When running becomes painful due to pain in the inner arch of your foot, it may be time to seek medical advice. Most likely this pain is the result of plantar fasciitis.
Causes include posterior tibial tendon dysfunction, in which the tendon that connects calf muscles to your inside foot arch becomes weak or overused, leading to foot arch problems.
Overuse injuries
Your inner longitudinal arch provides structural support and balance when walking, running or engaging in any activity that puts pressure on your feet. It’s made up of muscles, ligaments, tendons and bones that work together seamlessly and can become painful if injured or overstressed.
Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction (PTTD) is an overuse injury for runners that commonly results in arch pain. This condition occurs when the posterior tibial tendon, which connects your calf muscle to your foot’s interior surface, becomes fatigued from repeated high impact forces on its arch.
Other overuse injuries for runners include ankle sprains and plantar fasciitis. Both injuries may result from increasing intensity or frequency too quickly; stretching can improve flexibility while massage may keep muscles from tightening up more rapidly than necessary. Wearing proper footwear, like custom orthotics designed specifically to support feet while running can reduce stress on arch muscles.
Flat feet
Flat feet can lead to discomfort during running due to overpronation – when their foot rolls excessively inward during walking and running – which increases risk for injuries in the feet, knees, lower back, hips and other parts of their bodies.
One way to identify whether you have flat feet is to stand barefoot and look closely at them; if there’s no arch to your foot it could indicate flatness.
Flat feet may cause problems for joints and muscles, but that doesn’t have to be an excuse for you to stop running. All it means is being careful about which shoes you wear as well as doing stretches that will relieve arch pain such as doing the calf stretch or using a slant board. Orthotics could also help support the arch of your foot during exercise and stop it overpronating during physical activities.
Morton’s neuroma
Morton’s neuroma is caused when irritation or pressure from shoes irritate a nerve running from your ball of foot to your toes, causing discomfort, pain, tingling or numbness in that area of the toes. Wearing high heels, tight or poorly fitting shoes or participating in sports can exacerbate this condition further.
Problems occur due to compression or squeezing of nerves in between your metatarsal bones, leading to painful swelling. Running may aggravate this situation further by increasing nerve compression; this in turn causes toe pain and numbness as well as generalized discomfort throughout your toes.
Changes to shoewear, orthotics, medication or injections may help relieve symptoms. Cold therapy (cryosurgery) may also help; the process reduces fluid-filled sacs (bursae) around affected nerves to relieve pain. Neurolysis surgery should only be considered if other options have failed.
Injury prevention
Although some factors that contribute to arch pain while running may not be adjustable – for instance flat feet or tight calf muscles – there are changes you can make that may alleviate its impact. Switching to softer running surfaces that absorb shock could provide relief, while wearing support shoes and inserts could help ease pressure off your arches.
Massaging your feet after running can increase blood flow and relieve muscle knots that have built up over time. Cross training activities, like swimming or cycling with low resistance and higher RPMs can also provide beneficial cross training without increasing mileage stress on your feet.
Ice therapy is another preventative technique, used to reduce inflammation in the foot arch and ankle. Furthermore, always make sure that you purchase shoes that match both your body type and running style – adding orthotics can enhance comfort while helping avoid injuries; they support arches more evenly by lessening strain on arch muscles.
