Feet hurt in the morning when i wake up. Morning Foot Pain: Causes, Symptoms, and Effective Treatments

22.07.202315.06.2023 by alexxlab

Why do feet hurt in the morning when waking up. What causes foot pain first thing in the morning. How to relieve morning foot pain when walking. What are the best treatments for foot pain upon waking.

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Understanding Morning Foot Pain: Common Causes and Symptoms

Waking up with sore feet can be a frustrating and painful way to start your day. Many people experience foot pain in the morning, particularly when taking their first steps. This discomfort can range from a dull ache to sharp, stabbing sensations. But what exactly causes this morning foot pain?

Primary Causes of Morning Foot Pain

Plantar fasciitis
Heel spurs
Arthritis
Achilles tendinitis
Flat feet or high arches
Improper footwear

The most common culprit behind morning foot pain is plantar fasciitis. This condition involves inflammation of the plantar fascia, a thick band of tissue that runs along the bottom of your foot from the heel to the toes. When you sleep, this tissue tightens up, leading to pain when you first put weight on your feet in the morning.

Recognizing Symptoms of Morning Foot Pain

How does morning foot pain typically manifest? Common symptoms include:

Sharp pain in the heel or arch upon taking first steps
Stiffness in the foot and ankle
Pain that eases with movement but returns after rest
Discomfort that worsens throughout the day

Do these symptoms sound familiar? If you’re experiencing persistent morning foot pain, it’s crucial to seek professional advice for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment plan.

The Impact of Plantar Fasciitis on Morning Foot Pain

Plantar fasciitis is often the primary suspect when it comes to morning foot pain. This common condition affects millions of people worldwide and can significantly impact daily activities. But how exactly does plantar fasciitis contribute to morning foot pain?

The Mechanics of Plantar Fasciitis

During sleep or periods of inactivity, the plantar fascia naturally contracts. When you take your first steps in the morning, this tightened tissue is suddenly stretched, causing micro-tears and inflammation. This results in the characteristic sharp pain associated with plantar fasciitis.

Why does the pain often subside after walking around? As you move, the plantar fascia gradually loosens up, reducing the immediate discomfort. However, prolonged activity can lead to increased inflammation, causing the pain to return later in the day.

Risk Factors for Developing Plantar Fasciitis

Age (most common between 40-60 years)
Obesity or sudden weight gain
Occupations requiring long periods of standing
High-impact sports or activities
Foot structure (flat feet or high arches)

Understanding these risk factors can help you take preventative measures to reduce your chances of developing plantar fasciitis and experiencing morning foot pain.

Diagnosing the Root Cause of Morning Foot Pain

While plantar fasciitis is a common cause of morning foot pain, it’s not the only possibility. Accurate diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment. How can you determine the exact cause of your foot pain?

The Importance of Professional Diagnosis

Self-diagnosis based on internet searches can be misleading and potentially harmful. The foot’s complex structure, consisting of numerous bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons, makes accurate diagnosis challenging without professional expertise.

A podiatrist or orthopedic specialist can provide a comprehensive evaluation, which may include:

Detailed medical history
Physical examination
Gait analysis
Imaging tests (X-rays, MRI)
3D foot scanning

These diagnostic tools help identify the specific cause of your morning foot pain and determine the most appropriate treatment plan.

Differential Diagnosis: Other Conditions Causing Morning Foot Pain

While plantar fasciitis is common, other conditions can also cause similar symptoms. These may include:

Heel spurs
Achilles tendinitis
Tarsal tunnel syndrome
Stress fractures
Arthritis

Each of these conditions requires a specific treatment approach, highlighting the importance of accurate diagnosis by a healthcare professional.

Effective Treatments for Morning Foot Pain

Once the cause of your morning foot pain has been identified, what treatment options are available? The good news is that many effective treatments can provide relief and promote healing.

Conservative Treatment Approaches

For many cases of morning foot pain, conservative treatments can be highly effective. These may include:

Rest and ice therapy
Stretching exercises
Proper footwear selection
Over-the-counter pain relievers
Night splints

These treatments aim to reduce inflammation, improve flexibility, and provide support to the affected areas.

