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Health

Foot pain when walking

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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Pain in the foot when walking is the most common symptom that patients complain about. It can be general, diffuse, affecting the entire foot or limited to certain and insignificant areas of the feet. Diffuse pain in the foot when walking is sometimes associated with stress or strain.

The human foot is the lowest part of the lower limb. The part of the foot that directly contacts the ground is called the foot or sole. The foot has three points of bone support, two of which are located in the anterior section and one in the posterior section. The posterior section is called the heel, and the anterior section, which consists of 5 fingers, is called the toe. The toes also include the phalanges of the foot. The bones of the foot extend from the very tips of the fingers to the heel and unite directly in the body of the foot. The base of the foot is represented by 26 bones. Their most important function is spring. The special structure of the foot (longitudinal and transverse arch) makes it possible to soften the load on the lower limbs, spine and pelvis. If the longitudinal (in rarer cases, transverse) arch flattens due to weak ligaments and muscles, foot deformation occurs - doctors diagnose "flat feet". Depending on the specifics of the damage to the arch of the foot, transverse and longitudinal flatfoot are distinguished. It is likely that these forms are combined with each other and with other types of foot deformations.

Pain in the foot when walking, associated with load, without any additional clinical symptoms, may be an early sign of foot insufficiency, which is associated with calcium deficiency (osteopathy), rickets, osteomalacia, senile osteoporosis. What is surprising is the pain in each bone when pressing on them with a finger.

Prolonged bed rest due to various illnesses is also the cause of diffuse pain in the foot when walking, which is associated with insufficiency of the muscle and ligament apparatus. The same kind of pain caused by insufficiency appears as a result of a rapid increase in overall body weight or prolonged heavy load.

In particular, severe pain in the feet and almost complete loss of support ability along with inflammatory-trophic changes accompany such a disease as osteoporosis, which occurs after diseases and injuries of the bones, soft tissues and joints of the foot and ankle. Severe diffuse pain in the feet, long-term or paroxysmal, occurs with organic and functional lesions of the vessels.

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Causes of foot pain when walking

  1. Pain in the foot when walking can be caused by arthritis, poor blood supply, compression of nerves between the toes, deformation of the metatarsal bones and other reasons. Often this pain in the foot when walking is caused by nerve damage or age-related changes in the feet, which are called metatarsalgia.
  2. Pain in the foot when walking due to age-related changes. The older a person is, the more the protective function of the fat layer in the area of the metatarsal heads, which acts as a shock absorber, decreases. This condition can cause compression of the bags in the area of the metatarsal heads, which inevitably leads to an inflammatory process in them - bursitis.
  3. Rheumatoid arthritis, or inflammation of the joints, can also cause pain in the feet when walking.
  4. The cause of foot pain that occurs when walking may be a benign enlargement of nerve tissue - a neuroma surrounding the nerve. As a rule, a neuroma is observed at the base of the third or fourth toes (the so-called Morton's neuroma), although it can also occur in the area of other toes. As a rule, neuromas are observed on one foot and often in women. Usually, at an early stage, a neuroma manifests itself as minor pain in the area of 3-4 toes and sometimes a tingling or burning sensation. Foot pain increases when walking if you wear a certain type of shoes, especially with a narrow toe. As the disease progresses, tingling becomes constant, regardless of the type of shoes the person who has come with the complaint wears. Moreover, it may seem as if there is a stone in the foot.
  5. Pain in the foot when walking is felt in cases of traumatic injuries: dislocation of the metatarsal bones or dislocation of the Lisfranc joint, dislocation of the tarsal bones or dislocation at the Chopart joint, subtalar dislocation of the foot, dislocation of the foot at the ankle joint).
  6. With developed flat feet, the foot lies on the surface with the entire area of the sole and no longer performs a spring function. For this reason, fatigue and pain in the feet and shins appear when walking, running, standing. Acquired flat feet (congenital is very rare) most often develops as a result of various overloads of the feet, especially during the period when the body is growing. Already in adulthood, flat feet often develop as a result of prolonged standing on the feet (for example, in hairdressers, salespeople). Flat feet can also be provoked by prolonged carrying of heavy objects and excess weight. Flat feet of a traumatic nature usually develops after a fracture of the bones of the foot, ankle. If there is a fracture of the bones of the lower limb, flat feet also often develop - on the side opposite the fracture.
  7. Erythromelalgia. This disease affects the legs, usually the feet. It is often observed among middle-aged men. The main symptoms are redness of the foot and burning pain. The disease usually occurs after heating the limb or its forced position. The pain can be relieved by cold or raising the affected limb. This disease accompanies other diseases, such as hypertension, a reaction to a drug, polycythemia or thrombocytosis. It can be observed in myeloproliferative diseases, for example, leukemia. But it can also appear without any connection with other diseases. The cause of this disease is still unknown. Burning in the limb is most often a response to heat. Pain in the foot may also occur when walking. The affected area turns red.
  8. Pain in the foot when walking also occurs as a result of the nail growing into the soft tissues of the toe, as well as as a result of bunions, calluses and plantar warts. The overwhelming cause of these ailments is manifested in wearing improperly selected shoes.

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