Do you experience:

• Soreness in the ball of my foot
• Foot is painful when you walk
• Pain to the foot when you move your big toe

If your answer is “YES” to the above questions, then you must be suffering from metatarsalgia.

What is metatarsalgia?

Metatarsalgia is pain to one or more joints where the foot meets the toes. You will feel pain at the bottom of the foot, the pain is worse at the “ball of the foot”.

However, if the pain is near the big toe and moving the big toe will cause pain then it could also be osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease). This is common in adults more than 50 years old. It is a “wear and tear” to the joint’s cartilage. The cartilage is a smooth lining of the joint and it will wear out with time.

What are the causes of metatarsalgia?

Causes of metatarsalgia include:

• Neuroma (when nerve tissue gets thicker or squeezed, most often between the 3rd and 4th toes; also called “Morton’s neuroma“)
• Joint inflammation (as with rheumatoid arthritis or gout)
• Stress fracture
• Trauma, as may happen with high-impact sports (such as running, jumping or tennis)
• Other joint problems, such as hammertoe