Conditions

Chronic lateral ankle pain is recurring pain on the outer side of the ankle often develops after an injury such as a sprained ankle. However, several other conditions also may cause chronic ankle pain.

Claw toe is a common foot deformity in which your toes bend into a claw-like position, digging down into the soles of your shoes and creating painful calluses. People often blame claw toe on wearing shoes that squeeze your toes, such as shoes that are too short or high heels. However, claw toes often are the result of nerve damage caused by diseases like diabetes or alcoholism, which can weaken the muscles in your foot. Claw toes can get worse without treatment and may become a permanent deformity over time.

Clubfoot is an abnormal inward curving of the foot. One of the most common nonmajor birth defects, clubfoot affects a child's foot and ankle, twisting the heel and toes inward. The clubfoot, calf and leg are smaller and shorter than normal. Clubfoot is not painful, the deformity is correctable, and your baby is probably otherwise normal. Approximately one in every 1,000 newborns has clubfoot. Of those, one in three have both feet affected. Two out of three clubfoot babies are boys. Clubfoot is twice as likely if the baby’s parents or their other children also have it. Less severe infant foot problems also are common and sometimes mislabeled as clubfoot.

Every day, the average person spends several hours on their feet and takes several thousand steps. Walking puts pressure on your feet that's equivalent to one-and-a-half times your body weight. No wonder your feet hurt!

Actually, most foot problems can be blamed not on walking but on your shoes. Corns, for example, are calluses that form on the toes because the bones push up against the shoe and put pressure on the skin. The surface layer of the skin thickens and builds up, irritating the tissues underneath. Hard corns usually are located on the top of the toes or on the side of the small toe. Soft corns may resemble open sores and develop between the toes as they rub against each other.

About 30 million people in the US have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. A possible complication of the disease is nervous system impairment (neuropathy), which may cause you to lose feeling in your feet or hands. This means you won't know right away if there is a problem. Diabetic neuropathy affects about 60 to 70 percent of people with diabetes.

People with diabetes are at risk for developing foot problems that can be severe. If you have diabetes, make sure to learn about these potential conditions, monitor your feet regularly, and see your foot and ankle orthopaedic surgeons if you suspect a problem.

Diabetes can cause serious foot problems. These conditions include the loss of nerve function (diabetic neuropathy) and loss of circulation (peripheral vascular disease). These two conditions can lead to: 

• Diabetic foot ulcers: wounds that do not heal
• Infections: skin infections (cellulitis), bone infections (osteomyelitis) and pus collections (abscesses)
• Gangrene: dead tissue resulting from complete loss of circulation
• Charcot arthropathy: fractures and dislocations that may result in severe deformities
• Amputation: partial foot, whole foot, or below-knee amputation

Patients with diabetes are prone to major foot problems. This is because the foot expresses many of the underlying effects of diabetes, including neuropathy, vascular disease, and diminished response to infection.

As a result of the neuropathy, the foot can develop an ulcer. This happens for two reasons. The first is that the neuropathy causes paralysis of small muscles in the foot, which results in clawing of the toes. Clawing of the toes causes prominence of the metatarsal heads (bones closest to the toe) on the bottom of the foot as well as the knuckles on the dorsum (top) of the foot.

A hammertoe is a deformity of the second, third, or fourth toe. In this condition, the toe is bent at the middle joint, so that it resembles a hammer. Hammertoes typically start as a flexible deformity but if left untreated could potentially develop into a fixed/rigid deformity that may require more aggressive surgery to correct.

Every mile you walk puts tons of stress on each foot. Your feet can handle a heavy load, but too much stress pushes them over their limits. When you pound your feet on hard surfaces playing sports or wear shoes that irritate sensitive tissues, you may develop heel pain, the most common problem affecting the foot and ankle.

A sore heel will usually get better on its own without surgery if you give it enough rest. However, many people ignore the early signs of heel pain and keep on doing the activities that caused it. When you continue to walk on a sore heel, it will only get worse and could become a chronic condition leading to more problems.

The high ankle ligaments are located above the ankle, as opposed to the more commonly injured ligaments on the outside of the ankle. These high ankle ligaments connect the tibia to the fibula. It is important to have stability between the tibia and fibula at this level because walking and running place a tremendous amount of force at this junction.

A high ankle sprain occurs when there is tearing and damage to the high ankle ligaments. These injuries are much less common than a traditional ankle sprain.