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Pain in the ball of the foot?

Jun 14, 2018

Pain in the ball of your foot?

The fancy name for this is metatarsalgia.  It’s a general term but can have several different causes such as:

• Poor fitting shoes
• Excess body weight
• Repetitive or high intensity activity that places a lot of load on your forefoot (think running or jumping)
• Trauma / injury to the forefoot
• Thinning (or atrophy) of the fat pad under the joints (“knuckles”) at the ball of the foot
• Forefoot deformities such as bunions, claw or hammer toes
• Foot structure such as high arches

What can you do?

• Wear properly fitted supportive footwear, including low heels, with cushioning in the forefoot and adequate toe room
• Try to lose weight if this is a contributing factor
• Reduce, change or avoid the activity that causes the pain
• Wear a supportive sandal or shoes inside the home, especially on hard flooring

Still not getting relief?  Consider consulting a Canadian Certified Pedorthist at Pedorthics London who will assess your feet and biomechanics and provide treatment options such as off-the-shelf or custom orthotics, footwear modification and/or exercises to improve foot function.