Foot pain is extremely common and there are many factors which may cause this. There is acute and chronic pain which can further be divided into acute-on chronic pain as well.
Acute pain may be from fractures such as after bouncing your toe/foot on the furniture, ankle sprains or tendon strains e.g. Achilles tendonitis after sport. These may be mildly symptomatic and settle with self-applied treatment but if they do not resolve then they will need further investigation and treatment. An Orthopaedic surgeon can assess your condition and request X-rays, Ultrasound, CT scans or MRI for appropriate diagnosis to guide the effective management and rehabilitation of your condition.
Chronic pain may develop from Plantar Fasciitis (a.k.a. heel spurs), Chronic Achilles tendonitis, bunions, fallen arches (Adult Acquired Flat Foot) or high arches – all of which may lead to an altered gait pattern which can add to the pain by incurring or exacerbating leg, thigh or low back pain. Your Orthopaedic surgeon will listen to your clinical history, examine your feet and assess your gait as well as do further investigations including standing view (i.e. load bearing) x-rays, or scans as necessary. Occasionally you may need gait pressure analysis i.e. assessment of the pressure patterns of your stance and gait, to determine if orthotics (insoles) would assist you.
Acute on chronic pain may be due to recurrent problems which may signal or be the result of other medical problems such as diabetes or circulatory impairment (i.e. Peripheral Vascular Disease) or structural problems with your feet which become evident as you age and the ligamentous integrity of the foot is lessened. Treatment of the condition is obviously dependent on the correct diagnosis of the cause and may be as simple as splinting a broken toe, physiotherapy to alleviate sprains or strains, orthotics to normalize foot pressure and the gait or may require surgery to correct the problem.
Whatever the cause for your foot pain Fracture & Orthopaedic Clinic offers expert consultation, appropriate investigation as outlined above (we do all of these with most done in office) and directed treatment to get you “back on your feet”. One of our practitioners has just returned from an international conference directed solely at foot and ankle problems and we will shortly be introducing long leg X-rays to properly assess lower limb alignment to allow appropriate management of the more complex cases. We also liaise with foreign foot and ankle specialists for further opinions where necessary. Please feel
free to contact us for a consultation on your particular problem.