Sore Feet - Soreness in the Lower Limb
The lower limb is the location from your hip to the tip of your toes - pelvis, hip joints, buttocks, thighs, knees, calves, ankles, feet and toes . It's primarily made up of muscle and bone along with a network of blood vessels, lymphatics and nerves supplying the area. The lower limbs endure a majority of the body weight with the feet holding all this weight and dispersing the force to the ground. The pressure is increased while strolling and even running and it's fair to say that in regard to movement and weight bearing tasks, it's the lower limbs which are the hardest working areas of the body particularly in an active person. Pain thus remains frequent and quite often related to stress and excessive use of the muscles.
Meaning of sore feet
Sore feet is any distress, ache or agony on the ankles, top of the foot, soles and/or the toes. It is more prevalent after a period of long walking, running or any other physical exercise resulting in excessive use of the lower limbs. This might differ from individual to individual where a fit individual is capable of enduring greater physical effort. In a majority of of these cases, the discomfort is muscular and might involve the muscle tendons and ligaments. Having said that, discomfort or pain in the feet and legs can also arise from the overlying skin and subcutaneous tissue, blood vessels (arteries and veins), lymphatics (lymph nodes and vessels), nerves and bones.
There are many common systems by which one could encounter pain in the feet. It's often hard to segregate the precise cause, framework that's affected or system that is creating the pain or discomfort without taking other signs and symptoms into account.
- Skin, subcutaneous fat or connective tissue -impetigo, cellulitis or fasciitis.
- Arteries - peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
- Veins - vascular insufficiency, varicose veins or deep vein thrombosis.
- Nerves - neuropathy, neuritis or nerve root compression.
- Joint lining or joint cartilage - arthritis or arthrosis.
- Muscles and tendons - strain, tendinitis.
- Ligaments - sprain.
- Lymph nodes or lymphatic vessels - lymphadenitis or lymphangitis.
- Bone - osteitis, osteomyelitis, osteoporosis or fractures.
Sore Feet Causes
A few of the frequent reasons for generic foot soreness include :- Bruises occur with injury to the feet. It may impact the outer lying parts like the skin, subcutaneous tissue and even the muscles but might occasionally stretch deeper to the bone. It might happen from overexertion of the legs and feet, slamming into a hard object, dropping a large object on the foot or pressure from tiny shoes or high heel shoes. There are many other reasons for foot injury which might cause bruising.
- Muscle strain related to overuse like standing for very long periods or walking and running for very long distances frequently cause generic ache to the majority of the feet. The tendons might also be involved therefore resulting in tendinitis. Even though any tendon can be involved, the big Achilles tendon is usually affected.
- Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is the narrowing of the arteries supplying to the legs and feet. There's less oxygenated blood supplying to the feet resulting in pain especially during an activity when the oxygen needs are higher. If a blood clot occludes the already narrowed artery then there might be severe damage to the tissue of the feet. This is called ischemia.
- Nerve problems might be linked to compression of the nerve roots as it comes out from the spine (pinched nerve), swelling of the nerve (neuritis) with injury or harm to the nerve as is normally seen in diseases such as diabetes mellitus (diabetic neuropathy).
- Bone problems may arise if there's injury to the bone, fractures or bone spurs. Stress fractures on the feet aren't unusual in a really active person in which tiny splits form in the bones from high-impact actions. Bony spurs are outgrowths of bone tissue that may arise from any bone. In the feet, it typically comes from the calcaneus and it is referred to as a heel spur.
- Calluses are thickening of our skin on the feet, generally on the areas subjected to pressure such as soles with extented standing or walking, or the sides of the feet and toes with sporting tight shoes. Calluses on top of the toes are called corns. Soreness of certain areas of the feet might be due to more distinct causes.
Sore Toes
Gout is an inflammatory situation of the small joints because of an accumulation of urate crystals. It's a type of arthritis although other kinds of arthritis might also impact the toe joints. Hammer toe is a toe joint disability causing it to be completely bent, curling downwards in a claw-like alignment. An equivalent problem is mallet toe affecting the upper toe joint whereas hammer toe influences the middle joint. Bunion is a bump at the base of the toe which may become swollen. It occurs with sporting tight shoes that push the big toe up against the other toes.
