What is Pain in the Arch of Foot? How Do Stretches Help Treat the Condition?

Pain in the Arc of the Foot is a severe condition that can be caused by several factors including Plantar fasciitis. However some other factors that trigger this condition include cavus foot, and posterior tibial tendon dysfunction and many more. Pain in the arch of foot has become a common problem nowadays and many people are affected by this condition. This pain affects athletes, runners and common people. It doesn’t mean that pain in the arc of the foot just affects the hyper-active people, but it also affects the people who are less active. 

Its symptoms usually appear at the arc of food in early days. It appears as the inflammation at the arch of foot initially and rupture of the soft tissues found in the mid-foot. The condition known as plantar fascia. It happens because your arc of foot is composed of tight strands of tissues that make a connection between your toes to heel. These tissue strands are very useful because they are used to transfer your body weight from heels to toes to maintain proper mechanism of your foot. But when your tissues get inflamed and ruptured, they cause unbearable pain in your arc of foot. The foot arch is the main part of your foot that contributes to stretching your heels and toes to maintain balance. It also supports movements. The stretch of foot also helps in:

• Creating balance.
• Adapting to changes in terrain.
• Absorbing shocks.
• Stabilizing movements of the body.
• Bearing body weight.

When the condition is left untreated for some time, it continues to exp[and to ball and heel pain. Ball and heel pain is the common symptom of pain in arch of foot, you may also experience unbearable pain at the top of your foot, back of your foot, in the heels and ankles. 

As pain in the arc of the foot is actually caused by some underlying health issues, it can be worsened when you perform daily activities of life, such as walking, standing, or running. Its symptoms get worse in the morning when you wake up.

Possible Causes of Arch Pain in Your Foot

Whenever the bones, tendons or ligaments in feet are injured, foot arch pain starts bothering you. This risk of foot arch pain increases many fold if you have any structural deformation in your feet. The risk also increase if you are:

• Overweight.
• Aged.
• Physically stressed.
• Overusing your feet.
• Suffering from certain neurological conditions.

Structural issues can be explained by the examples of high arches and flat feet. These are the leading cause of arch pain. Some Other conditions caused by pain in the arch of foot include:

Plantar Fasciitis

The most popular reason for arch pain is Plantar fasciitis. Most of the patients of orthopedic pains came with the complaint for plantar fasciitis that is actually characterized by the inflammation or injury to your foot. Plantar fasciitis is actually a strong ligament that acts as a connector between your heel and toes. The condition usually affects runners or gymnasts but sometimes non runners also suffer from it.

Common symptoms of plantar fasciitis are stiffness, rigidity and pain in your foot arch. When you stand on your feet for a prolonged period of time the pain becomes unbearable and more painful that makes it difficult for you to do chores of routine life. 

Wearing a different type of shoes for inserting additional comfort in them to support your feet can help lessen the severity of pain in arch. Certain stretches are also considered to relieve pain in the arch of the foot.

Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction (PTTD)

This condition is associated with the flat foot. When you have an inflammation or injury in the posterior tibial tendon of your foot, PTTD may occur. The posterior tibial tendon acts as a connection between your muscles in the calf and your inner foot bones. The failure of the posterior tibial tendon in providing support to your foot arch causes pain in the foot arch that leads to PTTD. The pain usually progresses and reaches the inner parts of the ankle and back of the calf. Ankle swelling  gets worse with the passage of time and the open normally occurs when you perform routine activities, like walking or running or climbing up the stairs.

Wearing custom shoes or ankle braces can help treat PTTD. However, experts also suggest physiotherapy as an effective treatment of the severe cases, you may go to surgery to treat PTTD.

Overpronation

This is a specific way of walking. When you hit the outer edge of your heel first at ground and then roll the foot inward onto arc whale walking, you overpronate. Overpronation flattens your feet overly and if not corrected over time, can dislocate your ligaments, muscles and tendons. These factors cause unbearable pain in your arch. Overpronation is the condition that can lead to:

• Hammer toe.
• Hip,knees and back pain.
• Corns or calluses.

People suffering from overpronation also experience extra wearing on the inside part of the bottom of your shoe where your heel and ball of foot are located.

Using more stabilized shoes can help you treat overpronation. These types of shoes may help you correct your walking style. But you have to ask a store to customize such shoes according to the recommendations of your podiatrist. Talk to your orthopedic surgeon about the watts to maintain your foot health. Try certain exercises and foot stretches to lessen the pain. Visit your podiatrist regularly because they are specialized in foot health. And can guide you in many ways to take care of your feet.

Cavus Foot

high arch feet are more likely to be diagnosed with cavus feet. Certain structural abnormality that is genetically transferred to next offspring is a common cause of the condition. This may be triggered by some neurological conditions. If you are suffering from cavus foot, you may experience pain in your arch while walking or standing. The symptoms of cavus foot include:

• Calluses.
• Hammer toe.
• Claw toe.

The condition makes your feet more prone to ankle sores because it is caused by instability in your feet. 

