I've had a growing pain in my foot over the last few days. How can I reduce it/prevent further injury?

Question

I've had a pain in my right foot that has grown over the past few days. I first noticed it 2 days ok. Yesterday, I had to stop and rest every ~5 minutes of walking, as the pain became too great. Today was the same, only slightly worse.

The pain is concentrated along the blade of my foot, particularly the area of the blade right in front of my heel. It hurts most at the "end" of a step, as my ankle is most flexed. I also have soreness throughout my calf, but this appeared later, and I think is a result of the strange movements I've been using while walking.

I need to walk at least 1-2 hours a day to go about my daily life, so I have not been able to rest the foot. I don't know if resting is something I should do in this situation, or if that would just make it stiffer.

Does anyone have any idea what is going on? I haven't done anything obvious that might have damaged the foot, aside from walking a bit more often.

Answer 1

Please, visit a doctor, soon and ask him or her this question. Pain, particularly increasing pain, is your body's way of signaling you that something is wrong. This could be a very serious condition...or not. Internet diagnoses are sketchy at best, even on StackExchange.

Answer 2

What kind of shoes are you wearing? Do you have any inserts? If your gait or bio-mechanics are not correct you can be stressing the muscles and tendons that stabilize your lower leg as you progress through the natural walking motion. Sounds like you are on your feet a lot if you walk 1-2 hours a day. You need to ensure you either 1) have the supporting cast of muscles/tendons strengthened or 2) have proper support in your shoes. It sounds like it could be plantar fasciitis but I'm not exactly sure where you say it hurts. Can you elaborate by what you mean by the 'blade' of your foot.