Common Painful Foot and Ankle Conditions: A Review

Importance: Morton neuroma, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendinopathy are foot and ankle conditions that are associated with pain and disability, but they can respond to nonoperative treatment.

Observations: Morton neuroma, consisting of interdigital neuronal thickening and fibrosis, is characterized by burning pain in the ball of the foot and numbness or burning pain that may radiate to the affected toes (commonly the third and fourth toes). First-line nonoperative therapy consists of reducing activities that cause pain, orthotics, and interdigital corticosteroid injection; however, approximately 30% of patients may not respond to conservative treatment. Plantar fasciitis accounts for more than 1 million patient visits per year in the US and typically presents with plantar heel pain. Fifteen years after diagnosis, approximately 44% of patients continue to have pain. First-line nonoperative therapy includes stretching of the plantar fascia and foot orthotics, followed by extracorporeal shockwave therapy, corticosteroid injection, or platelet-rich plasma injection. Midportion Achilles tendinopathy presents with pain approximately 2 to 6 cm proximal to the Achilles insertion on the heel. The primary nonoperative treatment involves eccentric strengthening exercises, but extracorporeal shockwave therapy may be used.

Conclusions and relevance: Morton neuroma, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendinopathy are painful foot and ankle conditions. First-line therapies are activity restriction, orthotics, and corticosteroid injection for Morton neuroma; stretching and foot orthotics for plantar fasciitis; and eccentric strengthening exercises for Achilles tendinopathy.

Author/s:

Minton Truitt Cooper

Pool Toes: Case Report and Review of Pool-Associated Pedal Dermatoses

Saige Blanchard — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Date Added:

June 13, 2022

Journal/Publication:

Cureus

Publisher:

Cureus

Publication Date:

November 28, 2020

Issue:

Volume:

URL:

Pool Toes: Case Report and Review of Pool-Associated Pedal Dermatoses

Type:

Meta-analyses, Reviews, and Guidelines

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

10.7759/cureus.11756

Keywords

PMID (1):

33403185

MeSH

Mycobacterium abscessus

ase report with picture and review of pool feet, an interesting and probably fairly common condition in summer. James W. Mold, MD, MPH

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Pool swimmers are susceptible to pedal dermatoses. The causes for these conditions are asteototic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, friction-induced injury, infections, keratoderma, pruritus, thermal injury, ultraviolet radiation exposure, and urticaria. The specific dermatoses include aquagenic keratoderma, aquagenic pruritus, aquagenic urticaria, cold-induced urticaria, contact urticaria, erosion interdigitalis blastomycetica, erythrasma, Mycobacterium abscessus hand and foot disease, onychomycosis, photosensitivity, pitted keratolysis, plantar verruca, pool dermatitis, pool feet, pool toes, pool water dermatitis, pseudomonas hot-foot syndrome, skin cancer, subcorneal hematoma, sunburn, swim fin dermatitis, tinea pedis, toe web infection, and xerosis. A seven-year-old girl developed erythema and superficial blisters on her feet after they were exposed to the surface of her new swimming pool. The friction-induced injury, referred to as pool toes, resulted in skin lesions not only on the plantar surface of her toes but also on the areas of her soles-including her heels-that came in contact with the rough pool surface. In addition to discussing the characteristics of pool toes, the features of the other pool-associated pedal dermatoses are reviewed.

Author/s:

Cohen, P. R.