Like other foot arch problems, this condition may also be treated by wearing orthotic shoe inserts. This insertion method is an effective way to support your foot and ankle along with relief in pain. If you;re a runner or player, try to wear high-topped shoes when participating in sports. If the symptoms remain persistent, you may need surgery. 

When Should You Go to A Podiatrist?

If you experience foot pain occasionally, it would not harm you. It’s not a matter of concern. In such cases you can get relief by using some over-the-counter medications or home remedies, such as massage, rest or soaking your feet in warm or cold water.

But in other cases,when you experience unbearable pain frequently and no home remedy helps relieve the pain and gets worse over time, you should talk to your doctor. Because if not treated the foot arch pain may cause other health conditions that can cause severe and permanent damage to your ankle, spine, and knees. Patients living with diabetes should be more careful of experiencing any foot arch pain.The should stay on top of foot injury or pain.

How to Diagnose Arch Pain?

Conducting a physical examination and assessing your medical history are two main factors that help your doctor to diagnose foot arch pain. They usually pinpoint the location of pain by asking you to flex and point your foot by pushing on the ligaments. Signs of inflammation and swelling or redness are the major signs that help diagnose the problem in the foot arch. The coordination among your muscles, bones, ligaments, your muscle tone, and reflexes also help them to understand the condition and the procedure of diagnosis becomes easier. Other tests suggested for diagnosis include:

• CT scan.
• X-ray.
• Ultrasound.
• MRI scan.

Finding the location and timing or arch pain is another key tool to diagnose foot arch pain.

Effects of Arches of Foot on Your Body

Arches of your feet are of two types. It may be transverse or longitudinal. They actually contribute to the supporting balance of the body. Your standing and sitting postures ate directly influenced these arches. You’re vulnerable to which type of injury, may be determined by finding how much your feet arch is high. Here are some facts about the effect of arches on your body.

Low Arch

This type of arches cause extreme flexibility in your feet that increases the risk of sliding the foot inward. Although it is a little arch, it increases the risk of arch pain, heel spurs, heel discomfort, bunions, and plantar fasciitis many fold. In addition, it also raises the chances of medial knee issues and overpronation. 

Medium Arch 

This type of arch has a distinct curve that makes it a perfect foot bio-mechanically. This type of arch makes the foot slightly flexible and causes heel pain, known as Metatarsalgia. You can manage the pain by using the size of shoes that suit your foot structure and make your walking comfortable. This shows that additional cushioning, adequate support and effectively shock absorbing materials can aid maintaining good body alignment and injury prevention.

High Arch

This is the most inconvenient form of foot arch that also makes your foot inflexible and causes discomfort while walking or doing daily chores. It exerts more strain on the front and back of your foot. This condition is prevailing around the world and a large number of people are affected with high arch problems. People with high arches experience the problem of having little surface area to cushion the impact while walking or running. This thing makes them more prone to heel pain, plantar fasciitis and forefoot pain.

Home Remedies to Get Relief

Foot arch pain is a condition that can be relieved at home. Making some small changes to your lifestyle can help relieve the arch pain. However, sometimes, you may need some medical treatment along with home remedies. So the popular home remedies to lessen the arch pain include:

Taking Rest

Whenever you experience some symptoms of foot arch pain, including heel, ankle or calf pain, rest your foot and stop your routine activities for some time. Other physical activities that put more strain on your feet like jumping, climbing stairs or walking briskly should also be paused. Avoiding such sternous activities foursome days can help you relieve pain. But if the symptoms persist for a longer time, try icing your foot. Applying ice in your foot for five minutes can lower the severity of pain.

Stretch

Some self-release stretches can help you relieve foot arch pain. If you’re interested, try this:

• Press the forefoot while putting the foot on the upper leg.
• Use the other hand to fold the foot gently so that the muscles of the foot become flexible and stretchable. 
• Pushing heels towards toes can boost blood flow. 
• This stretch is effectively used to relieve foot arch pain immediately.
• Another feasible way of foot stretching is using a lacrosse ball. You can replace lacrosse ball with a roller or tennis ball because sometimes it is not available easily in the market.
• Sit on a chair.
• Place the ball or bottle under your foot and make a balanced posture.
• Move your foot on the ball in rolling movement.
• This way your foot gets massaged through the roller.
• Continue the rolling for ten minutes.
• Try this stretch when you feel stiffness in your foot arch.

Conclusion

Foot arch pain has become a common concern of many people nowadays. A number of people are expecting this condition because this is caused by other underlying health conditions and safety of your foot. If left untreated it also causes more chronic or long-term diseases. Diabetic people should strictly avoid foot arch pain. This may cause damage to the structure and function of your ligaments, tendons and muscles of feet. The structural dysfunction can lead to severe and bearable pain in different parts of the foot.

You can treat the condition by using some simple home remedies including rest, stretch or OTC medications. But if the symptoms remain persistent, it is good to visit your doctor immediately because sometimes the condition gets worse and needs surgical treatment.