To better understand ball of foot pain, let’s learn about the metatarsal region of your foot.

1. FOOT HEALTH RESOURCE CENTER
5 Non-Surgical
Ways to Treat
Ball of Foot Pain

2. BALL OF FOOT PAIN
To better understand ball of foot pain, let’s learn
about the metatarsal region of your foot.

3. Touch the top of any one of your toes and trace
the bone down to the center of your foot.
Once past your toe bone (or “phalange”), your
fingers will eventually trace a bone called
your metatarsal.

4. Attached to your toe bones, these five
metatarsal bones help you stand, walk, and
run by distributing your weight evenly to keep
you balanced.
When your metatarsal bones are injured,
inflamed, or abnormal, you might feel intense
pain in the ball of your foot.

5. Since surgical options will seriously affect your
feet for up to 6-12 months, you may first want to
treat your ball of foot pain with the following 5
non-surgical methods.

6. 1. Stretch your achilles
tendon + strengthen your
foot muscles.
These exercises help decrease the pressure
on your forefeet.

7. 2. Use metatarsal supports
such as
• Properly fitting, supportive footwear
• Arch supports
• Metatarsal pads
• Shock absorbing shoe insoles and inserts
• Orthotics

8. 3. Lessen any strenuous
activities
that involve placing too much weight on your
feet, such as jogging or jumping.

9. 4. Use icing or cold therapy
therapy to help relieve pain and inflammation.

10. 5. Use anti-inflammatory
medication
such as ibuprofen or naproxen.

11. If non-surgical treatments do not work and
your ball of foot pain continues to grow more
severe, then you may want to consider surgery.
In extreme cases, ball of foot pain might require
an exostectomy (cutting and removing a portion
of the bone).

12. The experts at FootSmart and the Podiatry
Institute agree that you should talk to your
podiatrist and receive a complete foot
examination before considering
surgery.

13. FOOT HEALTH RESOURCE CENTER
For more information about treating and
preventing ball of foot pain from the
experts at FootSmart and the Podiatry
Institute, visitwww.footsmart.com/Foot-
Health-Resource-Center.