There are lots of causes to get problems within the ball of the foot. A less frequent reason is a disorder called Freiberg’s disease or infarction. It is a condition where the head of a metatarsal bone that is near the bottom of the toes within the front foot becomes weakened and has minuscule fractures. Freiberg’s disease most often occurs in the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal bones, although all metatarsal heads can be affected. It is thought to be brought on by recurring microtrauma to the metatarsals bone which cause a local deficit of blood circulation to the area. The metatarsal bones next come to be less strong and has micro fractures. Freiberg’s disease mostly happens in young athletes over about the ages of 12, and much more frequently impacts young girls greater than younger males. The micro fractures seems to come from over stress especially in sports activities that involve a great deal of sprints, bouncing or weight bearing on the forefoot. Using non supporting or non-cushioning footwear may possibly give rise to underlying stress upon the metatarsal heads.
The standard signs and symptoms include increasing pain around the affected metatarsal head. There is generally a swelling and bruising surrounding the involved area. The pain sensation can get worse with an increase in weight bearing tasks. Commonly there will be a decreased range of flexibility with the impacted toe joint together with pain existing with movement with the impacted toe joint. Having a limp to get weight off the affected area is furthermore a common finding. The diagnosis of Freibergs disease is made by a health care practitioner and is based on a number of features such as a complete clinical review that will include a biomechanical assessment and also a walking evaluation. You will have an assessment of the complete pain history and health background review to rule out any other causes for the signs or symptoms. The joint range of flexibility is going to be evaluated, along with a physical palpation of the bone will be performed. The ideal diagnosis will likely be completed by x-ray which commonly shows a compression with the metatarsal head, resembling a smashed egg shell within the most extreme situations.
The management of Freibergs disease starts off with rest and also immobilisation of the area for about six weeks. This is required in the initial period of treatment for allowing the minuscule fracture site to recover. The immobilisation is usually carried out with a moon boot or cam walker prescribed by a health professional. Foot orthoses will be utilized to decrease the painful symptoms of Freiberg’s disease. The goal of the foot orthoses is to accomplish that by reducing load bearing on the metatarsal head and also with some re-aligning with the feet. They should offer support for the symptomatic bone and so are generally advised following that first period of immobilization. A metal or graphite plate also can frequently utilized to make the footwear stiffer. Because of this there's less flexion or bending of the footwear in the front foot which lowers stress on the area. Non steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen could be given to decrease your pain as well as lower inflammation. If this doesn't improve then a surgical restoration of the micro-fracture site may be required to fix the injury.
