Pain in ball of foot - feels like walking on cobblestones

[nannysue1950]

I have Raynauds and Scleroderma but, luckily, have never really had any problems with my feet. Just recently I have had pain in the ball of my feet which very much feels like walking on cobblestones. It is not all the time and there doesn't seem to be a pattern as to when it happens. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

[Hidden]

Hi, what I experience is like walking on cobblestones 99% of the time and occasionally 1% of the time it's like walking on shards of glass. My feet have been described as Hyper Sensitive. I can actually feel the seems in socks and shoes. So I have podiatry insoles which are completely smooth and allow a cushion feeling inside the shoe. The socks I wear are mountain type socks with a fluffy cushion sole. I can also feel every single bone in each of my feet and considering the feet have the most bones in one area of the body - they hurt with every step. So you are not alone.

[zenabb]

Perhaps you should see a vascular sugeon. I have not had what CardiffLady describes, I am more like nannysue so I went to see a vascular surgeon who found my left popleteal artery blocked. So it is not always the Raynaud's.

[tall-tim]

I have had this problem - a feeling like walking over gravel when on hard surfaces, affecting both ball and heel of foot. I think it has stabilised and reduced now (four years on). I didn't know what was going on, and was referred to a consultant who muttered something about hammer toes (but this was not a helpful explanation). Through him I got some orthotic inserts made to relieve the pressure on the ball of the foot, but I don't wear them now. I now wear gel insoles in all my shoes, customised over the ball of the foot by glueing & sewing an extra layer onto the upper surface of the insole at the critical points.

What is going on is that the fatty padding on the soles of the feet, made of collagen, has become shrunken and thinner because of the disease, hence the weight of the body is bearing onto the tissues between the foot bones and the floor. Ouch! Now that the inflammation has gone down (insoles, cushioned shoes) and I have done some country walking the soles of my feet have toughened up and feel less sensitive. I even went on a walking holiday in the Spanish mountains this year, though I was very slow on lumpy, rocky paths.

The doctors have never been interested in explaining or treating this problem, apart from referring me to orthopaedics for the orthotic inserts.

[LarryDahlka]

There is a condition known as Planter fasciitis that cause pain to the bottom of the foot.