Joint problems
Toe joints are more likely to develop problems than other joints in your feet.
Heat, pain, redness, swelling, and extreme tenderness that comes on quickly in your big toe joint may be caused by gout. Similar symptoms can occur with an infection.
If you have swelling or a bump at the base of your big toe, you may have a bunion. See an illustration of a bunion.
If you have a bump on the outside of your little toe, you may have a bunionette.
If your toes, other than your big toes, bend in an odd position, you may have hammer toes, mallet toes, or claw toes. See an illustration of toe joint deformities.
Joint pain, stiffness, and swelling are common when you have conditions such as bursitis, arthritis, lupus, or gout.
Pain
You may develop pain in the front (ball) of your foot (metatarsalgia) or in your heel. Heel problems commonly occur when you overuse calf muscles, wear shoes with high heels, or participate in activities, such as running, that cause repeated pounding of your heels.
Sharp pain on the bottom of your heel may be caused by plantar fasciitis.
Pain in the back of your heel and ankle may be caused by Achilles tendinitis or tendinosis or retrocalcaneal bursitis.
Pain that is worse before or after exercise but improves during exercise may be caused by a stress fracture of a bone in your foot (usually a metatarsal bone).
Small bony growths under your heel bone may be a heel spur.
Pain in the midfoot may be caused by fallen arches or being flat-footed.
Numbness or tingling
Many conditions may affect the nerves of the foot and cause numbness, tingling, and burning.
Pain, burning, tingling, or numbness that occurs between your toes, especially the third and fourth toes, and in the ball of your foot may be caused by a growth around the nerves (Morton's neuroma).
Pain, numbness, and tingling that begins in your back or buttocks, moves down your leg and into your foot may be sciatica, caused by a pinched nerve (nerve root compression).
Foot and ankle pain that occurs with numbness and weakness in your foot may be caused by a pinched nerve in your ankle (tarsal tunnel syndrome) or back (sciatica).
Burning, numbness, or lack of feeling in the feet may be caused by poor circulation, especially in people who have diabetes or peripheral vascular disease. The circulation problem can lead to nerve damage (peripheral neuropathies). Foot problems are more likely to develop in people who have these conditions.