Foot Arch Soreness- Who to Go to?

June 16, 2016 6:02 AM

I've had soreness, slight pain in my foot arch for almost two weeks now. This is annoying when walking and eliminates running. I'd like to see a medical professional without as many hoops and as easily as possible with minimal cost (I have decent insurance). What are my options? Do I see a GP (urgent care), Ortho, Podiatrist, or PT? I'm in NYC if that matters. (suggestions if you have them too!)
posted by sandmanwv to Health & Fitness (13 answers total)

Best answer: Podiatrist.
posted by SemiSalt at 6:27 AM on June 16, 2016 [4 favorites]

I would go straight to a podiatrist in your network. You know its your foot, a general practitioner may be able to help you, but in the interest of saving yourself some hoops a foot doctor will be able to solve (or at least tell you) whats going on 100% and saves you that 'referral' step. Not sure what insurance you are carrying but mine has a decent website that can find an in-network provider for you wherever you are.
posted by deadwater at 6:28 AM on June 16, 2016

i would go to a sports "traumatologo" at my local sports medicine centre. according to google that translates to the orthopaedic at your local sports clinic. in my experience sports clinics doctors are more experienced in injuries from overuse etc and may be open to continuing to exercise. while a more general foot doctor (podiatrist) would be more likely to just say "stop walking and see if it heals".

disclaimer: as is obvious, i suspect, i am translating from experiences in another country. i also found this discussion on the difference between orthopaedic specialists and podiatrists interesting (but possibly biased, given its source).
posted by andrewcooke at 6:39 AM on June 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

This sounds like it might be plantar fascita., a common running injury. You may want to start with self healing. Google it and you'll find all kinds of therapies. For me, the right shoes with arch support, plus muscle stretching resolved it.
posted by j810c at 6:40 AM on June 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

Yeah, this is totally the reason to go to a podiatrist. It's what they do.
posted by desuetude at 6:45 AM on June 16, 2016

Best answer: I'd go to a podiatrist. I have had pretty good experiences dealing with a heel pain issue with Dr. Michael Schumacher at 57th street, if he's in network for you.
posted by redondo77 at 6:54 AM on June 16, 2016

I would nth a podiatrist, but I'd look for a sports medicine podiatrist. My experience is that the sports medicine folks (ortho/MD as well as podiatry) do really well to get you back running instead of the "rest for 6 weeks" that may not actually be necessary.
posted by Pax at 7:00 AM on June 16, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks rendondo! Booked Schumacher (7 blocks from my office) for tomorrow.
posted by sandmanwv at 7:29 AM on June 16, 2016

Just want to chip in here that with my long-standing plantar faciitis (if that's what yours turns out to be) the podiatrist was a help in the short to medium term only. I was given prescription insoles and shown some stretching exercise, which helped me move from acute pain to a little achy. But in some way it just helped mask or alleviate the symptoms, didn't get to the root of 'why the hell are my feet sore'.
Long term what has helped has been yoga. I have tried literally everything else, have seen an enormous amount of different kind of experts, but yoga is the only thing which keeps it at bay.
And actually this one video in particular rounds up very neatly all the exercises which seem to work, I can't recommend it highly enough, Yoga With Adriene, the foot edition
posted by stevedawg at 7:39 AM on June 16, 2016 [4 favorites]

if they want to go the prescription insoles route, you might try superfeet first. i suggest going to a running store and discussing your pain with them so they can recommend the right one. if you don't want to do that, i'd get the bronze to start and go from there.
posted by nadawi at 9:03 AM on June 16, 2016

For what it's worth, it may be worth considering the difference between podiatrists and orthopedists. Podiatrists are not MDs (Doctors of Medicine), they are DPMs (Doctors of Podiatric Medicine). The MD quasi-equivalent of a podiatrist is an orthopedist, sometimes known as an orthopedic surgeon, although they do plenty of things that are not surgical. A major difference is that an orthopedist is trained to treat the entire musculoskeletal system, not just feet and ankles.
posted by slkinsey at 9:57 AM on June 16, 2016

I wouldn't go to a podiatrist because all they're going to do is prescribe you prescription insoles. I would go to a sports medicine M.D. who can help you evaluate how your overall gait and movement patterns are affecting your feet and give you exercises to strengthen the muscles that are causing you to walk/run in a way that are putting strain on yourself. They have a more systematic approach and their education is more broad. This isn't just about your feet. If you temporarily "fix" your feet without understanding the whole system, you're going to end up with your knee or your hip or your back hurting next.
posted by matildaben at 10:17 AM on June 16, 2016 [5 favorites]

I have plantar faciitis. When I went to see my podiatrist he said his first suggestion is always good shoe inserts but since I had superfeet green inserts already, he said that nothing he could prescribe would be as good as those. Since I was still having some issues, he recommended losing weight and doing physical therapy. I managed both but the PT started working a lot faster (and made the weight loss easier).

I'm a power lifter so the physical therapist didn't think it was a strength issue so it was mostly endurance and stretching.

So I'd start with inserts and if that doesn't work (and maybe even if it does) go to a podiatrist. If the pain is localized rather than across whole plantar facia, they might be able to give you a cortisone shot that will fix the issue as long as it's a one-time thing and not a symptom of an underlying issue.
posted by VTX at 11:06 AM on June 16, 2016