Why Do I Have Pain in the Middle of My Foot ?

If you have been asking the question ‘why do I have pain in the middle of my foot?’ the chances are you have developed some form of a repetitive strain injury in that foot. Repetitive strain in the middle of your foot can lead to inflammation, damage to collagen fibres and scar tissue. In other words, you probably have strained and microscopically damaged the soft tissues in that foot over time.

If you do have strain & pain in the middle of your foot it also most likely relates to some movement issue you have developed when you walk and run. These type of issues can come about as a result of old injuries, specific muscle weaknesses and movement habits that we develop over time. Repetitive strain and pain in the middle of your foot can also be the result of particularly high arches or flat feet.

It’s entirely likely that you take over 3 million steps per year, quite a few more if you lead a very active life. Every time your foot strikes the ground and you shift forward the entire weight of your upper body is sustained by the connective tissues of your foot. The arch in the middle of your foot is a major shock absorber in all this charging around that you do and it bears a huge amount of strain.

Consider for a moment how many people get RSI in their forearms from repetitive tasks like keyboard work. Now consider the potential for repetitive strain in similar connective tissues that sustain your entire body weight millions of times per year. Is it any wonder that ‘Why do I have pain in the middle of my foot’? is one of the most commonly asked questions I hear from people.

In addition to the ‘Why do I have pain in the middle of my foot?’ question, the other common question is ‘How do I get rid of the pain in the middle of my foot?’ The trick to getting rid of pain in the middle of the foot is firstly to treat the actual ‘Repetitive Strain Injury’ itself. Treatment of the injury can include stretching, deep tissue release, acupuncture and the like. The other trick to successfully managing the old ‘pain in the middle of my foot’ scenario is of course to figure out what movement issue caused it and address that too.

Depending on the reason for your ‘why do I have pain in the middle of my foot’ episode certain exercises may be necessary to address specific muscle weakness. Changes in the way you walk and run can be required and of course orthotics, shoes insert or insoles might be necessary in the longer term.

For those of us who find ourselves wondering why we have pain in the middle of our foot the important thing is to understand that pain in the heel, arch and middle of the foot is always happening for a reason. It’s also good to know that those reasons are nearly always identifiable and can be worked on.