Our Portland-Area Podiatrists Help Patients Give Foot Pain the Boot
Is foot pain making it difficult to get through the day? At Northwest Extremity Specialists, our highly experienced team of board-certified Portland-area podiatrists utilize evidence-based research, cutting-edge technology, advanced interventions, and individualized treatment plans to help patients kick pain to the curb.
Contact us to schedule an appointment with a Portland podiatry expert. With 15 locations in the Portland Metro area, Northwest Extremity Specialists provides quick and convenient access to top-quality foot and ankle care.
From conservative methods like activity modification and physical therapy to state-of-the-art custom orthotics and regenerative therapies designed to jumpstart the body's natural healing processes, we offer wide-ranging options and expert guidance to help you find relief and freedom from foot pain.
Foot Pain Affects Almost Everyone at Some Point—Here's Why You Shouldn't Ignore It
Foot pain is surprisingly common. According to the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA), it affects nearly 80 percent of people in the United States at some point in their lives. However, just because podiatry pain is prevalent doesn't mean that you should put up with it—or worse, push through it. While experiencing foot pain after a particularly intense activity or workout isn't unusual, consulting a skilled podiatrist is essential if the pain lasts more than a few days without responding to rest, ice, and elevation or becomes a regular occurrence. Here's why we recommend addressing foot pain promptly:
- Foot pain can impact daily life, making completing basic tasks and participating in your favorite activities difficult.
- Foot pain can indicate an underlying condition, such as gout, or be a symptom of a systemic issue like diabetes.
- Ignoring foot pain and delaying treatment can allow progressive podiatric issues, such as bunions and hammer toes, to worsen.
- Foot pain can cause you to change the way you walk or stand, resulting in muscle imbalances that can contribute to balance problems, falls, additional pain, and other complications.
- Chronic pain, whether in your feet or elsewhere, can negatively affect your mental health, increasing the risk of depression, anxiety, sleep issues, and other problems.
Our Portland-area podiatrists offer effective solutions for a variety of foot pain causes, so there's no need to suffer.
Common Causes of Podiatric Pain
Foot pain can have numerous causes. However, it's often linked to one or more of the following factors.
Improper Footwear
Shoe choice plays a pivotal role in podiatric health. Wearing poorly fitting shoes can lead to wide-ranging painful foot problems, such as bunions, ingrown toenails, and metatarsalgia. Opt for shoes that fit well, provide sufficient support and cushioning, and are appropriate for the activity at hand. Talk to our specialists for advice on finding the right fit.
Overuse
Repetitive stress on the feet—or increasing the intensity or duration of activities too quickly—contributes to some of the most common and painful conditions we treat, including plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, stress fractures, and bursitis. Gradually increase activity levels and remember to wear suitable and supportive shoes.
Sports Injuries
Playing sports and staying active benefits your overall health, but the intense physical demands can do a number on your feet, resulting in strains, sprains, fractures, Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, foot and toe dislocations, turf toe, and other sports and recreation-related injuries. Find out how Northwest Extremity Specialists can help you recover, return to play, and reduce your risk of future injury.
Biomechanical Issues
Abnormalities or irregularities in foot, ankle, and lower leg structure and function can affect how you stand, walk, and move. Painful foot conditions can result when these abnormalities cause stress and strain on the feet. Our experts address many biomechanical issues that cause foot pain, such as flat feet, high arches, overpronation, supination, bunions, and hammer toes.
Health Conditions
Foot pain can also be related to underlying health conditions like diabetes, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, peripheral artery disease (PAD), and obesity. Adding an experienced podiatrist to your health management team can help you protect your feet from complications, such as peripheral neuropathy or diabetic neuropathy, joint damage, slow-healing wounds, and amputation.
Painful Foot Conditions We Treat at Our Portland-Area Podiatry Offices
Numerous lifestyle choices, health conditions, and other factors can cause your feet to hurt. Fortunately, our skilled Portland-area podiatrists capably diagnose and treat all foot and ankle concerns. Regardless of your foot pain source, our doctors can identify the cause and recommend appropriate treatment. Here are some of the most common conditions our Portland Metro foot pain specialists address:
- Corns and calluses. Often caused by friction or pressure, these thickened and hardened areas of skin can be tender or painful.
- Ingrown toenails. When the edge of your nail grows into the surrounding skin, it can cause pain, redness, swelling, and an increased risk of infection.
- Plantar fasciitis. A common overuse injury, plantar fasciitis, is an inflammation of the plantar fascia—the thick band of tissue that connects your heel bone to your toes—that can cause heel pain and discomfort that's worse in the morning or after periods of rest.
- Achilles tendonitis. An inflammation of the tendon that connects your calf muscle to your heel bone, Achilles tendonitis causes pain, stiffness, and tenderness in the back of the heel or above the heel. Inflammation can also affect other tendons in your feet.
- Stress fractures. Often caused by repetitive stress, small, thin cracks in the bones of your feet can lead to tenderness, swelling, and pain during weight-bearing activities.
- Flat feet. Lacking an arch in your foot can cause the entire sole to touch the ground, resulting in pain and fatigue in the arch and heel areas.
- Arthritis. Whether caused by inflammation (rheumatoid arthritis), wear and tear (osteoarthritis), or an accumulation of urate crystals (gout), arthritis is a common factor in foot pain.
- Bunions. A misalignment of the first metatarsal bone can cause a bony bump to form at the base of your big toe, resulting in redness, swelling, and pain that can worsen over time.
- Hammer toes. Abnormal bending or curling of the toes can lead to pain and visible deformity, making wearing shoes difficult.
- Neuromas. The result of thickening nerve tissue between the toes, neuromas can cause sharp, burning pain in the ball of your foot and between your toes.
- Metatarsalgia. Caused by excessive pressure, metatarsalgia causes pain and inflammation in the ball of your foot.