Express Action Sports

Acute ball-of-foot pain symptoms can indicate the presence of Metatarsalgia, a medical condition which involves inflammation to the nerves attached to the metatarsal bones. Metatarsalgia is a common occurrence among runners, basketball players, tennis players, and other athletes involved in high-impact sports. It is also frequent among women who wear high-heel shoes for long periods at a time.

Common Symptoms of Metatarsalgia
People afflicted by metatarsalgia experiences sharp pain in the area of the sole directly behind the toes, more commonly known as the balls of our feet. The footache can be acute, burning, or dull, and is most often felt near the big toe, though it can also occur under the middle toes. These are the most frequent symptoms related to metatarsal foot pain:

• An acute pain in the toe area
• Lack of sensation or tingling of the toes
• The pain gets worse when flexing the feet.
• The pain worsens when walking barefoot, particularly on hard surfaces.
• The ache worsens when you run, walk, or stand for long periods, and improves after resting.
• A feeling like you’re walking on rocks

Metatarsalgia: Typical Causes
The metatarsal bones take the brunt of our weight when pushing-off while running or jumping, which can be the equivalent to several times your body weight. Among the frequent causes of metatarsal foot pain are extreme sports training, irregular foot anatomy, being overweight, improper footwear, and frequent wearing of high-heel shoes.

Possible Complications
If the symptoms of metatarsal foot pain are not treated in a timely manner, this condition can deteriorate to more severe ailments such as loss of range of motion, injury to foot ligaments, problems with the toes, and chronic stiffness. In extreme cases, necrosis can develop and collapse the entire bone structure.

Metatarsal Foot Pain Treatment Approach
Healing metatarsal foot pain in most cases does not require extreme measures. The most recommended treatments for metatarsal foot pain are:

Relax – Avoid stressing your feet by getting some rest. In short time you may participate in low-impact activities such as swimming, rowing, or cycling.

Use Ice – Use ice packs on the area of pain for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, several times a day.

Wear properly-fitting shoes – Shoes need to fit properly and be of the suitable for the type of activity that you plan to get involved in.

Wear arch support inserts – The use of suitable arch support inserts can provide the needed sustainment to reduce pressure on the metatarsal area.

Wearing arch support inserts can be an essential part of most treatments for metatarsal foot pain. Wearing metatarsal pads can also help to reduce the pressure around the metatarsal area.

In most cases involving metatarsal foot pain do not require medical treatment. It is normal for our feet to experience pain after a long day of standing or intense physical activity. Consult a physician if the pain or burning sensation if the metatarsal foot pain does not improve after altering your activities and wearing arch support inserts.

Having pain in the metatarsals can be an unpleasant experience, but by taking the proper care of your feet with the treatment options recommended above you can return to your normal activities in a short amount of time.

Fred Salomon
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/relief-for-ball-of-foot-pain-with-arch-support-inserts-686184.html

As the level of competition increases athletes try to hone their ‘game’ in many ways, including getting in the best physical shape possible. Unfortunately, some of them become obsessed by losing weight, believing that the leaner they are the faster they can run, higher they can jump, the quicker they can make turns. Athletes in sports where weighing in before competition takes place (and lighter is seen as better) can be especially susceptible.

Some athletes begin to control their weight in unhealthy ways and develop eating disorders. Eating disorders can be deadly. Athletes have had to drop out of sports (or been released from teams) because they have become so dangerously thin or used extreme measures to lose weight that have brought on severe illness. It can take years to overcome an eating disorder. Some athletes have died as a result of their unhealthy obsession.

Most common eating disorders are bulimia and anorexia. Bulimia sufferers binge and purge after eating and might use laxatives, diet pills and diuretics, as well. Anorexics practice self-starvation by not eating enough to maintain a normal weight. One way to check whether your weight is normal is to talk with your physician or figure out your body mass and see whether it is in a healthy range. See guidelines at http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/.

An athlete of normal weight, who practices healthy eating habits and works out regularly doesn’t need to worry about losing weight. Here are the most common signs of eating disorders. If you believe you already have these these symptoms, talk to your parents and see your physician.

• Significant weight loss
• Obsessive thoughts about food and weight
• Binge eating (along with purging or extreme guilt)
• Eating by yourself so people won’t notice you
• Excusing yourself from family (or other group) meals to purge
• Skipping meals or eating extremely small portions
• Frequent weigh-ins on the scale
• Overexercising
• Abuse of laxatives, diet pills or diuretics
• Avoidance of activities, social events due to weight concerns

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Penny Hastings
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/eating-disorder-can-derail-a-promising-athletes-career-751667.html