What Causes Foot Pain?

People of all ages can have pain in their feet. Sometimes it is something that can be prevented. Sometimes it cannot be. The important thing is to discover the cause of your pain in your foot so you and your doctor can come up with a solution on how to fix the pain. There are many causes of foot pain.

Injuries:

Many causes of pain in the foot are due to injuries. This is due to fractures, bruises, sprains, and muscle strains of the foot. Usually when fibers tear it is because the ligaments are overstretched. Ligaments are important because if they are too tight or too loose they can cause pain in the foot. There are many examples of this. Achilles tendonitis is a condition when there is injury of the tendon of the back of the heel on the foot. Plantar fasciitis is the inflammation of the sole of the foot, and bony spurs that come out of the side of the heel make walking very painful.

Virus and Fungi:

Some foot pain can be caused by viruses and fungi. An example of a virus that can affect the foot is plantar warts which are a growth on the skin found on the bottom of the foot. An example of fungi would be athlete's foot which is a common skin infection found on the foot. Both viruses and fungi can cause foot pain.

Disease:

Another cause of foot pain is disease. An example of a disease would be gout. Gout is when there is too much uric acid in the body, and it causes joint inflammation. It is very painful in the foot. Another disease known to cause pain in the foot is diabetes. Diabetes that is uncontrolled can cause damage to the nerves in your feet. This can cause foot ulcers and sensory diabetic neuropathy.

Footwear:

Always be careful what kind of footwear that you wear on your feet. The wrong shoes can really do damage to your feet. Shoes should always fit well on your feet. If they do not, it can cause calluses, bruising, blisters, corns, bunions, and cause the toes to become unaligned causing great foot pain.

Self-Inflicted:

There is foot pain that can be self-inflicted, and this is the kind of foot pain that can usually be avoided. An example of this is ingrown toenails. This pain can be avoided by cutting your toenails on a regular basis. Another example is to cut back on running all the time especially on uneven surfaces. Running can cause lots of trauma on your feet. Washing and drying feet well can help you avoid the pain of athlete's foot.