As part of Foot Health Month throughout October, we’ve dedicated ourselves to promoting great foot health across Australia together with the Australian Podiatry Council! Today we thought we’d tackle something we’re sure all of us have experienced at some point in our lives – foot pain at work!
When you’ve already got a never-ending to-do list to occupy your workday, foot pain is the last thing anyone needs. We thought we’d share some common causes of foot pain we often treat here at Sole Motion Podiatry so you know what to look out for!
Pain at the ball of your feet
If you’re getting pain at the ball of your feet, it means you’re putting more pressure through the bones, joints and muscles in that area. Often this is due to footwear, especially high heels, but can also come down to your foot biomechanics or any repetitive movements at work like standing on the balls of your feet to reach files or moving over uneven ground where your toes are gripping the shoe at the front of the foot to try to gain stability. It may be that you’ve irritated or damaged a joint, the tissues surrounding the joints or any of the various muscles, tendons and ligaments in the area. Examples of this include plantar plate injuries, bursitis, capsulitis and sesamoiditis. Often you’ll be able to narrow down the area based on redness, swelling and pain on touch. If the pain presents when you squeeze your toes together, you may have a neuroma.
Heel pain
If you’re getting pain at the bottom of the heel that may radiate through your arch, you may have developed plantar fasciitis . If the entire pad around the bottom of the heel is sore, there could be damage to your fat pad. If it’s the back of the heel, there may be damage to the insertion of your achilles tendon. You may also have developed a ‘pump bump’ – or as we clinically refer to it as a Haglund’s deformity – if you’re in tight work shoes that rub against the back of your heel. Heel pain can often come about after long periods of standing on your feet – especially when it’s combined with poor foot biomechanics and hard surfaces.
Ankle pain
If you’re getting pain around your ankle, you may have damaged some of the ankle ligaments. This often occurs when you sprain your ankle . This can be a risk at work on uneven and slippery surfaces. If you haven’t noticeably suddenly twisted the ankle, it could be an impingement occurring where a tendon or nerve is getting trapped in the space between bones. Additionally it may overuse of a tendon where it crosses the ankle or arthritic in nature.
Pain at the toes
More often than not, pain at the toes past the ball of the foot is a direct result of your footwear. It’s often the result of buttressing or rubbing of the toes against the shoe, which can also encourage the development of things like callous and ingrown toenails.
Generally sore and tired feet
If you struggle to pinpoint one exact location and are feeling like your feet (and even legs) feel sore and tired, you may have a general muscular overuse as a result of your foot type, your footwear and/or your work conditions. A classic example is flat feet, where various muscles of the feet and legs must work much harder to move the foot through every step as it comes much closer to the ground than ‘normal’. Combining this with being on your feet all day can definitely leave them sore and tired! Footwear can exacerbate this – if you’re in unsupportive footwear that doesn’t help to stabilise your foot within the shoe, your feet and legs will have to work even harder to maintain good stability and adapt to uneven ground throughout your workday, tiring the muscles more than they otherwise would be. Another example is hard surfaces, like being on a factory floor all day. We often see factory works that have a high arched foot type come in with sore feet and legs – because their foot type means they may not absorb shock efficiently and the hard surfaces increase the force going through their feet, they end up with sore bones, muscles and joints.
While the above are pains through the feet, we also treat various knee, hip and back pains too. Often these are from repetitive motions such as squatting, kneeling and generally lifting heavy objects. Read more about Worksafe workplace injuries here: https://solemotionpodiatry.com/workplace-injuries/
Wherever your pain is located, it’s important to get to the cause of your pain and address it before it worsens. Because we’re on our feet all day every day and hence putting force and pressure through the feet, issues and injuries are highly likely to worsen if left untreated meaning that timely and effective management is very important.
If you’ve noticed any aches or pains in your feet – come in and see us! Our expert team will not only treat your current pain but get to the root of the problem to ensure that it doesn’t come back! Give us a call on 1300-FX-FEET and stay foot safe this October!
