Moderate/severe foot pain on outer/bottom of left foot

[Lummex]

Hey guys,

I was wondering if I could get some advice on this foot pain I've been having. It's lasted for about 3 days. Mostly, it's been moderate and only occurs when I'm walking or standing for a while. However, after walking for more than, I'd say, 5 minutes, it becomes somewhat severe (maybe a 7.5 or 8). Meaning I have to limp in order to not cuss and yell, haha. When it's rested, it's just fine, almost always forget I've even had the pain. Maybe an extremely dull throb, like, .5-1 on the pain scale. Also, it's gotten slightly worse, not better

I have an appointment scheduled for 2 weeks from now. Should I go in earlier? I'm certain it's not an emergency, but I know it's something that should be looked at.

I just don't know how worried I should be. Like I said, when rested, I basically cannot feel any pain and almost forget it's there until I walk.

Also, I have no idea how it started, it just randomly started three days ago. I haven't been as active lately (due to busy-ness and stress before this happened, and now due to this issue itself), so I don't think it's from something like that. Although I do walk quite frequently in everyday life, so maybe something happened then.

Thoughts? Advice?

Thanks

 

[Anubis]

Could be be simple Planters fasciitis of worse Gout. Also do you have bad arches/arch support in your shoes? what you described has happened to me and getting better arch supports helped me a lot. my pain never lasted more then a week

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

What kind of pain is it? Sharp? Dull? Throbbing?
And can you be a bit more specific as to where the pain is?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Is it the inside (toward the arch) or outside of the foot? Which part of walking makes it hurt? Is it when your foot's about to come off? Right after it hits the ground? As you've got all your weight on it? Also, how long does it take to go away? Can you think of any kind of traumatic event? And finally, is it better at a certain time of the day (specifically, how does it feel in the morning)?

 

[Lummex]

Could be be simple Planters fasciitis of worse Gout. Also do you have bad arches/arch support in your shoes? what you described has happened to me and getting better arch supports helped me a lot. my pain never lasted more then a week

I've always had normal arch in my feet naturally, so I've never had to have arch support. I thought that maybe the lack of arch support in my sandals could be related, but wasn't sure. I don't know, though. My foot arch has always been naturally above-average.

What kind of pain is it? Sharp? Dull? Throbbing?
And can you be a bit more specific as to where the pain is?

When I walk on it for more than 5-10 minutes, it's a throbbing pain, sometimes sharper. I would describe the area as being predominantly on the bottom left side, slightly closer to my heel, but definitely not on the heel. Pretty much on the "arch" area, however it seems to have gone deeper and maybe to the bone. However, I can't be sure the bone has actually been affected since the pain isn't so great as to suggest that something's broken.

Is it the inside (toward the arch) or outside of the foot? Which part of walking makes it hurt? Is it when your foot's about to come off? Right after it hits the ground? As you've got all your weight on it? Also, how long does it take to go away? Can you think of any kind of traumatic event? And finally, is it better at a certain time of the day (specifically, how does it feel in the morning)?

It is the outside, because I get some relief when I walk only using my toes or heel and don't put weight on the region that hurts. It hurts most when weight is put on the area in pain. I really can't think of any event that might have caused it, other than a lot of walking. It is better in the morning because I have rested all night. However, I still notice a difference in feeling in that area when I think about it. Basically, there is always a "difference" in feeling in that area, however it is not painful when rested. It is deeply painful when I walk or stand for about 5 minutes or more. For example, right now I don't feel pain because I just woke up and have had it rested since last night.


I should also add that there has been no swelling or discoloration. The only difference in appearance has been a minor bump. And it's very minor, barely noticeable.

 

[Away]

It could be plantar fasciitis or possibly an injury to your muscles or tendons. Either way if it gets any worse, I would go see a doctor sooner to get it taken care of. You are walking now, but it could get to the point to where you can hardly walk at all.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

I always hated foot anatomy, but from the area you describe it sounds like a peroneus longus tendinitis...or something. If it is, I would try not to walk so much, and put an anti-inflammatory cream onto it or something.

 

[Lummex]

Congrats to those who guessed plantar fasciitis, that's what the doctor said it was.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Congrats to those who guessed plantar fasciitis, that's what the doctor said it was.

To be perfectly honest, your doctor may or may not be correct. Did he say what made him think it was that? Reasons I'd say it's not: plantar fasciitis is worse in the morning almost always (due to increased inflammation and stasis throughout the night), the location of the pain on the lateral plantar aspect of the foot (it's typically more medial or posterior), and the lack of correlation to a specific portion of gait. To be honest, I'd be more prone to agree with Mr. Pedantic. I'd suspect peroneal (fibularis) tendonitis OR possible fifth metatarsal fracture (Jones fracture).

