Metatarsalgia is an inadequate word for a very frequent condition in athletes. It is a term which regrettably gets applied a great deal but is quite a worthless name and diagnosis. The phrase is like, by way of example, stating you've got a sore knee. This sore knee may be because of any one of a variety of different conditions. Metatarsalgia means symptoms within the metatarsals or forefoot, therefore it will end up being resulting from multiple distinctive conditions. For this reason the word can be so worthless.
The explanation for the pain may be a callus of the skin underneath the forefoot; it could be a pinched nerve that causes shooting type discomfort; it could be a fat pad atrophy that causes issues with weight bearing; or even it can be arthritis type pain inside the joints in the forefoot. Each of these potential causitive factors of metatarsalgia are generally pretty different to each other with different symptoms and diverse reasons which just functions to demonstrate just what a useless word it is to use.
Just about the most common reason for discomfort in the forefoot is a disorder referred to as a plantar plate tear. This is a injury of the soft tissue under the joints in the ball of the foot which can progress to a small tear. The pain is commonly on the joint on the underside of the foot and simply distal to the joint. Typically it's the second metatarsophalangeal joint, however it may affect each of the joints. This problem is more common in those who do more exercise. This condition starts off as a slight ache that is frequently dismissed, but it will get worse unless there's a treatment commenced as it doesn't recover on its own.
Typically the management of a plantar plate tear is to apply strapping to hold the toe in a plantarflexed or downward position to avoid it from dorsiflexing up so the stress is given a rest. A rocker bottom footwear or a shoe that is more rigid can also help do that. If this helps, it will have a tendency to take a while and perseverance is necessary. If this does not improve it, after that some plantar plate tears should have a surgery treatment.