Custom Orthotics: A Game-Changer for Foot Pain

One of the most effective treatments for morning foot pain is custom orthotics. Unlike over-the-counter insoles, custom orthotics are precisely designed to address your specific foot structure and condition.

How do custom orthotics work? They provide targeted support to the areas of your foot that need it most, helping to distribute pressure evenly and correct biomechanical issues. This can significantly reduce pain and promote healing of conditions like plantar fasciitis.

Custom orthotics are created using advanced 3D scanning technology, ensuring a perfect fit for your unique foot shape. Many patients report significant improvement in their morning foot pain after incorporating custom orthotics into their treatment plan.

Advanced Treatment Options

In some cases, more advanced treatments may be necessary. These could include:

Is It Normal To Wake Up With Sore Feet? – My FootDr

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Posted on April 10, 2017 by My FootDr

o you wake up with a sharp pain in your heel, arch or foot?
Do you get pain the moment you put your feet on the ground and take that first step?
Does the pain tend to ease as you keep walking, but can return when you rest and put your feet up during the day?

What Causes Sore Feet In The Morning?

Foot, arch or heel pain isn’t something that disappears overnight – which may be why you’re reading this! You may be waking up with one of the most common causes of foot and heel pain in adults – plantar fasciitis.

Plantar fasciitis, or ‘heel spur syndrome’, is one of the most common conditions that we see and treat here at My FootDr. It is best known for causing severe pain under the heel bone. You may experience less pain some mornings than others, and sometimes your heel may only hurt when you wake up and take that first step.

Making a diagnosis isn’t as simple as googling your symptoms. Your foot is made up of many small bones, muscle ligaments, tendons and other body tissue. This means conditions affecting the foot can be difficult to pinpoint and diagnose without professional help. More than that, each condition has different severities. In plantar fasciitis, you may have mild damage to the plantar fascia with mild painful symptoms, severe plantar fasciitis, a tear through the plantar fascia, or the fascia may even rupture. Each level of severity requires precise care to match the symptoms, as when left untreated or not cared for effectively, the injury can quickly progress and worsen.

Don’t live with heel pain. Book an appointment with our Podiatrists today.

How Do I Treat Sore Feet?

Diagnosing the cause of your foot pain accurately is done with the help of a Podiatrist.

When you visit your local My FootDr team, our Podiatrists will take a detailed history, perform a physical assessment, use video walking analysis, and take a 3D foot scan to find out what’s causing your sore feet – and preventing them from healing.

Once the cause is identified, we’ll develop a treatment plan just for you. It might be your footwear that is causing the biggest problem – or you may need some simple stretching and strengthening exercises.

One of the best treatments for this problem is custom-made orthotics. These shoe inserts are prescribed uniquely for you and your condition and manufactured from a 3D scan of your foot either in our premises or by our orthotics lab. These are a completely different product to the insoles you find at your pharmacy or supermarket, which only serve to add some cushioning while assuming that all feet require the same level cushioning.

We find that if orthotics are required as part of your care, the sooner you start wearing them and therefore supporting your feet and the damaged structures, the faster you start seeing results and the shorter your recovery time. That’s why we offer a fast turnaround on your custom foot orthotics.

FAQs

How do I soothe sore feet?

Alongside the proper treatment plan recommended by your podiatrist, some things you can do to soothe sore feet for short term relief include:

• Applying ice to your feet
• Stretching your foot muscles
• Taking a pain reliever
• Drawing a warm foot bath
• Gently massaging your feet

What can you soak sore feet in?

A warm foot bath can be a good temporary solution for sore feet. Adding Epsom salts to your foot bath can relieve sore muscles and help reduce inflammation and swelling. You can make yourself an Epsom foot bath by adding one cup of Epsom salts to a tub of warm water and soaking your feet in the mixture.

Can sore feet make you tired?

