Hi everyone, today we're going to talk about metatarsalgia. A metatarsal is a bone, a long, thin bone that connects your toes to the rest of your foot. We have 5 metatarsals per foot.
So in what context do we injure this part of the foot? It's often an inflammation of the tissue between these metatarsals. And what usually causes it? Often shoes that are too tight, either because of their shape or because of laces tied too tightly, and we also see it when there's too rapid an increase in activity load on that area.
We have a few tips to help with this type of pain. The first is to take your shoes off and spend as much time barefoot as possible. The second is to try what we're wearing here, what we call toe spacers. They're mainly designed to release the intrinsic muscles of the foot, and along the way, they do also separate the toes and realign them a bit.
Exactly. They free up space between the metatarsals, and they have the advantage of being wearable inside certain shoes that are fairly wide at the front.
Today we're going to show you two exercises, and if pain persists, don't hesitate to see a podiatrist.
First exercise: we're going to do a foot sole massage. We suggest a few different tools, from a ball, you can use any ball lying around at home, a tennis ball works fine, or you can find mini rollers like this one, which are good because they roll across the whole foot. That's useful for a massage aimed at improving metatarsalgia.
You press the foot down gently, and you'll notice that as you press your foot onto a ball or a roller, your foot widens. We're trying to create space between the metatarsals. The pressure should feel comfortable, pressing harder doesn't make it more effective. There's a progression to it, so pay attention to how sensitive your foot feels. It shouldn't turn into a torture session. Over weeks and months of practice, you'll be able to put more and more weight on whichever tool you're using. If it's too painful at first, you can even start seated.
Second exercise: try to spread and separate your toes from each other. Simply try to spread your fifth toe away from your fourth, and get your foot as wide as possible. You can spread them by lifting your toes up and then placing them back down on the ground as spread out as possible. Spread, spread, spread, then put them back down as wide as you can.
I'd add that if you can't manage it, that's fine. Don't get discouraged if the movement feels impossible at first. Keep going, practice a little every day. And that's how, little by little, you'll wake up those muscles and become able to do the movement.
