The problem with foot pain is that it affects mostly adults at any given time. There can be many sources of pain and they can be difficult to describe. This makes it difficult and challenging for healthcare professionals to get to the root of the pain. Different type of foot pain is caused due to different conditions.

Plantar Fasciitis
Plantar Fasciitis or heel pain is one of the common foot problem and it has many causes. The most common cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis which is inflammation in the plantar fascia. Plantar fascia is a tight band of tissue that forms the arch of the foot. Plantar fasciitis is usually painful when a person first steps out of bed in the morning. Although it improves with movement, a dull pain often persists which fades away as the day progresses.

Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome
It is the foot pain caused by a pinched or an irritated nerve. Irritated nerve is a condition in which a nerve gets irritated due to surrounding structures, such as muscles. In this condition, a person may experience shooting, burning, aching, numb, or tingling pain that radiates from the inside.

Metatarsalgia
Also called as ball of the foot pain, it is a sharp pain in the area of the ball of the foot. The pain of metatarsalgia feels like a person is stepping on a stone. It is usually eased by sitting down. Though it can be worsened by walking barefoot. Metatarsalgia is often caused by faulty foot functioning, overuse, or a decreased fat pad on the sole of the foot.

Morton Neuroma
It is one of the common foot nerve problem. It causes shooting or burning pain between the toes. This is caused due to over pronation and/or wearing tight shoes can be associated with this condition.

Arthritis
It is the breakdown of cartilage within a joint from physical wear and tear. The joint damage worsens as the cartilage is worn out further and the bone spurs surrounding the joint. The person may feel pain at the ankle joint due to lack of mobility. The other less common forms of arthritis can cause foot pain includes gout, rheumatoid, and psoriatic arthritis, and lupus.

Corns and calluses
Calluses are the thickened areas of the skin over the parts of the feet that experiences maximum amounts of pressure and friction. Corns occur on the toe where they rub against the shoe. A tiny callus or corn can cause intense pain because it extends deep into the layers of the skin and presses on the nerves.

Lupus is an autoimmune disease. When the immune system becomes hyperactive the immune system starts attacking body parts itself causing inflammation and destruction of tissue. Autoimmune diseases are characterised by periodic flare ups and remissions. What is usually called lupus is medically known as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. As the name indicates it can affect any of the body systems and organs in them and it is the most virulent of all. Lupus affects each person in a unique way. Luckily all symptoms are not manifested by every patient; while some gets certain symptoms, the others end up getting the rest. Lupus starts innocuously, in the age group of 18 to 30 years, and looks like a myriad of common diseases.

It is important to identify it at the earliest as it is easy to manage and control it. The prognosis improves vastly and one can expect to live an active life to the full span.

An important and early feature is spells of fatigue which flares up and remits periodically. If one experiences, frequently, such spells of fatigue one should contact his doctor and the appropriate treatment sought. It has a low-grade fever of 98.5 to 101 degree F which frequently comes and goes with no discernible cause. During this stage, it throws up a characteristic butterfly shaped non-itching skin eruption across the ridge of the nose spreading over both the cheeks. Such eruptions appear on other parts of the body also. Generally, patients are photosensitive to both sun and artificial. Such eruptions generally appear prior to flare ups. As the disease progresses, the hair becomes thin, rough, brittle, breaks and falls off. Hair all over the body can get affected. The hair acquires a unique appearance and is called lupus hair. Hair regrows as treatment progresses except in places where lesions have formed.

As the disease progresses it could also attack the vital organs like lung, digestive system, kidneys, bones etc. Inflammation of the lungs causes destruction of the lung tissue as well as the blood vessels. The lungs start to reduce in size. The diaphragm moves up into the thoracic cavity and the body gradually suffers oxygen deficiency. This is called vanishing lung syndrome. All these makes breathing very painful. These pains are referred to pleuritic pains. As the disease progresses more rigorous treatments are resorted to all of which has side effects of varying seriousness. A risk benefit analysis done in selecting the treatment.