Foot pain can be debilitating, affecting every step you take and limiting daily activities. Many patients come to me asking, “Why do my feet hurt so bad?” Foot pain can have multiple causes, ranging from common overuse injuries to nerve-related conditions.
Primary Reasons Your Feet STILL hurt:
The primary, underlying issue has not been identified.
The exercises or treatment approach is not working because it’s not treating the correct problem.
Orthotics, rolling your foot over a frozen bottle or tennis ball, stretching, cortisone shots, or other medications don’t work for your condition OR you’re missing other components that are critical to actually getting rid of your issue!
You may be still doing something that caused it in the first place.
Let’s break down some of the most common causes of foot pain and THEN I will share with you the comprehensive “Foot Rejuvenation” program My staff and I use that gets rid of foot pain for at least 96% of our patients.
1. Plantar Fasciitis
Plantar fasciitis is the inflammation of the thick band of tissue (the plantar fascia) that runs along the bottom of your foot. This often causes sharp pain in the heel, particularly with the first steps in the morning or after periods of sitting or inactivity. A lot of the time is on the inside (medial) portion of the heel where the soft tissues attach to your heel bone.
2. Baxter’s Nerve Entrapment
Baxter’s nerve entrapment, or compression of the inferior calcaneal nerve, can mimic plantar fasciitis. It causes pain along the inside of the heel and may be aggravated by prolonged standing or walking.
3. Peripheral Neuropathy
Often seen in individuals with diabetes but also can be seen in others, peripheral neuropathy causes burning, tingling, or numbness in the feet due to damaged nerves. People with peripheral neuropathy often complain of a feeling as if a bunched-up sock was under their toes or as if they have a pebble in their shoe. Others with peripheral neuropathy have reduced sensation or increased hypersensitivity. This condition may lead to balance problems and an increased risk of foot injuries and poor quality of life.
4. Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome
You may have heard of Carpal Tunnel? Well, Tarsal Tunnel syndrome is similar but it is a compression of the tibial nerve as it passes through the tarsal tunnel near the inside of the ankle. This condition can cause shooting pain, tingling, or numbness along the bottom of the foot and into the toes.
5. Morton’s Neuroma
Morton’s neuroma is a painful condition affecting the web spaces between the toes near the ball of the foot, usually between the second and third or between the third and fourth toes. It’s caused by thickened tissue around a nerve (more specifically-fibrosis around the digital plantar nerve, leading to sharp, burning pain or the sensation of stepping on a pebble and it can also cause numbness or tingling into one or more toes.
6. Metatarsalgia
Metatarsalgia is pain and inflammation in the ball of the foot, often caused by overuse, ill-fitting shoes, or abnormal foot mechanics. Pain typically worsens with walking or running.
7. Achilles Tendinopathy
Achilles tendinopathy occurs when the Achilles tendon becomes irritated or degenerates, leading to pain at the back of the heel. It’s often caused by repetitive stress or sudden increases in physical activity. A condition called Haglund’s deformity may also be present.
8. Heel Spurs
Heel spurs are bony growths that can develop on the underside of the heel bone due to long-term strain. While heel spurs themselves may not cause pain, they often accompany plantar fasciitis, compounding discomfort, and irritation and inflammation of soft tissues.
9. Lumbar Spine and Sciatica
Sometimes, foot pain can be a result of nerve compression in the lower back or in the buttocks area, such as in sciatica. Pain radiating from the lumbar spine can travel down the leg and into the foot, often presenting as numbness, tingling, or shooting pain but can also skip the legs and just end up in the feet.
10. Other Causes
Foot pain may also result from arthritis, stress fractures, bunions, heel pad irritation, or conditions like flat feet or high arches that affect foot mechanics.
Not Hitting The Bullseye – Costs You Big
When Healthcare providers don’t take the time or when they don’t have the knowledge to delineate between all of the above causes, your time and money goes down the drain and your foot pain pursues. Some people suffer for years for these reasons.
What does work for most people and most conditions listed above?
Get rid of the frozen bottle, the resistance band exercises, the calf stretches, and if you have worn orthotics for a period of time and they don’t work, perhaps you should get rid of them!
FOOT REJUVENATION
As human beings, we walk and climb stairs, workout, run, jump, play sports and we just beat up on those poor shock absorbers at the bottom of our legs.
Our feet take a beating, and over time the stress just reaches a tipping point. Pain in our feet transpires for many different reasons and in addition to discovering “what” the condition is we must determine “ALL” of the underlying causes of the condition. It could be that we are walking differently and that we changed the weight distribution through our feet due to pain somewhere else in the body. For example, when we have back, hip, or knee pain it could cause us to subconsciously develop compensations. Yes, the body and brain are good at this.
Other “causes” of our feet breaking down can come down to overuse with no recovery, compression of nerves, ankle instability, loss of motion in ankle or foot joints, poor footwear, and even being overweight can have significant impact.
For these reasons, foot rejuvenation should involve a multi-faceted approach.
Here are the reasons our Foot Rejuvenation programs work so well for most people:
Through strategy and education, we modify the factors causing the pain
We employ an advanced technology (Shockwave Therapy) that helps to reduce inflammation and accelerate healing and regeneration of muscles, tendons, bones, and nerves. Shockwave sends hypersonic soundwaves deep into your tissues which stimulates the production of more blood vessels and activates our body’s own stem cells
Depending on the condition, we may also administer multiple soft tissue and manual therapy techniques, and other symptom reducing modalities.
We provide education and recommendations for improvements in footwear, body weight management, and weight distribution.
As an adjunct we may discuss foods and supplements that are anti-inflammatory in nature.
For those who want a boost and acceleration in healing we recommend considering peptide therapy.
How long does it take?
For most foot conditions, foot rejuvenation averages approximately 8 weeks at a frequency of 1 visit per week. For conditions that involve peripheral nerve stretch injuries, compression syndromes, or fibrosis the process can be 12 weeks or more.
Use of cortisone shots or other medications are not recommended.
For more information or to get on the fast track to healthier feet, schedule a Shockwave-Foot Rejuvenation Consultation by calling or texting 315.525.6860.