Painful top of foot

Information on Foot Top

Painful sensations at the top of the foot may be caused by numerous different factors and medical conditions and the actual cause can be rather easily determined by location and different types of pain.

Causes of Top Foot Pain

Sudden pain at the top of the foot usually indicates stress fracture that occurs in one of the metatarsal bones. This type of condition usually involves swelling at the affected area. If the painful sensation occurs near the middle of the top portion of the foot and it also involves inflammatory conditions it is usually extensor tendonitis.

This condition gets triggered by the tightening of the calf muscles. Those muscles need to be relieved by stretching and by using certain types of anti-inflammatory medicaments.

Sometimes, the only way to relieve the condition is to use orthotics because they are very efficient in correcting the alignment of the foot and taking the stress off the tense tendons.

Painful sensations at the top of the foot can also be associated with a medical condition call osteoarthritis which involves the occurrence of bony swollen areas.

Degenerative arthritis causes the pain and bone spurring at the top of the foot as well. It can be triggered by a pressure from an ill-fitting shoe. The condition is usually treated by orthotics and anti-inflammatory medications but some rare cases may require surgical procedure.

Another medical condition which may be affiliated with painful sensation on the top side of the foot may be the one referred to as the tarsal coalition. The pain is usually present on the outer side of the foot and it is accompanied by the fusion of two or more bones.

The condition is usually hereditary and it can lead to arthritis if it does not get treated on time with orthotics and sometimes even surgical intervention. A condition which is very difficult to diagnose but it still may be causing painful sensations at the top of the foot is the fracture of the navicular bone.

The treatment usually consists of resting, walking cast, orthotics, anti-inflammatory conditions and in some rare cases even surgical procedure. Three ligaments in the area of the sinus tarsi may become inflamed and causes pain.

The treatment involves stretching, orthotics, anti-inflammatory medications and cortisone injections. Pain can also be caused by strained interosseous muscles. Other causes of painful sensations at the top side of the foot may be tendonitis, ganglions, Morton’s neuroma, sprained foot and hammertoes.