Not one pair of her shoes had mid sole support or a small heel. Amongst the collection were 3 pairs of ballet flats, a pair of Merrell street shoes, and some flat and flexible office shoes. Mrs X brought a large selection of shoes to her consultation and wondered if her arch pain and general foot fatigue was due to her choice of footwear. One week ago, she went to see her regular physiotherapist who applied some rigid sports tape to her foot, and this provided short term relief. She would often stop mid stride, and stand still, as the stabbing pain was extreme and she felt like her arch was tearing. Mrs X described the pain as a burning sensation under the sole of her foot and a sharp pulling sensation. In addition to the onset of arch pain and fatigue, she felt her calf muscles tightening and she would occasionally experience cramps, particularly in the evenings. She would release the stiffness in her feet with a spiky ball at home and this provided temporary relief. As her body weight increased she became aware of a mild arch pain and some general fatigue in her foot muscles. Her eating habits also became an issue and this compounded the weight gain problem.
Mrs X had been through an extremely stressful period at work and this meant she stopped visiting the gym. The arch pain started 3months ago, around the time she was starting to feel her body weight was becoming a problem. She reports an increase in body weight, gaining 14 kilo’s in approximately 6 months. ARCH PAIN TREATMENT OPTIONSĬASE STUDY – ARCH PAIN WITH WEIGHT GAIN BY KARL LOCKETT, SPORTS PODIATRIST HISTORY – ARCH PAINĪ 44-year-old lady presents to the clinic with arch pain in her right foot which came on gradually. Correct stretching techniques must be instructed and followed. Shock wave therapy can applied to the foot which can stimulate blood flow and accelerate healing in addition to relieving pain. Strapping can be applied to the foot and in extreme cases an immobilisation boot can be used. Orthotics can be arranged and shoes can be changed. If there are bio mechanical issues affecting the patients foot then these need to be addressed also. Factors such as footwear, exercise or even stretching techniques are common contributing factors. If the tissue is not torn, then it is important to determine what has caused the condition so that these contributing factors can be resolved. It is also important to determine whether or not the ligament, fascia or tendon has been torn as this will determine which treatment path to take. Physical examination is usually sufficient but in complex cases the patient can be referred for ultra sound imaging. It is important to assess and diagnose which part of the foot is affected and causing the pain. The soft tissue in the arch can be torn and this can be detected via ultra sound or MRI. In extreme cases the pain can be excruciating and can cause burning and throbbing in bed at night. It will often feel worse in bare feet or thongs or flat and flimsy shoes such as ballet flats. Arch pain can be present every day and can be consistently present, in that it interferes with day to day activity. The pain in the arch can come on suddenly as in a one off day of increased walking or a sporting event, or progressively over a period of time as in walking in inappropriate shoes.
Patients will often describe a tightness, pulling, strain, burning or ripping sensation through the mid arch of the foot, in front of the heel but behind the ball of the foot. Arch pain can be the result of one or a combination of conditions that develop in the sole of the foot.
0 kommentar(er)