Not only do sore feet and heel pain put extra stress on your body which can contribute to fatigue, but in many cases, the causes of your sore feet (like a flat foot posture) can also overwork the muscles and cause fatigue and aches. If you are experiencing fatigue as a symptom of foot or heel pain, contact your podiatrist to discuss solutions.

April 14, 2021

Why Career Women Need To Promote Their Foot Health

We spend roughly a third of our day in a workplace, but how much thought do we put into what impact our footwear choices have on the health of our feet over the course of our days – let alone our careers?

January 2, 2021

Why Do My Feet Hurt When I Walk?

Knowing whether you’ve just been more active over the last few days, it’s that new pair of shoes, it’s the weather – or if something more serious underpinning the foot pain you’re experiencing can be very hard.
Many Australians put up with foot pain daily, hoping that the pain will disappear on its own, and trialling simple lifestyle changes with no improvement.

March 29, 2018

Why Does The Bottom Of My Foot Hurt?

It is one of the most asked questions we get: why does the bottom of my foot hurt so much? Conditions such as heel or arch pain can make waking up and getting out of bed every morning difficult.

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Articles, Blogs

Why Do My Feet Hurt When I Wake Up?

wellness

By Alexia Dellner

Published Sep 30, 2020

Some people wake up and start thinking about what they’re going to make for breakfast. Others spend those first morning moments lingering over that amazing dream they just had. As for me? The first thought that pops into my head each and every morning is, “Why do my feet hurt when I wake up?” The answer, friends, lies in something called plantar fasciitis.

Diego Cervo / EyeEm/Getty Images

Why do my feet hurt when I wake up?

“A top reason for foot pain when you wake up is secondary to a condition known as plantar fasciitis,” says Dr. Suzanne Fuchs, a foot and ankle surgeon and sports medicine specialist in Palm Beach. This causes heel and or arch pain, she explains.

“The plantar fascia is a thick band of tissue that forms part of the arch in your foot. Overuse injury, repetitive strain or tension on the plantar fascia causes pain at its origin on the bottom of the heel bone,” says Dr. Fuchs. And the reason why this happens in the morning is because the plantar fascia shortens overnight.

“During sleep or sitting for long periods of time, the fascia shortens which causes tightening, especially the first few steps. After walking for a bit, the pain usually improves because the fascia loosens.”

My sore feet have only gotten worse since Covid-19…What gives?

There are two possible explanations for this, says Dr. Miguel Cunha, founder of Gotham Footcare in New York City. Firstly, because you are walking around barefoot at home more often these days (hello, WFH life). “Walking barefoot on hard surfaces allows our foot to collapse which can lead to a tremendous amount of stress, not only to the foot but to the rest of the body,” he cautions. He also says that since Covid-19, many people are doing at-home workouts in inappropriate footwear (oops, guilty). “Whether they are creating their at-home workout, doing barefoot exercises while working out to their gym’s Instagram videos or going just a little too hard on the weekends, it’s important to mimic the routine you normally had pre-quarantine and wear the appropriate foot gear.” Duly noted.

Got it. So, what can I do about it?

Well, for starters, you should definitely get yourself a decent pair of workout shoes (see Dr. Cunha’s earlier note) and stop going barefoot at home all the time. But here some other tips:

Get stretching. “I recommend stretching not just the plantar fascia but also the Achilles tendon which can oftentimes be the culprit,” advises Dr. Cunha. Here’s how: Place your toes on the wall with your heel on the floor and then bring your hips towards the wall as you keep your knee and leg extended. And to stretch the plantar fascia, try this technique: Sit and cross your leg, then place the painful foot onto your opposite knee. “With your hand, bend your toes and massage the arch with your hand by kneading the arch with your thumb. Apply deep pressure with your thumb along the course of the plantar fascia from the heel all the way towards your toes.” Repeat these exercises five times daily.
Invest in a night splint. “This device helps to stretch the fascia while you are sleeping,” explains Dr. Fuchs. You can order a night splint online (this one boasts over 2,500 five-star reviews and only costs $25) but your best bet is to make an appointment with a podiatrist to get one fitted.
Cool down. Freeze a water bottle while it’s laying down, suggests Cunha. “Then proceed to roll your foot on the frozen water bottle for about 20 minutes, three times daily.”
Seek professional help. If the above treatments don’t ease the pain after a week, visit a podiatrist to discuss other options including custom orthotics, physical therapy, appropriate shoe gear, cortisone injections, Platelet Rich Plasma and/or Amnio injections, and shockwave therapy.