Gout is an inflammatory situation of the small joints because of an accumulation of urate crystals. It's a type of arthritis although other kinds of arthritis might also impact the toe joints. Hammer toe is a toe joint disability causing it to be completely bent, curling downwards in a claw-like alignment. An equivalent problem is mallet toe affecting the upper toe joint whereas hammer toe influences the middle joint. Bunion is a bump at the base of the toe which may become swollen. It occurs with sporting tight shoes that push the big toe up against the other toes.
Sore Sole
Reasons for soreness on the soles of the feet, that might involve the ball of the feet and heels, include:
Reasons for soreness on the soles of the feet, that might involve the ball of the feet and heels, include:
- Plantar warts are abnormal growths on the soles of the feet as a result of existence of the human papilloma virus (HPV). It has a tendency to occur on regions of the skin which were injured and have cuts or where calluses have been created.
- Plantar fasciitis is the swelling of the ligament sheath that lines the base of the feet from the toes to the heel. The soreness is usually a consequence of stretching or ripping of the fascia.
- Flat feet is where the standard arches of the feet are missing when standing up. This arch is created by the strong pulling of the muscle tendons of the feet. It might become loose as we grow old or injury.
Sore Heel
The heel might be impacted by exactly the same problems that may occur on the entire sole, especially plantar fasciitis and warts. Yet another standard reason for heel pain is using high-heeled shoes which may cause muscle stress, tendinitis and bruising of the bone and soft tissue of the heel.
The heel might be impacted by exactly the same problems that may occur on the entire sole, especially plantar fasciitis and warts. Yet another standard reason for heel pain is using high-heeled shoes which may cause muscle stress, tendinitis and bruising of the bone and soft tissue of the heel.
- Calcaneal spur is a bony outgrowth on the large foot bone, the calcaneus, which makes up the heel of the foot. It might arise with continuous and severe influence on the heel related to running, certain sports and could also happen to overweight or obese individuals.
- Bursitis is swelling of the small fluid filled pads that decrease friction and thus assist with movement at various parts of the body where the bone and tendons may rub against one another. It might become swollen with extended overuse or in arthritis.
- Achille’s tendinitis is swelling of the thick band of tendons felt at the rear of the foot. This tendon attaches the calf muscles to the heel. It might become strained with excessive use of the calf muscles like running, walking up stairs or up an incline for very long periods, improper footwear during exercise, flat feet and trauma to the calves or tendon.
Sore Ball of Foot
The ball of the feet might be impacted by the conditions that affect the toes and sole of the foot. Problems that might cause soreness on the balls of the feet include :
The ball of the feet might be impacted by the conditions that affect the toes and sole of the foot. Problems that might cause soreness on the balls of the feet include :
Morton’s neuroma is a thickening of the nerve tissue between your toes normally occurring between your third and fourth toes. It often happens with wearing tiny footwear and high-heeled shoes. Metatarsalgia is swelling of the foot bones (metatarsals), especially at the head of the these bones. It is related to prolonged walking, running, wearing small shoes, bunions, hammertoe, being overweight, Morton’s neuroma and stress fractures.
Sore Top of Foot
The top of the foot, or dorsal surface, doesn't bear weight as is the situation with the toes, ball of the foot, sole and heel. Nonetheless it could be affected with problems that arise in these locations and thus resulting in inflammation. Tight shoes, dropping objects on the foot, poor circulation to the feet specifically if the dorsalis pedis artery is afflicted, and dorsal midfoot interosseus compression syndrome (DICS) might cause inflammation on the top of the feet.
The top of the foot, or dorsal surface, doesn't bear weight as is the situation with the toes, ball of the foot, sole and heel. Nonetheless it could be affected with problems that arise in these locations and thus resulting in inflammation. Tight shoes, dropping objects on the foot, poor circulation to the feet specifically if the dorsalis pedis artery is afflicted, and dorsal midfoot interosseus compression syndrome (DICS) might cause inflammation on the top of the feet.
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Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.
