Pain in the foot under the fingers when walking: what to treat, what kind of doctor should I contact?
Often people turn to doctors becausefeel the pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. Visually, in most such patients, the skin of the sole is not damaged and there are no visible causes of what can cause discomfort. You can establish the diagnosis only after a comprehensive examination.
Causes of pain
- flat feet;
erythromelalgia;
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- Morton's neuroma;
- age changes;
- osteomyelitis;
- traumatic lesions;
- ingrown toenails;
- funicular myelosis;
- Painful neuropathy;
- lack of calcium.
All these factors can lead to the fact thatthere will be pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. Treatment should be prescribed by a doctor only after a complete examination of the patient and determining what exactly caused unbearable discomfort.
Flat-footedness
Incorrect setting of the foot leads to the fact,that its depreciation properties are lost. Pain occurs when it is necessary to stand for a long time on foot, walk or run. Flat feet can be congenital or acquired. It arises because of the impact of prolonged loads on the ligamentous and muscular apparatus of the foot.
Flattening can develop:
- after injuries and fractures of legs;
- with increased load on the feet: during work related to the need to constantly stand or walk;
- because of excess weight;
- with a sedentary lifestyle, which causes muscle atrophy;
- because of wearing a narrow, uncomfortable shoes;
- on the background of development of rickets, diabetes, poliomyelitis.
If a person has already been diagnosedflat feet, then soon he can feel the pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. To which doctor to treat this disease, you can check with the district therapist. It is best if the diagnosis is performed by an orthopedic surgeon.
Other orthopedic problems
Not only flat feet can causedevelopment of pain. Often the cause of discomfort is a lack of calcium and developing osteoporosis. This disease can cause severe pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. To what doctor to address in this case, to find out more difficultly. After all, for a complete examination it will be necessary to consult an endocrinologist, rheumatologist, orthopedist and traumatologist. Often this disease occurs due to hormonal disorders. Therefore, consultation of the endocrinologist is so important.
People of age also often come acrossthe appearance of pain in the soles of the feet. The cause may be the development of bursitis or gout. In the first case, the problem develops due to the fact that the fatty layer located in the region of the heads of metatarsal bones loses its damping properties. This causes the development of inflammation.
With gout, which is characterized by a violationmetabolism, the concentration of salts in the blood increases, and they begin to be deposited in the joints on the legs. But with this disease of pain, the patient is worried mostly at night.
Choice of treatment tactics
To alleviate the condition will help and reduce the loadon his feet. After all, pain occurs in most cases just after a long walk, standing on your feet for a long time or running. After any load they need rest: it is advisable to lift the legs above the head level for at least 15 minutes.
It will be useful to make warm foot baths and foot massage. You can just walk around a special massage mat or uneven surface (for example, scattered small stones).
With calcium deficiency and the threat of developmentOsteoporosis it is necessary to drink special preparations containing this microelement. Useful and will be the usual vitamins, and funds designed to strengthen blood vessels.
Arthritis and arthrosis
About its beginning will testify not onlypain, but also redness, and severe swelling in the area of the joints. With running forms, people can not even stand upright normally. An exacerbation of the disease can occur after acute respiratory disease or ordinary overcooling.
Osteoarthritis often causes pain in the foot under the fingerswhen walking. What kind of doctor should you go if you notice a "bone" on your thumb? Any arthritis and arthrosis should be handled by a special doctor - an arthrologist. But such a narrowly specialized specialist is difficult to find in ordinary polyclinics. Therefore, if you have problems with joints, you can contact surgeons, orthopedists and rheumatologists.
With arthrosis cartilage is destroyed in the joints. This causes a sudden short-term pain. Arthritis develops in the elderly, but with excess weight, excessive strain or genetic predisposition, the disease can manifest earlier.
Leg injuries
Even a small blow can cause serious problems. Therefore, with pain in the feet, many are advised to do radiography and consult a traumatologist.
