1. Reasons for Foot Pain and Treatment Options
To adjust foot pain, one must understand this very complex body part. The average foot is made up of approximately 28 bones and 30 joints. It is there to manage almost all forces that are exerted and experienced in everyday activities. In technical jargon, the foot is divided into three segments: the hindfoot, midfoot, and forefoot. The hindfoot is the joint that connects the foot and the ankle. It allows the foot to move up and down. This is where the Achilles tendon connects the calf muscle to the calcaneus or heel bone. The midfoot works to keep the foot rigid, therefore allowing it to serve as a firm base for walking and running. The forefoot is made up of the toe bones (phalanges), cuneiforms, and the metatarsal bones. The phalanges are the bones of the toes. The five metatarsals are the long bones that connect the toes to the rear part of the foot. The joints that connect the phalanges to the metatarsals and the metatarsals to the cuneiforms (the teeth-like bones that connect to the metatarsal in the middle of the foot) are called the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) and tarsometatarsal (TMT) junctions, respectively.
Perhaps your feet experience the greatest amount of wear and tear of any body part. They shoulder the load of your entire body every day. If you’re overweight, this painful situation of bearing the weight of your body is amplified vastly. Add in a modest amount of walking in New York City, and those are the reasons we see so many foot pain patients in our combined orthopedic and pain management practices. Below are the conditions you might be encountering should your feet be in pain. As well, is a summary of how both our specialties attack these problems. Likewise, many of the same strategies — namely, local injections, physical therapy, and occasionally surgery — can potentially be used. To find out more about foot pain reason and treatment, consult our team.
2. Minimally Invasive Foot Pain Treatments
Minimally invasive bunion and tailor’s bunion repair can be done by a small incision. Also, minimally invasive foot surgery can decrease the incidence of wound healing complications, which can be seen in different foot surgeries, including bunionectomy.
Tarsal tunnel syndrome can be difficult to diagnose. With plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis, the tibial nerve, the largest nerve in the foot, can become entrapped or pinched. Minimally invasive Tarsal Tunnel release can be performed through one small incision so that the surgeon can divide the transverse carpal ligament, which is attached to the fascia of the foot. Also, tarsal tunnel can be released by a minimally invasive endoscopic technique.
Plantar fasciitis is a painful inflammation of the plantar fascia, a band of fibrous tissue in the bottom of the foot. Plantar fasciitis is usually caused by overuse injury of the plantar fascia, increases in activity, or changes in activity levels. It is recommended to use minimally invasive procedures with people who have failed conservative treatments like shoe support, orthotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, stretching exercises, and physical therapy.
During minimally invasive Achilles tendon repair or debridement, 2-3 small cuts, which are less than 2 inches, are placed at the level of the injury. With the resection of the damaged tissue, the incisions are able to be sutured closed, saving the tissue from being exposed to external issues, thus resulting in very minimal risk to the surrounding tissues.
Minimally invasive procedures are much less traumatic to the normal surrounding tissues compared to traditional open surgical techniques. These techniques can be applied to the Achilles tendon, plantar fasciitis, tarsal tunnel, bunion, and tailor’s bunion. They are reliable and provide excellent wound healing and a shorter period of immobility and recovery time. Various foot pain treatment methods are available in Singapore.
3. Invasive Foot Pain Treatments
Foot pain that cannot be alleviated by non-operative or minimally invasive treatments will require surgical intervention. Orthopedic surgery for foot pain treatment consists of both ‘Elective’ and ‘Non-elective’ surgeries. What usually prompts patients to seek an Orthopedic Consultation for surgical intervention for foot pain could be any of the following scenarios: Recurrent pain does not even allow walking properly – a definite quality of life issue; When the patients’ social, personal, or professional life is affected due to chronic foot pain; Recurrent usage of medication did not help in pain reduction – such as taking anti-inflammatory medication every day; Atrophy (muscle wasting), Vascular signs (Blood vessel occlusion signs), or Systemic signs – when ignored can lead to irreversible damage which can be averted with appropriate and timely surgical intervention; Or the exponentially increasing functional limping – which are occurring due to the body just trying to avoid the painful situation.
