About foot pain, foot injuries, treatment and prevention
Do you enjoy pounding pavement or hitting the trails on a routine basis?
Then you are almost guaranteed to suffer from some type of foot pain sooner or later.
The more time you spend on your feet and the harder or more uneven your running surface is the greater chance you run of developing a variety of conditions which result from the strain and twisting of leg and foot muscles and tissues.
Consider it the price we pay for the passion we love to indulge in!
Foot Pain #1: Stress Fracture
Since the foot is the first body part to hit the ground and is the part that must absorb the shock from the body's weight coming down above it, there should be no questions why various parts of the foot may become injured due to overuse.
There are a variety of injuries that can occur as a result of overuse, but one common one is called a calcaneal stress fracture, which is caused by too much stress in the calcaneus bone (heel bone).
This condition is usually felt by pain that gradually increases over time. It can be difficult to diagnose since fractures in this bone do not always show up on x-rays. Doctors typically recommend at least a month of completely rest from running in order to allow the fracture to heel.
Foot Pain #2: Plantar Fasciitis
This is a condition caused by the strain placed on the ligament that runs along the bottom of the foot, called the plantar fascia.
This is commonly caused in runners who wear shoes that do not fit properly or do not adequatelysupport the foot, run on hard surfaces, or do not adequately stretch out the calfmuscles. It can also be caused simply by long, consistent runs while training for a big event.
Surgery is almost never needed for this type of foot pain, though in some cases that continually worsen or simply do not go away a doctor can put injections in the foot or recommend foot splints. Treatment can often be done at home as follows:
Resting the foot as much as possible.
Avoiding harder running or walking surfaces.
Ice.
Anti-inflammatory medication.
Taping the foot.
The pain is more pronounced in the morning when first stepping out of bed and can remain for a couple of weeks, but can last even years when left ignored / untreated.
There are also some products you can try that can help really well in treatment of plantar fasciitis.
Darco Body Armor Dorsal
Night Splint
The Darco Body Armor Dorsal is basically a strap that helps to put your foot in a straight ninety-degree angle. This will help stretching your plantar fascia without necessarily providing any pressure on your ankles. The splint also assists in stretching your Achilles, the tibial tendon and even your calf muscles.
As a night splint it can help you recover while you sleep and it helps reducing the pain you have early in the mornings as well.
If you point and flex your toes you may be able to see smallligaments moving along the very top of your foot.
Those are your extensortendons and their job is to help control your toe motions. When you have pain on the top of the foot that gets worse when passively stretching your foot, chances are you have irritated or strained these tendons.
If on the other hand the pain is worse when you stretch your toes out toward the wall, chances are you may have a metatarsalstressfracture.
Treatment for this kind of condition includes icing the foot and resting as much as possible until it heals. Surgery is rarely needed.
There can also be stress and pain that comes from the ankle and injuries to the toes can occur from running as well.
In order to prevent as much foot pain as possible, make sure your running shoes are properlyfitted for your feet and gait and make sure to adequately stretch the legmuscles.
As soon as you are in some type of pain, make sure you monitor the foot injury, rest and apply ice as appropriate. It is often better to go without running for a week in order to heal upcoming running injuries.
When you leave some of these issues untreated you can have pain for months or even years to come.
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