Cairns Podiatrist 5 Step guide to reducing forefoot pain

Have you started suffering from pain in the ball of your foot? Here is a simple 5-step guide that can help, all from the comfort of your home!

It is amazing how many patients we are seeing at the moment who are suffering from pain in the balls of their feet. Since the start of the Covid-19 restrictions, everyone’s daily routine has been flipped on its head, with most of us now spending a lot more time at home. 

Naturally, being Far North Queenslanders, there is nothing better than kicking off our shoes and walking around on our tiles or timber floors bare foot. Until that is, you start to develop pains through the balls of your feet that you have never experienced before! All of a sudden, simple activities such as walking to the bathroom or standing up to cook dinner, become a lot more difficult. Don’t put up with this pain any longer. Here is a simple 5-step guide that you can work on at home to help settle your pain and get you back doing what you love ASAP! Ball of foot pain treatment Cairns is available at each of the FNQ Podiatry and Orthotics clinics.

1. Wear cushioned shoes:

• Yes, we understand that you want to be bare foot but we guarantee that this will help to improve your symptoms. The more cushioning you can get under your feet for the short-term, the quicker your symptoms will settle. This isn’t a life sentence either. Think of it as a short-term treatment option to allow you to get back to being bare foot quicker!

2. Stretching:

• Stretching your calf muscles and the muscles under your arches will help to improve your fore-foot pain. Tightness through these muscles leads to altered walking patters and results in increased pressure being placed through the balls of your feet. \

3. Massage under your arches and balls of the feet:

• If you can’t convince your other half to help (good luck!), get some massage cream and work along the muscles of the arch and balls of the feet. You can also use a tennis ball or massage ball by placing them on the ground and slowly rolling your foot across it.

4. Towel scrunches:

• Lay a towel out on the ground in front of you. While sitting down at a chair, put your feet on the towel, shoulder width apart. Scrunch up the towel with your toes, hold for 1 second and release. Repeat this 20-30 times. Rest for 1min and repeat another 3-4 times. This will help to strengthen your arch muscles and make your feet more resilient. 

5. Icing

• Create an ice slushy in a bucket and place the balls of your feet in there for 5-10 mins. Repeat twice daily. This will help to settle down any inflammation.

If your forefoot pain does not improve with the above steps, be sure to see us at for forefoot pain treatment at FNQ Podiatry & Orthotics Cairns to determine whether something else is contributing to your pain.

Our clinical locations all remain open and are contactable on 40 455 749 or online at www.fnqpodiatry.com.au. If you are unable to make it into one of our clinics, we are offering telehealth consultations where we can assess your symptoms and provide further advice