'Burning' under ball of foot

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 Ridge 30 Jul 2022

More walking than running related, but thoughts from the hive mind welcome.

Mrs Ridge is getting what she describes as a burning sensation on the balls of her feet, outer side of the foot, just below the little toe and the adjacent toe. Left foot is the worst, but both feet affected. Pain occurs during walking or even just standing for any length of time.

Question is, who does she see about this? I'm thinking podiatrist rather than physio, but if it's arthritis or similar it probably needs someone more specialist, but who? (Phone consultation with a GP probably won't be of much use). 

Any suggestions on the best course of action?

Thanks in advance.

 Neil Williams 30 Jul 2022
In reply to Ridge:

Potentially a stress fracture, I would see the GP or go to the walk in centre.  Odd that it's both sides though, thinking on - could it just be due to poorly fitting shoes?

Post edited at 21:10
OP Ridge 30 Jul 2022
In reply to Neil Williams:

Thanks Neil. She does find it hard to find footwear that fits, so that could be part of the problem.

 CantClimbTom 30 Jul 2022
In reply to Neil Williams:

The post could be something entirely different, I'm not medically qualified, just some internet weirdo!

When I had an unbearable pain under what I thought was my metatarsal after stepping out of bed one morning when it wasn't better a few days later I hopped to my doc. He poked the top of the foot where the pain was and I said "ouch!" then he did the same underneath the foot and I shouted *AAGHHH* (or something to that effect) and leapt off the exam bed. He said if it was a stress fracture you'd have jumped when I pressed the top, but since it's only that bad underneath, it's plantar fascitis. 

But since I'm not a doc you need a qualified doc to diagnose, depending on the diagnosis she might need a podiatrist or physio (or neither)

 Levy_danny 31 Jul 2022
In reply to Ridge:

I would go straight for a sports podiatrist and get them to take a look at the biomechanics and see if they can see anything. 

 Levy_danny 31 Jul 2022
In reply to Levy_danny:

I say sports podiatrist because when I had a similar issue but near the big toe I went to a podiatrist and I had lovely feet afterwards but they couldn’t really prescribe what I’d done. The sports podiatrist was able to give me a diagnosis in minutes. 

OP Ridge 31 Jul 2022
In reply to Ridge:

Thanks all. Sports podiatrist it is.

 Wimlands 31 Jul 2022
In reply to Ridge:

Does sound just like Morton’s Neuroma…

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/mortons-neuroma/

In reply to Ridge:

I achieved a very similar sounding problem after getting a new pair of running shoes. They weren’t uncomfortable to run in, just slightly narrower in the toe box than my usual model. Ditching the shoes fixed the problem. 

 Marek 31 Jul 2022
In reply to Ridge:

The burning sole is a relatively common problem with cycling shoes and tend to be associated with persistent pressure at some nerve point in the foot (cycling shoes tend to be very stiff and if they press somewhere, they press there all the time - walking shoes have more 'give'). In your case I'd be looking at whether shoes might be too narrow perhaps?

 timjones 31 Jul 2022
In reply to Ridge:

Is it related to a particular pair of shoes at all?

I had very similar problems, changed for a pair just half a size smaller and it was instantly cured.

It wasn't due to pressure on the toes from the uppers, it was entirely due to the way that my foot was positioned on the sole unit of the shoe.

 siwid 31 Jul 2022
In reply to Wimlands:

I was diagnosed with this recently. The symptoms you describe are exactly the same as those I had. 

In my case it was caused by persisting in wearing a pair of trainers which were too tight, probably compounded by tight climbing shoes.

I bought some Altra running shoes which are wide and give your feet a chance to spread out. This really helped and it has got progressively better over the past month. The physio I saw also recommended icing the foot and ibuprofen gel for the first week for pain.

Hope it heals up, it really limited how active I could be and was pretty rubbish.


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