Pain on the inside of the foot is a common problem and finding the reason behind what exactly is causing the pain is important. When we talk about the inside of the foot, we are talking about pain on the inside of the arch, it can go up and into the inside of the leg if it is progressing and not being treated.
There are 2 structures that can become inflamed when discussing pain on the inside of the foot. There is the bottom of the foot which is most likely plantar fascia pain and then there is that pain on the inside of the arch that can go into the inside of the leg. These are different muscles than the plantar fascia. Both can be treated the same way for a little bit, but it is important to determine exactly where it is coming from and why.
The first thing you need to fix is the footwear that you are wearing. It is very important to address footwear when talking about the foot and if you do not correct your footwear then you cannot permanently fix the pain.
The first rule in correcting the footwear is that you shouldn’t walk barefoot. From the time you wake up until the time you go to bed you should be wearing a supportive sneaker. When you walk barefoot, or in flats or flip flops, every time your foot hits the ground without support, it stretches out the muscles that you are trying to keep from being inflamed. If you do not have support for the bottom of the foot, such as a sneaker then you cannot allow the muscles to heal because every step you take you will be inflaming the muscles.
Watch the video below to see exactly what happens to your foot and your leg when you walk without shoes.
Next, to differentiate where the pain is coming from it is a quick and simple test. You can take your fingers and touch into the inside of the foot and then continue to feel up into the leg and then into the bottom of the foot. If there is tenderness on either of the muscles as you push on the way up or the way down, then that is an indication that the muscle has some inflammation. And the further up the leg the inflammation goes, the worse the problem is and needs to be addressed.
It is important to note that just because the inside of the foot is where you feel the pain, that does not mean that is where the problem is. The cause of the pain could be a weakness in the hips or tightness in other muscles. Just treating and addressing the pain in the inside of the foot will fix the problem for a bit but it will not permanently solve the problem. And without addressing the real cause of the issue will allow for the pain to return and possibly cause another issue.
However, in order to address the foot pain, you want o start by icing. Start by applying an ice pack or a bag of peas for about 15 minutes a day. Preferably at the end of the day to help with the inflammation.
Next you want to do some massage or myofascial release. This will help the muscles go back to their normal state. Take a golf ball or a lacrosse ball or a beastie ball the fun it along the bottom of your foot and up into the leg. You should try to do some massage work about 5-10 minutes a day.
Remember, the inside of your foot just does not automatically start to hurt for no reason. Unless you sprained your ankle or had another traumatic injury then there is no reason that it should just start to hurt. Therefore it is very important to find out exactly where the cause of the foot pain is coming from because most likely the cause of the pain is somewhere higher up in the body and not addressing the cause of the pain can lead to more injuries than just inside foot pain.
If you have foot pain and live in Harleysville or Hatfield or North Wales PA and want a free consultation with a doctor of physical therapy, call 215-997-9898 to schedule yours today!