What did he say you should do for this? PT prescription or just anti-inflammatories? No matter what it is, there are likely mechanical contributions to why you have this pain, especially considering you don't remember a specific event leading to it.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I always hated foot anatomy, but from the area you describe it sounds like a peroneus longus tendinitis...or something. If it is, I would try not to walk so much, and put an anti-inflammatory cream onto it or something.

Why do you hate foot anatomy? It's just like a long hand with more layers, IMO.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Hate the hand too Overall I kind of liked the lower limb, everything made sense from the ankles up. But with the upper limb I really, really despised the forearm, way too many muscles in there for my level of apathy by that point.

It's probably just because we had a horrible anatomy lecturer. It seems like he knows pretty much everything anatomy-related under the sun, but when he lectures he half-acts as if we do too, and his accent doesn't make it easier to understand him.

 

[Away]

Congrats to those who guessed plantar fasciitis, that's what the doctor said it was.

I hope your foot feels better soon.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Hate the hand too Overall I kind of liked the lower limb, everything made sense from the ankles up. But with the upper limb I really, really despised the forearm, way too many muscles in there for my level of apathy by that point.

It's probably just because we had a horrible anatomy lecturer. It seems like he knows pretty much everything anatomy-related under the sun, but when he lectures he half-acts as if we do too, and his accent doesn't make it easier to understand him.

Yeah, it gets better after you take more and more anatomy classes. The forearm was difficult, but once you do it three of four times, it starts to stick. I've always had great professors so I actually enjoy anatomy for the mostpart. Foot is kinda convoluted though, no matter how much you go through it.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Yeah, it gets better after you take more and more anatomy classes. The forearm was difficult, but once you do it three of four times, it starts to stick. I've always had great professors so I actually enjoy anatomy for the mostpart. Foot is kinda convoluted though, no matter how much you go through it.

Eh. We go through it just once for now. Musculoskeletal anatomy gets another revision when we do our Locomotor runs, and then if we want to do Radiology or Locomotor for our specialty it gets taught again. Otherwise, this is it. Not surprised that physios tend to have better musculoskeletal and peripheral nervous anatomy knowledge than doctors, to be honest. Even in the 'good old days' it didn't really have that much of a focus in class, and now, since they want to teach clinical aspects of disorders and specialties, professional and communication skills, etc. anatomy tends to get pushed to the side.

 

[Lummex]

To be perfectly honest, your doctor may or may not be correct. Did he say what made him think it was that? Reasons I'd say it's not: plantar fasciitis is worse in the morning almost always (due to increased inflammation and stasis throughout the night), the location of the pain on the lateral plantar aspect of the foot (it's typically more medial or posterior), and the lack of correlation to a specific portion of gait. To be honest, I'd be more prone to agree with Mr. Pedantic. I'd suspect peroneal (fibularis) tendonitis OR possible fifth metatarsal fracture (Jones fracture).

What did he say you should do for this? PT prescription or just anti-inflammatories? No matter what it is, there are likely mechanical contributions to why you have this pain, especially considering you don't remember a specific event leading to it.

Yeah, she thought it was odd that I didn't have pain in the morning. But she said maybe it's in the early stages, so that's why it doesn't hurt in the morning.

She said I should stretch my foot a lot, try not to walk on it much, and to take anti-inflammatories (motrin, asprin) a few times a day.

We speculated it might be because of a hike I went on a week ago, since I hadn't been on a hike in a while. Also, I have been wearing flat sandals a lot (with no support), and wore some brand new tennis shoes that are horribly uncomfortable because they aren't broken in yet, or simply don't fit me right. Probably a combination of those things contributed to this issue.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Yeah, she thought it was odd that I didn't have pain in the morning. But she said maybe it's in the early stages, so that's why it doesn't hurt in the morning.

She said I should stretch my foot a lot, try not to walk on it much, and to take anti-inflammatories (motrin, asprin) a few times a day.

We speculated it might be because of a hike I went on a week ago, since I hadn't been on a hike in a while. Also, I have been wearing flat sandals a lot (with no support), and wore some brand new tennis shoes that are horribly uncomfortable because they aren't broken in yet, or simply don't fit me right. Probably a combination of those things contributed to this issue.

I don't exactly know what she means by its in the early stages - just because it can become more chronic doesn't mean the nature of the condition changes. Also, if it were plantar fasciitis, the tissue length could be too short, normal, or too long. Unless the length gets measured, stretching is a bad idea - if it's too long, stretching will undoubtedly make it worse.

Sure, that could definitely be the onset of it. A lot of the time, that's caused by limited ankle dorsiflexion. If you cave through your arch (due to ankle eversion), you get a slight bit more dorsiflexion and abduction. I'd be more likely to tell you to keep the inflammation down and stretch your calves (without getting pain in your foot). Then again, I don't know the length of your calves so I can't really tell you to do that either. If you feel like you have tight calves, then perhaps you can start doing that. If not, then you might want to see someone like a physical therapist about it because it's probably not going to go away very easily, since it's so irritable.