, electrophoresis, shock wave therapy. If there is no result, blockade is done with corticosteroid drugs. This allows you to relieve inflammation, reduce swelling and becomes a cause of regression of the neuroma.
But in advanced cases, surgery is needed. The surgeon can:
- remove Morton's neuroma: it is immobilized and excised through a 2 cm incision; during the healing period, an active load on the legs is excluded, but after the operation, the patient can independently go home;
- dissect the transverse metatarsal ligament: this helps to remove the compression of the nerve;
- fracture the head of the 4 metatarsal bone to reduce pressure on the nerve - this method is used extremely rarely.
Pain related to neurological problems
In some cases, pain in the foot under the fingers when walking is caused by diseases such as painful polyneuropathy or funicular myelosis. In the first case, pronounced discomfort appears in the area of the feet. This disease often develops with diabetes mellitus in cases where the concentration of glucose in the blood is still not too high.
Funicular myelosis develops against a background of vitamin B12 deficiency. This condition can occur due to its insufficient intake in the body or due to a violation of the mechanism of its assimilation. Discomfort occurs due to the violation of nerve conduction in the spinal cord. This leads to the fact that there may be a fairly severe pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. Treatment with folk remedies in this case will not help. Vitamin B12 deficiency needs to be quickly filled. This is done by intramuscular injection of 4000 mcg every 2-3 days. After 2 weeks, the dosage is gradually reduced to 100 mcg. Such therapy can last several months.
Vascular disease
If you experience pain in the legs, you should consult a phlebologist, cardiologist, neurologist, angiologist. After all, one of the reasons that there is pain in the foot under the fingers when walking is a problem with the vessels.
Men often experience a disease such as endarteritis. So called inflammation of the arteries, which develops mainly in the legs. At the first steps, the patient does not feel discomfort, but over time the pain begins to intensify, a feeling of heaviness and numbness appears. The condition improves after a short rest, but at the slightest load it worsens again.
Phlebitis and varicose veins are also causes of leg pain. But with these diseases, they do not always concentrate in the forefoot, but can also capture other parts of the legs.
Alternative Therapies
Not everyone goes to the doctor, having felt pain in the foot under the fingers while walking. What to treat (folk remedies can be found for any occasion), these patients are trying to figure out on their own or with the help of traditional healers. This is quite dangerous, because there is a risk of starting the disease.
Any methods of alternative medicine can be used after consultation with your doctor. After all, first you need to figure out what exactly led to the appearance of pain.
For arthritis, a mustard compress can be used. To prepare it, you need to take 1 tablespoon of dry mustard, olive oil and honey. All of these components are mixed and boiled. After that, the compress is applied to the problem area.
In almost all diseases, foot massage and relaxing baths can be done. These are safe alternative methods of treatment that will help temporarily relieve pain and relax problematic feet. It is important to pay attention to resting your legs and do special exercises for the feet.