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Restless legs syndrome Medical On Group Perm

The name of the disease speaks for itself – all the unpleasant sensations are noted in the legs, however, over time, similar phenomena are possible in the hands, and even in the torso. The peculiarity of the disease is that it manifests itself when you go to bed. Trying to sleep but can’t because your legs are in the way. A slight pain appears in them, and you think that these are the consequences of daytime overexertion, then a feeling of numbness and a feeling of crawling, sometimes unpleasant sensations in the form of itching, and then you begin to carefully look at the skin of your legs to find traces of a possible allergy, it is not clear from what arisen, but find nothing. Time runs quickly, there is no sleep, and there is no strength to lie down, there is an irresistible desire to move your legs, toss and turn in bed. If these manipulations do not bring relief, you have to get up and walk around the apartment, try pouring hot or cold water on your feet.

The trial method is used to search for those actions that will alleviate the condition. And, oh miracle! During the movement, the unpleasant sensations are significantly reduced or disappear, but as soon as you lie down, and sometimes just stop, they intensify again. Once having arisen, such a state is unlikely to disappear on its own, on the contrary, over the years it can appear not only at night, at the time of falling asleep, but also when sitting for a long time in any situation – in transport, in the cinema. All these extremely unpleasant, painful sensations can make your life unbearable. In the risk group for the development of this syndrome, middle-aged and elderly people, however, for the first time, RLS can manifest itself already in young people.

If our patients, completely exhausted, decide to come for an appointment, then their complaints, as a rule, are only about poor sleep. And as an addition to this – the state of morning weakness, decreased efficiency, absent-mindedness, memory impairment. If you do not find out the cause of insomnia, treatment with sleeping pills alone will not give any positive result. Of course, the question arises, what are the causes of these torments? It is known that RLS can be inherited by relatives.

Dig into your family tree, ask your parents, grandparents – if they had similar conditions before, or maybe they all have it today. If this fact is confirmed, then we are dealing with the so-called primary restless legs syndrome, which is not so common. Much more often we are dealing with secondary RLS. Many diseases are to blame for this – anemia, thyroid diseases, diabetes mellitus, vascular diseases of the lower extremities, etc. Often, when examining patients, we detect a lack of iron, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins in the blood.

What is the patient’s prognosis for recovery?

Rationally selected therapy, available in the arsenal of neurologists, will make it possible to remove the manifestations of RLS and significantly improve the quality of life. Treatment of primary RLS, unlike its secondary forms, should be carried out for a long time, possibly for many years under the supervision of a neurologist.

If you have such complaints, come to see a neurologist at our clinic. We’ll try to figure it out and help. Let’s do a full inspection. For treatment, we use not only drug therapy, but also modern physiotherapy treatment – ozone therapy, intravenous laser blood irradiation, etc. We will give you recommendations on nutrition for RLS, a motor regimen to alleviate discomfort, which you will spend getting ready for bed.

By joint efforts, you can defeat this extremely unpleasant, painful condition, the name of which is restless leg syndrome.

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Heaviness in the legs

The feeling of heaviness in the legs is a fairly common reason for a patient to see a doctor. More than a third of the world’s population complain of “buzzing”, “aching” legs, “a feeling of fullness in the legs”, “constant fatigue” in the lower extremities.

The mechanism of occurrence of this disease is reduced to congestion in the vessels of the lower extremities, which should be noted more often develop in the evening after a hard day.

