How to Stop Foot Pain when Walking

In this article:

Pain in the lateral or outsides of your foot

The Ultimate Treatment for Walking with Foot Pain

Do your feet only hurt when you're walking?

If your feet are giving you discomfort only when you are walking, chances are you also don’t recall an injury or else you would be able to relate it to the incident.

So in these cases, some reasons you could be experiencing pain only when walking could be linked to a fair few things.

Importantly it depends on the location of the pain.

The most important cause is actually in the way you have been walking because let’s do the math.

The more you walk in a manner that causes your feet to work harder to balance your body, the quicker you will experience the onset of pain.

In this article, we will break down the most common causes of pain while walking with respect to the location of the foot. Including the rear foot (heel section), forefoot (the balls of the feet), lateral section (the outsides of your feet), and medial section (the arches of your feet).

Rear Foot Pain When Walking

This is the most common cause of foot pain when walking, and it typically occurs when the heel of the foot lands first on the ground.

The pressure exerted on the Achilles tendon, which runs along the back of the heel, can cause inflammation and pain.

The pain can also be caused by a problem with the foot’s ankle ligaments. If you experience rear foot pain while walking, it could be because you are heel striking too early in your stride.

Early heel striking can mean you’re putting more pressure on your heels than you need to because you’re heel striking too soon.

This means more of your body weight is being placed on the heels.

Another sign you’re heel striking too early is that you can hear your heels thumping against the floor as you walk.

Treatment

The best kind of treatment is to help elongate your stride. It is common to have tight calves and hamstrings in this scenario.

therefore the best way to help is to grab yourself a foam roller and roll your calves and hamstrings.

You’ll be able to feel a major difference if you roll one leg and then try walking. You should immediately feel relief and have an elongated stride.

Forefoot Pain when walking

Forefoot pain when walking refers to any location from the balls of the feet to the tip of the toes.

Common pain in this region is generally experienced in the joints.

The Big Toe Joint

One of the most common locations is to feel pain when walking. This is largely because the toe is not getting the necessary bend it needs to transfer your body weight to the tip of the toe. Instead, the Toe becomes jarred.

Read more about this here: why-does-my-big-toe-joint-hurt.

2nd Toe Pain

The second toe’s role is to help balance and stabilise the foot when on the ground and while the big toe is pivoting forward. Issues tend to occur in the 2nd toe more often if the 2nd toe is longer than the big toe.

When the 2nd toe is longer than the big toe, it is mechanically taking more pressure than it should.

This is a reason for the onset of pain and deformation.

Over time if the big toe joint is not able to move

and your second toe is taking more strain

than it is equipped to take,

the 2nd toe can start compensating

by being irritated at the vulnerable joint or the toe can start developing a hammer toe from gripping the floor excessively.

3rd toe joint pain

The 3rd toe also assists in stability and balance but because it’s generally shorter than the 1st and 2nd toe, the third toe is not under so much stress.

The most common complaints of the 3rd toe occur when the toe is curling into a hammer toe OR the space between the joints is squeezing on the nerve and causing pain.

5th toe joint pain

The shortest toe in the foot and one of the most common locations in the foot to develop calluses. The 5th toe joint is also the location for a Tailor’s bunion.

The common causes of Tailors bunion and onset of pain are vastly caused by the way you walk. Specifically out-toeing walkers.

lateral foot pain when walking

The foot functions best when your heel strike in the centre of your heel and the transfer of weight is directly transferred to the tip of your big toe.

Problems most often arise when your toe is not pointing directly forward in front of you when you’re walking.

When you out-toe, your heels strike the ground on the outside portion of your heel and this places too much stress on the outsides of your feet. Instead of the weight being transferred to the tip of the big toe, it is now your 4th and 5th toe taking on more of the weight.

This walking pattern leaves the lateral side of your feet vulnerable to strain and eventually prone to injury.

In fact, many people who out-toe and leave it untreated often develop knee pain. Due to the incorrect lead set by the feet.

Think of it this way. The body is directed by your feet. When you out-toe your toes are pointing outwards. This creates the dynamic that your feet are placing taking steps where your right foot is turning more to the right but your left foot is turning more to the left. However, your body is trying to move directly forward.

This is why your knees are under extreme pressure because of the way the joint moves.

By out-toeing you create a twist-like pressure on the knees. and your knees are definitely not meant to twist.

Medial Arch Pain When Walking

Pain in the arch of the foot, also known as medial arch pain, is one of the most common types of foot pain.

There are a few reasons why this pain might occur.

One common cause is overuse of the ligaments that support the arch known as the plantar fascia.

These ligaments can become overstretched especially if you have flat feet. This causes inflammation due to the micro-tears that occur when you are walking.

For more information on this topic click here: the-best-treatments-for-plantar-fasciitis

The Ultimate Treatment for Foot Pain When Walking

When looking for the best solution to rid your foot pain at the time you need your feet the most, it’s simply to correct the patterns that are causing the issues in the first place!

If you’ve read the article so far you’ll have a better understanding of the exact movements that are causing you grief.

So the simple question now is:

“How do You Correct Your Walking Motion?”

Podiatrists have been Solving this for decades using Custom Orthotic Devices.

Orthotics are inserts created to correct your personal walking pattern. Because all our feet move in unique ways you’ll need a custom orthotic to address your exact starting point.

For a Podiatrist to create a pair of orthotics you traditionally needed to go visit a clinic and have your consultation, biomechanical assessment and scans done in person. Which would cost you a whopping price tag between $700-1000 AUD.

However! We’re here to tell you the good news. Orthotics are the ultimate treatment that is scientifically backed with evidence.

They are a long-term solution because when they are made well, they last at least 5-7 years.

Orthotics are the best way to avoid future injuries as well as painful and costly surgical procedures too!

The even BETTER NEWS is that orthotics don’t need to cost you $700-1000.

Unisoles Podiatrists will take care of you from start to a pain-free finish.

All for a much cost and more care than anywhere before.

It’s Our Guarantee To You!

$475

(AUD)

PRO

$585