During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in his assesment of the symptom: Foot pain. These may include a physical examination or other medical tests. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor may help them with their diagnosis.
Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:
Why: to determine if acute or chronic.
Why: if bilateral and "sock-type" pattern may suggest peripheral neuropathy.
Why: e.g. toe, ankle, dorsum (top of foot), plantar surface (bottom of foot). The common S1 ( 1st sacral root pressure) pain is experienced on the outer border of the foot, into the fifth toe and on the outer sole and heel of the foot.
Why: e.g. burning type pain may suggest nerve entrapment, diabetic neuropathy or reflex sympathetic dystrophy; throbbing pain may suggest inflammation of the joints suggest as Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, Reiter's disease, ankylosing spondylitis; severe episodic pain may suggest gout.
Why: e.g. pain under the heel worse when first stepping out of bed and standing after sitting suggests plantar fasciitis ; pain worse at night may suggest peripheral vascular disease, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, foot cramps or osteoid osteoma.
Why: may suggest fracture or torn ligaments e.g. twisting ankle in or out may suggest ankle sprain or fracture; falling onto the foot from a height may suggest the possibility of a fractured calcaneus or talus bone.
Why: certain causes of foot pain may be due to unsuitable footwear.
Why: may suggest chilblains.
Why: e.g. gout, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, atherosclerosis, psoriasis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease.
Why: certain medications that can cause spasm of the vascular supply and therefore pain include beta blockers and ergotamine; certain medications may precipitate gout including frusemide and thiazide diuretics.
Why: may help determine the risk of an alcoholic neuropathy.
Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. These may include:
Why: e.g. such as hands, spine, sacro-iliac joints - may indicate that the foot pain is part of an arthritis condition such as Rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis.
Why: may suggest foot trauma, reflex sympathetic dystrophy.
Why: may suggest enteropathic arthritis (such as due to Ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease) or Reiter's syndrome.
Why: may suggest psoriatic arthritis.
Why: may suggest Reiter's syndrome.
Why: may suggest Ankylosing spondylitis, Reiter's disease.
Why: e.g. intermittent claudication (pain in calf and sometimes foot with exercise and relived by rest); numbness of foot at rest or on walking; rest pain at night, interfering with sleep, precipitated by elevation and relieved by dependency of foot.
Why: e.g. pain under the heel when first stepping out of bed or with standing after sitting, relieved after walking about, increases towards the end of the day.
Why: e.g. pain worse at the end of the day and aggravated by use and cold weather, relieved by rest. Variable morning joint stiffness.
Why: e.g. joint pain worse on waking, nocturnal pain with disturbed sleep, pain is relived with activity. Morning and rest stiffness can last for hours. May be associated with weakness, weight loss, malaise and fatigue.
Why: e.g. often excruciating pain in the great toe staring in the early hours of the morning, skin over the joint may be red, shiny, swollen and hot, joint is very tender to touch. Pain may be precipitated by alcohol excess, surgical operation, starvation and certain medications.
Why: e.g. severe pain, swelling and disability of the feet usually with a sudden onset, pain is worse at night, joints are stiff and skin is red and warm. Usually in middle aged people.
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