i am a 44yr old woman and i work in a school as a classroom assistant and as you can imagine i am on my feet alot. the last few years have seen me suffering badly with pain in my feet, mostly in my little toes, between them, behind them and below them, very difficult pain to describe, ranges from numbness, tingling, and shootingpain to aching pain. was told initially that i had arthritis, mainly in my big right toe and way last yr had an op for that, which relieved that toe, but little toes and under foot is as bad as ever in both feet. back in august of this year after being rerefferred to hospital consultant i was told i had metatarsalgia. i had never heard of this. got special insoles made. theyve done little or no good. also have tried different shoes and different insoles and trainers. wear what is most comfy, that is trainers, but pain still gets pretty bad. have been sent back to hospital to see consultant again on 20th december but am beginning to hate going to work because of pain i am in. have had to cut back on general walking, but obviously cant when it comes to work. any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

You possible have a neroma or your shoes are too small. Try wearing mens trainers instead of womens. Equivalent Men's is about one size smaller. (womens 9size = Men's 8size )

Get well soon

Dear Kara
I was wondering if you doctors have explored the possibility of a nerve entrapment or peripheral neuropathy as being the source of your pain??? Numbness, tingling shooting pain are usually associated with neurological complaints. If the topic has not been brought up, maybe this should be discussed with your doctor.

Good-luck and thank-you for contacting foot.com,
SBarlizo, DPM, CPed
foot.com expert