Ball of Foot Pain

Pain under the ball of the foot (Metatarsalgia) is a common complaint with people who wear shoes with poor cushioning and inadequate support. This includes men wearing work boots, women wearing high-heeled shoes, or other hard shoes while standing for long periods of time. Most metatarsal problems come with changes and breakdown of your feet that lead to biomechanical deficiencies creating improper weight distribution and fat pad atrophy on the ball of your feet.

What causes Ball of Foot Pain?

Ball of Foot Pain occurs frequently when wearing shoes with poor cushioning and inadequate support, which cause our weight to be unevenly distributed across our feet, putting undue pressure on the metatarsals (forefoot bones). As a result, these bones drop, the surrounding ligaments weaken, and the entire forefoot structure collapses. This, in turn, leads to excess pressure and friction under the ball of the foot. The key reason for this problem is that when wearing high heels, most of our body weight is resting on the forefoot area.

Ball of Foot pain can also occur when wearing normal footwear, especially during long walks or standing for long periods of time. This type of ball-of-foot pain can be treated with a full-length, podiatry-designed custom made orthotic, which features a metatarsal raise to help alleviate the pressure and friction in the ball of the foot.

Metatarsalgia Symptoms

Medical studies on foot pain found that a combination of stretching exercises and wearing orthotic shoe inserts is the most effective way of dealing with arch pain. This treatment regime is also very effective for the treatment of heel pain.

Metatarsalgia is often described as a burning sensation in the ball of the foot, often combined with excess callous forming. The pain worsens when wearing high heels or tight fashion shoes for longer periods of time.