Stone bruise on foot occurs as a result of internal injury inside your foot. Have you ever had a pain in your foot area that feels like you have a stone inside your shoes. The pain is felt in the sole of your foot or on your big toe as if you injured yourself there but there is no visible injury there.
This is called stone bruise, it does not literally mean that you hit your foot against a stone, although that may be the reason. This is a nonmedical condition. Another term for this condition is metatarsalgia. The pain is usually felt at the tip of the toenail, heel pad or the ball joint.
Stone bruise can cause discomfort when you are walking. The feet is one of our body that is used for many activities like walking, running, jumping, standing and others. So any discomfort makes doing these activities painful and stressful.
One of the causes of stone bruise on foot is sharply stepping on stones and other objects. Running on rocky paths can also cause this pain. Constant or repetitive impacts on the foot like running results to stone bruise.
The pain comes gradually and goes gradually too. You might not feel instant pains when you step on stones, however, the pain might come later as days elapses. It might comes as a mild, tingling pain or a burning, severe one.
This pain is as a result of your nerves being inflamed. The pain might take time to go as the foot is used everyday, the duration can range from 38 hours or more depending on the severity.
Sometimes, other health conditions are mistakened for stone bruise. This is because the pain and symptoms of these conditions feel like stone bruise pains.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF STONE BRUISES
(1) Metatarsalgia: This occurs when the ball of your foot becomes painful. Wearing tight shoes that are too tight and participating in high-impact activities that involves running and jumping can cause this.
Excess weight and foot deformities can also result to this condition. The symptoms include numbness of the foot, sharp pain, feeling of a stone in your shoe or pain that becomes severe when you stand, run or jump.
It can be treated by using ice packs and wearing the right size of shoes can help reduce the pain. But you can see a doctor if it becomes severe.
Plantar fasciitis
Plantar fascia is the tissue that connects your heel bones to your toes. When these tissues are inflamed, you have plantar fasciitis which causes pain in your foot.
The pain usually is severe when you take your first step after sitting or standing for a long time, while it decreases as more steps and other foot activities are done. This is common in people whose occupations make them stand for a long time on hard surfaces. The methods of treatment can be through therapies, medications or even surgery in extreme cases. You can also reduce the pains by applying ice on the area where you feel pains.
Stress fracture
Stress fracture happens when you have a crack, usually tiny in any of the foot bones. When you use these bones repeatedly for things like running or jumping, you might have stress fracture. Just like other normal fractures, the pain does not happen immediately it happens, you feel the pain with time. The affected areas usually swells up. Health conditions that weakens the bones can cause this also. It can be treated by using braces and clutches or surgery.
Heel Spur
Calcium deposits can buildup under your heels and form a little bone growth. Excess weight, diabetes, long standing and poor-fitted shoes can cause this. Just like stone bruise, it feels like having a stone in your shoes and the pain is chronic. You can treat it by wearing the right shoes, physical therapy, medications and surgeries.
Morton’s Neuroma
This affects the nerves around your foot. When the tissues near the nerves are damaged, Morton’s neuroma occurs. Activities that stresses the nerves and tissues can cause this condition as well as not wearing the right shoes.
In this case, you need to have an x-ray for proper diagnosing. The treatment methods include therapy, medications, applying ice packs to the affected area, stretching exercises, injection and surgeries.
STONE BRUISE ON FOOT
In this section, we are going to discuss on what causes the stone bruise on foot. Apart from stepping on stones and running, there are other factors that can cause stone bruise.
(1) Excess weight: Being overweight or having excess weight means your feet have to do the job of carrying your whole body which can cause this pain.
(2) Not wearing the correct footwear: Wearing incorrect foot wears like shoes with high heels to those pads have worn out overtime will cause you discomfort and pain.
(3) Foot deformities: Diseases like diabetes, arthritis and rheumatism can weaken the structure of the feet. People who are born with foot deformities like their heels poorly arched, are prone to stone bruise.
(4) Old Age: Old age weaken the bones in the body and this can make you feel the pain.
HOW IS STONE BRUISE TREATED?
One of the ways to reduce the pain associated with stone bruise on foot is to apply ice packs on the affected area. This will help reduce the inflammation. You can also use a cold clothe, gently place it on the area for 15 minutes everyday.
Do not place for a long period of time to avoid over chilling your feet. Taking rest is another effective way to reduce the swelling. When all activities that involve using the feet are stopped for sometime, the feet can have enough time to heal and strengthen back. Doing these things can bring changes in few weeks.
CONCLUSION
In this poist, we discussed on “Stone bruise on foot” .Stone bruise is not a medical condition. When next you feel that pain like a stone is in your shoe, maybe it’s a stone bruise. You can use the methods we have recommended to reduce the pain and swelling.
However, if there are no signs of change or relief, it may be that the pain is caused by another thing or there is a possibility of underlying ailment. In this situation, you can see a doctor for a professional advice as well as conducting relevance test inorder to determine and investigate the root of the problem.