DEFINITION
It denotes a general term a painful foot condition over the balls of the foot or metatarsal region of the foot. bones and joints at the ball of the foot are affected in this foot disorder. Metatarsalgia is usually seen under the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th metatarsal heads or sometimes 1st mtp head.
CAUSE
This foot condition, excessive pressure over one or more of the metatarsal heads become inflamed and painful, over a long period of time. Pain can be acute, recurrent, or chronic with metatarsalgia and is usually caused from improper fitting footwear, most frequently by women’s high heel shoes. narrow toe box footwear can cramp or forces the ball of the foot area to be into a minimal amount of space. Discomfort felt in the forefoot during the walking process. Other factors include high heel shoes or without proper footwear or orthotics, involving in high impact activities. Also, as we age, the fat pad in ball of our foot tends to thin out, making us susceptible to pain in the front foot metatarsal head region.
TREATMENT AND PREVENTION
We have to determine the cause of the pain before treating metatarsalgia.
If pain is due to improper fitting footwear. Customised footwear wide toe box (toe area) and a rocker sole is advised for pressure reduction while walking at metatarsal region. The wide toe box allows the foot to spread out while the rocker sole distributes pressure from the forefoot metatarsal head region. Metatarsal pad orthotics used to relieve pain commonly. it redistributes weight from the painful area to more normal areas. Metatarsal cushions gels and metatarsal bandages are another orthotics used. When this orthotics are used with ideal footwear, metatarsalgia patients experience significant relief.