Hyaluronidase Injection – Hyaluronidase is an enzyme that degrades hyaluronic acid. It is used as an adjunct in subcutaneous & intramuscular injections to increase the spread of the solution and so rapid dispersion and absorption of injected drugs. Hyaluronic acid is a major component in the tissue – hence when using Hyaluronidase – the medication (drug) has a more rapid and wider dispersion effect. This will mean that the injected anti-inflammatory medication will have a quicker onset of action and more severe pain states will be rapidly alleviated.
Corticosteroid injection is often very beneficial for patients with numerous ailments. However, these are not “cure-all” injections and the doctor needs to be cautious in administering these, based on numerous patient factors such as age, concurrent health status, previous steroid injection history, etc. Hence, patients need to have a detailed assessment with the orthopedic consultant to determine if the injection is the right way to go.
Corticosteroid Medication Injection – This is a common treatment used in orthopedic and musculoskeletal pains. These are anti-inflammatory that can reduce the inflammation. After the inflammation is reduced, the pain is then reduced (due to the reduced swelling, warmth, and pain).
When the foot pain is localized and surgical intervention is not indicated or inappropriate, the next course of treatment will be to block the pain impulse originating from the area. Here is where injection treatments will offer relief. The common injections used to reduce the pain are corticosteroid and hyaluronidase.
4. Home Remedies for Foot Pain Treatment
Foot pain is a common ailment that almost everyone has experienced. It occurs primarily due to having to stand all day, wearing uncomfortable shoes, or it can be a menace in case of any injury, disease, or inflammation (tendonitis, bursitis, and osteoarthritis). Following are a few home remedies to lessen foot pain. If these foot pain treatment home remedies do not work, it may be time to consult a doctor.
Regularly massaging your foot with warm coconut oil or any pain rub cream can help reduce foot pain. The gentle rubbing motion helps to improve circulation, which helps to reduce inflammation and pain.
Curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, is proven to be anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and antioxidant. Making a cup of turmeric drink daily can make a lot of difference in foot pain relief. Half a teaspoon of ground turmeric (or 1 full teaspoon of turmeric paste), half a teaspoon of ground ginger, honey, and milk are to be added, boiled, and mixed to make the drink.
Epsom salt has long been used to ease sore muscles, but it can also be a remedy for tired feet. It contains magnesium sulfate crystals that naturally relieve soreness, pain, and swelling. Adding Epsom Salt to warm water lowers pain and increases relaxation.
5. Conclusion
Pain from a foot can be disabling and interfere with daily activities and mobility. Of late, research has suggested that affecting more than 25% of individuals enrolled, foot discomfort is an ever-growing problem. Feet are intricate structures, with not only 26 bones, 56 articular factors, and dozens of tendons, ligaments, blood arteries, and nerves, but also act as a shock absorber. And they need to live as long as we live. Ultimately, the long association of humans and the foot from an evolutionary viewpoint might result in a fragility of the foot in distinct sections of the populace, specifically whether the human foot tries to adhere to present-day footwear and modern civilization’s demand for conformation to distinct commercially produced feet and shoe forms.
Although pain could be an unsettling experience, pain is the body’s warning signal to injury and illness. When a foot feels discomfort, the body is alerting the individual to the existence of the problem that requires to be tackled. Treatment can differ, depending on the magnitude and cause of the pain; the main goal of the therapy is to ease the pain. Remedies include relaxation, orthotics, physical exercise, medicine, shots, and even surgery for a number of people. Nonetheless, it is just as vital to determine the cause and get therapy for the underlying situation as well to relieve the pain in the short run. Pain may potentially result from an extensive variety of possible disorders, overuse or other stresses, imbalance of gait or extremely abnormal loads, body weight changes, poorly fitting shoes, or a variety of conditions. While conventional treatment choices could alleviate mild to moderate discomfort, so might such complementary treatments.