Metatarsalgia is an inadequate term for a very common condition in athletes. It is just a word which regrettably will get applied a great deal but is quite a useless phrase and diagnosis. The phrase is like, for example, diagnosing you have a painful knee. This painful knee might be on account of any one of numerous different conditions. Metatarsalgia implies symptoms in the metatarsals or ball of the foot, therefore it can end up being because of numerous different disorders. This is exactly why the word is really useless.

The reason for the symptoms may be a callus of the skin beneath the ball of the foot; it could be a impinged nerve that causes sharp type pains; it could be a fat pad atrophy which causes issues with standing and walking; or maybe it can be arthritis type discomforts within the joints in the forefoot. Each of these possible reasons behind metatarsalgia are usually pretty different to each other with various symptoms and different reasons that simply functions to demonstrate precisely what a useless word it is make use of.

Probably the most prevalent reason for pain in the ball of the foot is a disorder called a plantar plate tear. This is a sprain of the soft tissue underneath the joints in the forefoot which can progress to a little tear. The pain is typically on the joint on the underside of the foot and just distal to the joint. Normally it's the second metatarsophalangeal joint, but it can affect every one of the joints. It's more prevalent in individuals who exercise more. It starts off as a mild ache that is often overlooked, however it will progress until there's a treatment started as it doesn't recover on its own.

Typically the therapy for a plantar plate tear is by using taping to hold the joint in a plantarflexed or downward position to prevent it from dorsiflexing up so the strain is given a rest. A rocker bottom shoe or a shoe that is less flexible could also help do this. If this helps, it will have a tendency to take a long time and persistence is required. If this is not going to work, after that some plantar plate tears  require a surgery treatment.