Do you have pain in the ball of your foot?
Does it hurt to bend your toes?
Are your toes spread or deformed?
Forefoot pain can include bursitis, plantar plate tear/rupture, capsulitis, mortons neuromas
What causes forefoot pain?
- The following things can attribute to forefoot pain and often it is a combination of factors –
- Tight footwear or high heeled shoes
- Poor foot alignment and function including flat feet, high arches and bunions
- Poor foot strength and/or mobility
- Trauma
- Walking barefoot on hard surfaces
- Excessive use of thongs or unsupportive footwear
What can I do to treat forefoot pain?
- Treatment is varied depending on the cause and is best discussed post assessment with your podiatrist but can include –
- Foot mobilisation
- Dry needling/trigger point therapy/soft tissue release
- Low level laser therapy
- Footwear changes
- Padding and strapping to offload
- Functional foot orthotics
- Strengthening and/or stretching exercises
- Toe separators
- If the above methods are not working successfully enough then the following may be considered –
- Injection therapy including cortisone
- Surgery