I have a crazy itchy spot on my foot.

January 21, 2013 12:01 AM

Every once in awhile, I'll get this rediculously itchy spot on the sole of my foot. It's always on the exact same place, in the middle of my foot in the nook right where the ball of my foot meets the rest of my foot. It only happens on one foot, and only for about 5-10 minutes on any given day. It doesnt happen every day, but I haven't been able to figure out what's different about the days it does itch. There is no visable rash, scab, scar, discharge, flakiness, nothing. There is no visable difference in that part of my foot. Does anyone else get this? What is it from and how do I make it go away? (And yes, it is itching now.)
posted by Weeping_angel to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

I had this for ten years, with no other symptoms, on my heel. I casually mentioned it to my doctor, who prescribed an anti fungal cream I could have bought over the counter at any time in the years previously. It stopped within two days. I felt like a pillock for not having sorted it earlier.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:33 AM on January 21, 2013 [4 favorites]

Do you wear the same shoes everyday? You may have something in there that is irritating/rubbing against your foot in that particular spot.

As for the itching, try Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion. I used to have a constantly itchy ankle, but I used the aforementioned lotion only twice and the itching went away quickly.
posted by littlesq at 12:39 AM on January 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

Are you a pedicure-getting gal? I am soooo not, my foot care routine is Spartan at best, but my feet tend toward callouses and dryness in general. And they do definitely get randomly itchy if i haven't used the Ped-Egg in a while and haven't been moisturizing regularly. If you don't think it's a fungal issue, I'd recommend a one-time investment of $10 into a Ped-Egg and just exfoliate the entire bottom of the foot, even the sole (gently) every couple weeks or so. Moisturize before bed and after showering. Ymmv but that takes care of it for me.
posted by hegemone at 5:41 AM on January 21, 2013

Seconding trying an OTC antifungal treatment. Sometimes fungal infections stay in one small spot and don't produce any symptoms other than itching.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:21 AM on January 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

That type of itchiness can also be a symptom of varicose veins.
posted by squeak at 7:25 AM on January 21, 2013

I've had this when my foot is dry -- it's the beginning of callouses that don't quite form. When I get regular pedicures, doesn't happen, because they're sloughing off the dead skin and moisturizing.
posted by DoubleLune at 8:32 AM on January 21, 2013

Yup. Get a $6 tube of athlete's foot ointment, apply it the next time your foot itches, and see if the itch goes away almost immediately.
posted by IAmBroom at 8:54 AM on January 21, 2013

Ah, I get this too. It doesn't feel like a surface, fungal itch, but rather an itch from inside my foot, on the bottom, where no fungus dare tread. No clue what it is.
posted by Camofrog at 10:00 AM on January 21, 2013 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Yes! Camofrog, it's just like that! I mean, I'll try some anti-fungal stuff because I'll try anything, but I really don't think that's it. It's a deeper itch, if that makes any sense.
posted by Weeping_angel at 10:06 AM on January 21, 2013

Sometimes my "deep itches" in one spot turn out to be itching sensations being referred from another place on my body (nerves are weird). Have you tried scratching yourself all over-- like, head to toe-- during one of these episodes, to check if the problem is actually elsewhere?
posted by Bardolph at 10:38 AM on January 21, 2013

I'm going to go in another direction, and suggest plantar fasciitis. The tendons are doing weird things, and your foot is interpreting it as an itch. (My heels used to be both itchy and achy before the doc showed me how to stretch it out properly with ankle exercises.)
posted by Slap*Happy at 12:23 PM on January 21, 2013

I was going to suggest the same thing as Slap*Happy. I've got PF in one foot and get these kind of itches occasionally. Mine seems to be getting better from stretching and trying to remember to keep my foot flat on the floor.
posted by soelo at 2:24 PM on January 21, 2013

Another voice suggesting nerve stuff. I don't have an itch in my foot, but I do sometimes get a infuriating, burning itch in the palm of my left hand. Only my left hand. No rash, no dry skin, but the kind of deep, fiery itch that makes me want to dig whatever it is that is causing it out with a knife. After almost a year, I finally figured out it was a nerve thing referring from my elbow. I'm in the process of getting physio for it.

(My plantar fasciitis just feels like an intense searing pain in my heel. I wish it itched!)
posted by looli at 5:33 PM on January 21, 2013

Interesting. As an anecdata point, I have this (but on the ball of my foot) and also PF. The intermittent itching predates the PF by years but could I suppose be indicative of early problems with the fascia.
posted by Stacey at 6:09 PM on January 21, 2013

I had a deep itch on the bottom of my foot that persisted for a couple of years. I always suspected it had something to do with having been stung by a wasp I stepped on because the itch was at the very same site as the sting (albeit 'deeper' inside). I should say that the itch didn't develop until a couple of months after the sting and it could obviously have been a total coincidence. I'm just throwing this out as a possible explanation for your persistent itch in the extremely remote event you stepped on a stinging insect in the last few months. But whatever the cause, I do sympathesize. It was rather tormenting because there was no way to 'scratch' the itch. Sometimes I resorted to whacking the bottom of my foot with a hammer. Not that I'm recommending it.
posted by Transl3y at 8:42 PM on January 21, 2013

I should mention that my comment above, it actually is a deeper itch like you're describing. I don't know if it correlates to the pedicures or is just coincidence though.
posted by DoubleLune at 8:46 PM on January 21, 2013