The tactics of treatment are chosen depending on the condition. In some cases, the doctor may advise to immobilize the foot. This option is preferable for fractures.
Neuroma Mortana
With a pathological thickening of the nerve of the foot,between the fingers, the doctors diagnose the intercostal neuritis. It is also known as Mortman's neuroma. With this disease, painful sensations are concentrated between the 3 and 4 toes of the foot.
To the development of interplus neurinoma leadscompression of the nerve with the bones. Because of this, it thickens, and the patient begins to feel pain. Suffer from this disease mainly women who prefer tight shoes with high heels.
The treatment of this disease is performed by surgeons or orthopedists. But first you need to establish a diagnosis. For this it is necessary to know the symptoms of the neuroma. They include:
- lumbago in the region of 3 and 4 toes;
- sensation of a foreign object in shoes;
- burning and tingling in front of the foot;
- pain that occurs after a load on the legs.
Tactics of treatment of neurinoma
Morton's neuroma is enough to get rid ofcomplicated. It is not enough to understand why there is pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. Than to treat, it is necessary to select individually. Some people are helped by changing shoes and using orthopedic insoles.
If the symptoms do not go away, then appointphysiotherapeutic procedures. It can be acupuncture, magnetotherapy, electrophoresis, shock wave therapy. If there is no result, blockade with corticosteroids is done. This allows to remove inflammation, reduce swelling and causes recurrence of the neuroma.
But in neglected cases, surgery is necessary. The surgeon can:
- remove Morton's neuroma: it is immobilized and excised through a 2 cm cut; During the healing period, the active load on legs is excluded, but after the operation the patient can go home on his own;
- dissect transverse metatarsal ligament: this helps to clean nerve compression;
- To break the head 4 of the metatarsal bone to reduce pressure on the nerve - this method is used extremely rarely.
Pain related to neurological problems
In some cases, the pain in the foot under the fingerswalking is caused by such diseases as pain polyneuropathy or funicular myelosis. In the first case there is a pronounced discomfort in the area of the feet. This disease often develops against the background of diabetes in those cases when the concentration of glucose in the blood is not too high.
Funicular myelosis develops against a background of deficiencyvitamin B12. This condition can arise because of its insufficient intake into the body or because of a violation of the mechanism of its assimilation. Discomfort arises from the fact that the nerve conduction in the spinal cord is disturbed. This leads to the fact that there may be quite a strong pain in the foot under the fingers when walking. Treatment with folk remedies in this case will not help. It is necessary to quickly fill the vitamin B12 deficiency. This is done with the help of intramuscular injections of 4000 μg every 2-3 days. After 2 weeks, the dosage is gradually reduced to 100 μg. Such therapy can last several months.
Vascular diseases
When there is pain in the legsto consult with phlebologist, cardiologist, neurologist, angiologist. After all, one of the reasons that there is pain in the foot under the fingers when walking, are problems with the vessels.
Men often face such a disease,as an endarteritis. This is called inflammation of the arteries, which develops mainly in the legs. At the first steps the patient does not feel discomfort, but over time the pain begins to increase, there is a feeling of heaviness and numbness. The condition improves after a short rest, but at the slightest load it deteriorates again.
Phlebitis and varicose veins also cause pain in the legs. But with these diseases they do not always concentrate in front of the foot, but can also grab other leg sections.
Alternative Therapy Methods
Any alternative medicine methods can be used after consultation with the attending physician. After all, in the beginning it is necessary to understand what exactly led to the appearance of pain.
With arthritis you can use a mustard compress. For its preparation, take 1 spoonful of dry mustard, olive oil and honey. All these components are mixed and boiled. After that, the compress is superimposed on the problem area.
Practically for all diseases you can dofoot massage and relaxing baths. These are safe methods of people's treatment, which will help temporarily to ease the pain and relax the problem feet. It is important to pay attention to resting legs and doing special gymnastics for the feet.
