If you spend a long day on your feet or put yourself through a tough workout, there’s a good chance that your feet and ankles will be a bit sore the next day. Mild symptoms related to overuse and overstress are common when we spend a lot of time on our feet, but sometimes there’s a bigger issue lurking beneath the surface. How can we tell that our foot discomfort is more than just the normal effects of a long day on our feet? In today’s blog, we look at some of the signs that suggest foot pain is more than just overuse.
Beyond Overuse Symptoms
Overuse injuries are incredibly common, and we don’t want to downplay their severity. It’s possible to tear your hamstring or develop shin splints as a direct result of overuse. However, overuse can also result in symptoms like general soreness or muscle fatigue, and we want to use today’s blog to differentiate between these symptoms and a more serious overstress injury.
Some symptoms that suggest you’re not just dealing with the effects of overuse include:
Pain Doesn’t Follow The Normal Playbook – Pain tends to follow a pretty standard playbook. There’s some immediate discomfort that fades in the next few hours and days until pain is minimal or gone altogether. This is common when you overstress the muscles and soft tissues in your foot. However, if pain doesn’t follow this playbook, meaning it’s intense, it radiates or it gets worse over the next few days, there’s a good chance you’re dealing with more than simple overuse.
Gait Changes – If your discomfort is altering your gait, it could be a sign that there’s more going on in your foot. Again, some normal soreness or stiffness that affects how you walk for a day or so isn’t all that concerning, but if you’re still walking gingerly after a couple of days, the problem may be more than just overstress.
Instability – If you notice that your feet and ankles have started to feel unstable, perhaps there is an issue with the supportive soft tissues in the area. If you’re unstable, dealing with balance issues or you just don’t have the confidence in your feet to perform certain actions, you may be dealing with a ligament injury, not fatigue from overstress.
Swelling – Similar to pain, some minor swelling and inflammation isn’t unexpected as a result of overstress, but if swelling is significant, it doesn’t go away or it develops without much stress, there may be an underlying injury at play.
Pushing through an injury because you assumed your symptoms were just the result of mild overstress can put you at a heightened risk for aggravation or worsening injuries, so be mindful of your symptoms and proactive in your care of new foot issues. And as always, if you need professional assistance overcoming a foot or ankle concern, connect with Dr. Silverman and the team at OrthoArizona. Give his office a call today at (602) 648-5444 or click here to schedule an appointment.