Causes of appearance

Long-term static loads, especially for people working in offices, chained to computers and, conversely, whose profession is related to working on their feet – hairdressers, salesmen, teachers, etc.;
Sedentary lifestyle;
Overweight. Fatigue occurs both directly due to excess weight, and due to an increase in blood volume. Also, an excess amount of adipose tissue prevents adequate muscle contraction;
Changes in hormonal levels, especially in women in the second phase of the menstrual cycle;
Pregnancy may also cause tension in the legs due to the growth of the baby in the womb;
The summer period of time, so the heat provokes a decrease in the general motor activity of a person, as a result, the muscles in the legs do not work much, which provokes blood stasis.

However, heaviness in the legs can most often become the “first sign” indicating the development of a serious disease:

Varicose disease of the lower extremities.

In the early stages of varicose veins, a person may turn their attention to leg fatigue, which increases in the late afternoon. A good example of this manifestation is when, after work, you want to “throw” your legs as high as possible. However, varicose veins, as such, are not always visible. It is worth paying attention to this problem as early as possible, since during this period it is most favorable to carry out therapeutic measures that significantly slow down the course of the disease. But already with progression, the following complaints may appear:

Spasms at night. closer to morning;
Stiffness of the legs in the evening. this is especially noticeable on weekdays;
Presence of varicose veins in the legs;
Swelling of the lower legs above the foot (this is especially noticed by women in winter, when the zipper of boots in the evening is difficult to fasten).

However, varicose disease is a rather slowly progressive disease, even with a sufficiently large number of affected (dilated) veins, there may not be any complaints as such. But with the seeming harmlessness of the disease, one should not forget about such a dangerous complication as thrombophlebitis, which is manifested by the appearance of blood clots in the veins, the separation of which and further movement along the venous towards the heart can lead to very serious consequences.

Heaviness in the legs due to diseases

Lymphostasis (lymphedema) – in contrast to the pathology of the veins, it is manifested by swelling of the foot and fingers. Edema of the rear of the foot is compared with a “pillow”, and fingers – with “sausages”. Lymphedema after a night’s rest usually does not decrease. In the initial stages of the disease, pits remain on the skin of the lower leg from being squeezed by the fingers. Subsequently, as a result of the development of compaction of the skin, the soft tissues of the lower leg become dense like a shell. With lymphedema, it is not possible to fold the skin on the back of the foot (back of the sole). Complaints are usually absent. Sometimes patients feel a feeling of tension in the calves. Lymphedema, more often, affects one lower limb. More about the treatment of lymphedema
Foot deformity (Flatfoot) is a foot disease characterized by a change in the architecture of the arch of the foot. There are longitudinal and transverse flat feet, depending on the lowered arch. Often there is a combined longitudinal and transverse flat feet. In the initial forms of flat feet (I degree), patients are concerned about pain in the legs, increased fatigue of the lower extremities, pain when pressing on the foot or the middle of the sole, and the gait loses plasticity. With an increase in the severity of the disease, there are constant and more intense pains in the feet and muscles of the legs, swelling of the feet and ankles by the end of the day, the gait changes significantly, individual tailoring of shoes is required, since it is not possible to wear mass-produced shoes. On examination, the foot is flattened, the skin of the sole is callused, and “halus valgus” is formed – a deformity in the area of the big toe.
Diseases of the heart . A number of heart diseases that can lead to a decrease in the efficiency of contraction of the heart muscle can also be accompanied by edema. However, complaints from the heart come to the fore: pain in the region of the heart, palpitations (tachycardia) or vice versa, slowing down of the contraction of the heart (bradycardia), interruptions in the work of the heart, shortness of breath. On examination, attention is drawn to the pallor of the skin, swelling of the cervical veins, blue extremities (acrocyanosis). Edema in the presence of heart pathology is symmetrical, mainly on the legs and ankles. When examining patients, clinical and laboratory signs of heart pathology are revealed.
In diseases of the kidneys , the heaviness of the legs appears at the initial stages of the development of edema. Edematous skin is pale, dense, of normal temperature. Shortness of breath, as a rule, does not happen. Patients complain of itching, weakness, decreased appetite, thirst, increased blood pressure.