Small injuries can become a huge problem if you are getting back into exercising regularly. Whether it is a slight pain on your foot or a serious sprain on your ankle, it is important to remember that injuries can often shut you down – making it hard to keep exercising until it heals.

Foot injuries do not just get in the way of your exercise routines but can really hurt and often leave you unable to do much until they heal. In extreme cases, you might need actual surgical help to fully cure the problem and fix the resulting damage.

Here are five of the most common injuries you will face, as well as ways to try and treat the problem.

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis happens when your plantar fascia – the band of tissue under your foot, stretching across the arch – becomes swollen or irritated. Plantar fasciitisis can often happen if you are running, jumping, or doing other movement-heavy activities without a proper warm-up or time to adapt to a new running schedule.

When this happens, your feet are going to hurt around the heel, making it hard to do anything more than walk. There is not a conventional way to cure it, but staying off your feet can often be the fastest way to let yourself recover so that you can get back to the exercise routine that you have planned out.

Using shoes with good support can make a difference, too. If you develop this problem consistently, change to better shoes. Some shoes are designed specifically to combat plantar fasciitis, and using these can often help you minimize the risks of developing the issue yourself.

A Sprained Ankle

A sprained ankle can happen for a range of reasons, all related to twisting or rolling your foot in a way that it is not supposed to move. Exercising on a lot of rocky and uneven terrain can also cause sprains since your foot has to shift to new different angles and positions with each step.

Most sprains can linger for a few days, but they will eventually heal themselves if you leave them unchecked and do not put too much strain on them. The exact location of the sprain will also change the kind of pain you feel, with high-ankle sprains often needing more rest or special treatments to heal quickly.

If you notice long-term or chronic ankle pain, then the problem might be caused by an underlying condition. In these situations, it is important to get medical help as soon as you can since long-term sprain pain can make day-to-day life significantly harder.

Ankle sprains do not sound like much at first, but they are a serious concern for a lot of people. Once they happen, there is not an easy way to heal them up except by waiting.

Turf Toe

“Turf toe” is most common with sports that are played on an artificial turf, although it can potentially happen as a result of any kind of exercise if you are unlucky. This happens when your toe is hyperextended, causing limited movement and constant pain until it heals.

This usually just takes rest and relaxation to mend, but that is not always going to be a practical option. If the turf toe is particularly bad, then you might need to talk with your doctor to get professional care, especially if one specific toe is suffering all of the pain and damage.

If you need more stability to help the toe heal properly, then doctors can provide a toe brace or even tape that toe to an adjacent toe. These make sure that your toe heals itself in the right way, especially once the swelling dies down.

A Broken Metatarsal

A broken metatarsal is effectively just a broken toe – but the damage from breaking your toe can actually be a major concern. The toes often get overlooked when you are preparing to exercise, but they can be incredibly vulnerable and easily damaged from excessive exercise or poor planning.

Stubbing your toe against something is the easiest way to suffer these issues. High-strength impacts can cause tiny stress fractures in your toe, which can gradually add up to larger problems like crooked toes or even osteoporosis.

It is not always easy to tell if you are suffering from a broken toe at first. You can often still walk on a broken toe and might not even feel any immediate pain as a result of the fracture. However, toe stiffness and issues with mobility are major signs that something could be wrong.

If you feel a sharp pain as a result of a heavy impact, be sure to contact a professional if you notice anything wrong. It is very easy to break a toe if you are not careful, and once you do, it can make a lot of exercise activities much harder with no real way to fix the problem on your own.

Achilles Tendonitis and Tears

Your Achilles tendon is one of the most important muscles in your body, connecting your calf muscle to your heel. If this suffers any damage, then even walking can become very difficult – and painful. Heavy exercise without warm-up stretches can often result in the tendon swelling, causing constant discomfort and mild pain.

Flat feet can be just as much of a problem. If your entire sole touches the ground when you are standing, then you are more likely to damage your Achilles tendon in the long term, meaning that you need to be really careful with how you move that part of your foot.

Tendonitis causes mild pain and will eventually recede if you rest long enough. Tears in your Achilles tendon are a different story – if they happen, then you will usually need serious medical expertise to help you heal up since some tears can be much more severe than others.

In major cases, tendon tears might leave you unable to even walk properly, so it is important to rest up and get the treatment you need. The more pain you feel, the more severe the problem is, so do not hesitate to get your injury checked out if you suspect that it might be a tear.

Speak with an Orthopedic Specialist Today

Are you suffering from a recent injury? Make an appointment with one of our orthopedic specialists today to start your healing journey. OrthoArizona has nearly two dozen offices throughout the Valley, each focused on quality care, compassion, and excellent customer service. Since 1994, OrthoArizona has been dedicated to compassionate care of the highest quality.

The advice and information contained in this article are for educational purposes only and are not intended to replace or counter a physician’s advice or judgment. Please always consult your physician before taking any advice learned here or other educational medical material.