What is Metatarsal Pain?
Metatarsal pain is pain and/or inflammation which are usually centred on and around the ball of the foot. This is also known as Metatarsalgia and usually involves the metatarsal arch (the bones connecting your toes to your rearfoot) collapsing or falling out of balance, putting more pressure on the ball of your foot.
What are the Symptoms of Metatarsal Pain?
The most obvious symptom of metatarsal pain is a throbbing, burning or shooting pain on or near the ball of your foot. This pain can worsen when you walk or run, and improve while resting. Some people with this complain of a feeling of having a pebble in their shoe.
General pain in the foot can come and go without incident, depending on what you’ve been doing, however if the pain is continual for more than a few days then there is a chance that you have metatarsalgia. It is more likely for the pain to gradually develop over a longer period than to suffer a sudden onset.
What are the Causes of Metatarsal Pain?
One of the main causes of metatarsal pain is poorly fitting shoes — This can be shoes which are too small or high heeled shoes. High heeled shoes transfer extra weight to the front of your foot, causing the tissues in charge of maintaining the metatarsal arch to stretch and weaken. Minimalist trainers with less padding can also cause metatarsal pain.
Overexertion during running is another contributing factor to metatarsalgia, as the balls of your feet have to take a lot of pressure and too much pressure can weaken tissue. On the flip side, obesity also adds strain to the metatarsal region as your feet will have to deal with more weight and therefore more impact than normal, which strains and weakens the tissue in your foot.
In older people, metatarsal pain can be a result of arthritis in the metatarsal joints, causing the joints to be displaced and even dislocated in some cases.
How Can a Shoe Insole Help with Metatarsal Pain?
One of the ways a shoe insole can help with metatarsal pain is it can distribute the pressure your foot experiences on a day-to-day basis. By doing this, it takes pressure off the balls of your feet and gives the tendon holding up the metatarsal arch a chance to regain its strength.
Similarly, a shoe insole can act as a shock absorber for your feet. This also reduces the pressure from walking and running, making it easier for the affected tissue to heal.
If you are interested in getting a shoe insole to help with your metatarsal pain, feel free to visit Shoe Insoles and check out our range of Insoles for Metatarsal Pain.
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