Left Foot Pain

by Haley
(NJ)

Five days ago I was on a run and stepped weirdly in a pot hole, causing my foot roll outward. I have no swelling or bruising in my ankle, but on the outside edge of my left foot, half way between my pinky toe and my ankle bone, my foot has a sharp pain when I walk. There's no pain when I touch the area, only pressure during walking or running hurts it. It almost feels as if something in that area needs to crack or pop back into place. Any idea what's going on? Thanks!

RESPONSE

Hi Haley,

Well...I have no idea what is actually wrong with your foot. If this pain is still present five days later, you would be well advised to see a foot specialist, have an x-ray and examination and find out exactly what is wrong.
Having said that lets go over some of the things that it could be.
Since you state that it feels like the bone needs to be popped back into place, the first thing that comes to mind is a subluxed or displaced cuboid bone.
This bone is in the area that you state the pain is occurring. Generally due to trauma, such as the trauma that you sustained, the bone actually pops out of place and will cause pain. Read my section on "cuboid syndrome". This is a diagnosis that is very difficult to make for those doctors that do not normally treat foot problems. So, for example if you went to the emergency room, they would take an x-ray and tell you everything is normal. The diagnosis is made more on clinical grounds that on testing.
The next possibility is a fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone at its base. The base of the fifth metatarsal is next to the cuboid bone and because of its design is susceptible to fracturing.
The problem with fifth metatarsal fractures is that the blood supply to the base of the fifth metatarsal is very poor and as you might imagine we need good circulation to an area in order for any problem to remedy itself. So, because of the poor blood supply to this portion of the bone, many times these types of fractures will not heal on their own.
Once again, it would take the expertise of a foot specialist to determine the extent of the fracture, if there is one, and then decide whether or not the fracture has the capacity to heal on its own.
In those cases, where it is determined the bone will not heal on its own, surgery is usually indicated. A screw is put into the bone to compress the fracture site and enable it to heal.
The last thing that comes to mind is an irritation or possibly tear of what is known as the peroneal tendons.
These are two tendons that come down the outside of the ankle. One inserts itself into the base of the fifth metatarsal , while the other one cuts underneath the cuboid bone and goes to the inside of the foot.
Because of their location on the outside of the foot, they are subject to trauma.
Now, hopefully you can see why I do not know what is wrong with your foot. As I said earlier, if you are still in pain, you need to see a doctor in order to have an accurate diagnosis made and then appropriate treatment.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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