By Gabrielle Lee-Kim, DPM, AACFAS
People with heel pain often limp or suffer from severe pain at the end of the day. It can affect the overall quality of life.
Commonly, heel pain comes from changes in normal heel anatomy such as heel spurs, or biomechanic alterations such as plantar fasciitis or flatfoot deformities.
How do we prevent heel pain then? The simplest way is Custom foot orthosis (CFO) which can be placed inside any type of shoe which is very effective too. Well-made CFO’s can provide enough cushion at the heel and support the arch so the gait is better. The arch support relaxes the plantar fascia with every step so it provides a constant stretching effect at the same time.
At Advanced Foot Care, we use the most up-to-date technology to scan your feet to fabricate the most efficient and optimal CFO to help you walk better and improve your overall quality of life.
Common causes of neuroma/ nerve pain:
“I feel like walking on a pebble.”
This is the most common symptom of neuroma, a nerve inflammation at the ball of the foot. What causes these feelings?
Any entrapment or compression of the nerve at the digits can cause these sensations.
Direct or indirect trauma to the nerve can cause entrapment/compression of the nerve and lead to this kind of pain. Direct trauma can be dropping an object on the foot or stepping on something. Indirect can be caused by the foot type such as people with narrow or bony feet at the ball of the foot with a decrease in natural fat pad.
Prolonged periods of wearing tight shoes or high heels can also cause neuroma pain.
Oftentimes, a change in shoegear to wear more supportive and wider shoes with well-made custom foot orthosis can completely relieve pain. However, more severe cases require serial cortisone injections, collagen injections to create a fat pad, or even surgical interventions such as a neurectomy.
It is important to be evaluated by a podiatrist when you have mild neuroma symptoms and start treating them before it becomes severe.
“Walking on a pebble” and experiencing constant shooting pain in the feet is not pleasant. Get your feet checked at Advanced Foot Care!
