Most Arch Pain in the foot comes from one of these two causes:
1. The tibial nerve is sometimes at fault in a condition known as tarsal tunnel syndrome (similar to the carpal tunnel syndrome people get in their wrists, except this occurs in the ankle or arch).
When the tibial nerve gets squeezed by the conduit that surrounds it (the flexor retinaculum), the result is pain and swelling in the area of the arch and ankle. Tarsal tunnel syndrome is not, however, the most common cause of arch pain.
2. The most common cause of arch pain is Plantar Fasciitis. The plantar fascia ligament (on the bottom of the foot) gets overly stretched where it attaches to the heel bone, usually resulting in stabbing heel pain. The condition frequently causes stabbing arch pain, as well.
For some people, the pain mysteriously moves around. Here’s why.
The arch can swell up in an effort to immobilize the plantar fascia ligament and prevent it from tugging on the heel bone. This immobilization often relieves pain in the heel, but at the expense of creating extreme pain in the arch.
Ice packs or therapeutic ultrasound treatment to the arch will usually relieve a lot of this arch swelling and pain, but of course once that happens, the rear portion of the ligament is no longer immobilized- and the person will go back to feeling the heel pain as soon as they stand up or walk. When this happens it really feels like a no-win situation.
Why does the arch of the un-injured foot sometimes start hurting?
Additionally, it is not uncommon for the arch of the uninjured foot to start hurting, too. This is because the uninjured foot can start walking in very unnatural ways, in an effort to try to avoid stress on the injured foot.
Things that can be done to relieve the Arch Pain:
Besides resting when possible, try to be aware of all the basic 4 areas of Plantar Fasciitis heel pain treatment in the pf-heel-pain treatment information guide. Using these kinds treatments to protect the ligament from over-extension will usually solve both the heel pain and the arch pain problems.
The four areas:
• Correct Footwear—Good-fitting, good-quality sneakers
• Correct Arch/Support Shoe-Inserts—Getting the right kind of arch supports typically do a great deal to help prevent the ligament from painfully over-stretching
• Inflammation Control—Ice and anti-inflammatories
• Stretching the Calf Muscles
If additional arch pain relief is needed
Therapeutic ultrasound can sometimes be fairly miraculous at quickly stopping arch pain due to Plantar Fasciitis. Provided a person is using good footwear and proper shoe-inserts, it’s common for the heel pain to stop, too.
A Plantar Fasciitis elastic foot brace (in addition to the arch supports) can sometimes help control arch pain. Some of the Plantar Fasciitis elastic foot braces have a gel sewn into the fabric right where the swelling hurts the most.
Caution: Elastic braces (I see them on-line, but not in stores), need to be made specifically for Plantar Fasciitis. They need to be adjustable enough that they don’t pinch the foot. Over time, something too tight on our foot can cause a pinched nerve, which will hurt even more than Plantar Fasciitis.
The link below will take you to the most commonly asked questions and answers about Plantar Fasciitis heel and arch pain and treatment information.
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> Plus… Here are two SPECIAL REPORTS to read right now that reveal more secrets about Plantar Fasciitis treatment—helping us stay on our feet while stopping the pain.