Foot Pain? 6 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Ignore It

2. Persistent heel pain

Plantar fasciitis is a common condition where the plantar fascia — the thin ligament on the bottom of your foot that connects your heel to the front of your foot — becomes irritated and inflamed. It often resolves on its own with icing and rest, but if it continues, you should get it checked out, Sutera says. “If it’s torn, it won’t get better by itself,” she cautions.

While an X-ray can reveal problems like osteoarthritis or a stress fracture, an MRI is needed to diagnose an actual ligament tear. First-line treatment is usually a short leg boot cast combined with crutches. If that doesn’t work, you may need surgery.

3. Psoriatic arthritis

Foot pain can be a common symptom of psoriatic arthritis, an inflammatory disease that causes pain and swelling in the joints. Most people with psoriatic arthritis also have psoriasis, a skin condition that causes red, scaly, inflamed skin. You may notice that one or more toes are so swollen that they look like little sausages, a condition known as dactylitis. Other signs include heel pain, bottom of the foot pain, and thick, pitted toenails.

“If you have a lot of pain in the morning and it’s focused on one side of your body — your right ankle, your right toes, your right foot — it may be a sign of psoriatic arthritis,” Peden says.

It’s diagnosed with a physical exam, imaging such as X-rays and MRIs, and blood tests to rule out other conditions. It’s important to catch psoriatic arthritis early, before joints deteriorate. Treatment includes disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs such as sulfasalazine (Azulfidine) or biologics like adalimumab (Humira).

4. Diabetes

About half of people with diabetes develop neuropathy, or nerve damage, a condition that leads to tingling, burning or stinging pain, and even foot numbness and weakness. But neuropathy can have other causes, ranging from alcohol overuse to undiagnosed infections such as Lyme disease — even cancer. So, it always needs to be checked out, Peden says.

Regardless of the cause, you’ll need to monitor your feet carefully. Check them every day for cuts, redness or swelling, and never go barefoot — not even inside (wear socks or slippers instead). If you see corns or calluses, have a podiatrist remove them rather than trying to remove them yourself. And keep your toenails trimmed. If you have trouble doing that, your podiatrist can do it for you.

5. Gout

Gout — a form of inflammatory arthritis where high levels of a substance known as urate build up in your body, leading to joint pain and swelling — often begins in your big toe, but it can be misdiagnosed and overlooked, Peden says. “People will go to the emergency room because their toe is killing them, and they’re told they have an infection or a fracture even though there’s no real history or symptoms to look for those things,” he says. The condition usually develops in middle age and is more common in men than in women.

If the pain is so severe that it keeps you up at night, there’s a good chance it’s gout, Peden says. Ask your doctor to do blood work to check your urate levels or take a fluid sample from the painful joint to look for urate crystals under a microscope. An ultrasound of the affected area can also offer a clue.

Most of the time, gout can be treated either by your primary care provider or by a rheumatologist. There are certain medicines, such as colchicine, that help treat gout pain.

Lifestyle measures like losing weight and following a specific eating plan known as the DASH diet, which is rich in fruits, veggies, whole grains and low-fat dairy, can also help lower blood urate levels.

6. Blood clot

When you think of deep vein thrombosis, you may automatically think of leg swelling and leg pain. But this condition, where a blood clot forms in one of the body’s deep veins, can also cause sudden and severe pain in the ankle or foot, Sutera says. You’re more at risk if you’re a smoker, overweight or over the age of 60, particularly if you are sedentary. If you notice leg or foot swelling and pain that doesn’t seem to have a cause, see your doctor right away, especially if the area feels warm to the touch and is discolored (usually a pale red or blue). “These blood clots can break off and travel to the lung or brain, where they cause a fatal pulmonary embolism,” Sutera warns.

Editor’s Note: This story, first published May 9, 2022, has been updated to include new information.