Having pain on the side of your foot can be a right pain in the bum. The foot was expertly engineered by evolution to carry our entire weight and this makes it a complex thing to understand. This is why we always recommend that you see a foot specialist, they understand the inner workings of the foot and are able to diagnose problems and get you back on your feet quicker.
The pain in the side of your foot could be many different things. It is important that you tell your doctor what happened and when you started feeling the pain. If for example, you landed awkwardly on it then that will likely indicate it being one condition rather than another. Below are just a few of the conditions that you might have if you are experiencing pain in the side of your foot.
Common causes of pain in the side of the foot
Stress fractures
Stress fractures are fairly common in the feet and they can be very painful. Although the pain tends to start off quite mild, the pain will begin to grow steadily. A stress fracture is a small break in one of the bones in the foot and they are very common in the sporting world. They tend to happen when a movement is repeated over time. Where you experience the pain, depends on where the stress fracture is.
Ankle sprains
One of the more common causes of side of foot pain, ankle sprains can be extremely painful from the moment they happen. They are mostly caused by landing awkwardly or twisting the ankle on uneven ground, hiking is a common situation to get an ankle sprain in. An ankle sprain affects the ligaments of the ankle as they are basically stretched too far. The condition will most likely clear up on its own but if you continue to feel pain, go and see a specialist as this pain might be caused by a stress fracture that happened at the time of the sprain.
Peroneal Tendonitis
This is another common cause of pain on the side of your foot although it develops nearer the heel. It develops as a result of repetitive tension on the peroneal tendons. This causes irritation, degeneration and inflammation. This condition is very common with long distance runners, anyone with abnormal foot position, after an ankle sprain or if you suffer from muscle imbalance. The pain in the side of your foot from this condition will begin slowly and then start to increase over the next few weeks or months. It tends to be worse in the morning and during activity but eases with rest.
If you think that one of the conditions above sounds like it could match your pain, go and see your GP who will likely recommend you to a specialist or cut out the middle man and see a specialist right away. It is important to see a specialist as, just with the three conditions above, you can see the symptoms and areas of pain can be very similar.
If you feel that this didn’t answer the mystery of the pain in the side of your foot then please take a look at some of the other articles on our website.