Clinical Features
The main symptom of metatarsalgia is pain in the ball of the foot. The pain may be sharp, aching or burning, and may be felt in the area around the second, third and fourth toes or only near the big toe.
Other symptoms of metatarsalgia include:
- Pain that gets worse when you stand, walk or run and that improves on rest.
- Sharp or shooting pain in the toes.
- Numbness or tingling in the toes.
- Pain that worsens on movement.
- A feeling of walking on pebbles or having a bruise from a stone.
- Increased pain on walking barefoot, especially on a hard surface.
Sometimes these symptoms come on suddenly, especially after increased exercise such as running, jumping or other high-impact exercises, but problems are more likely to develop over a period of months.
