Foot Pain Differential Diagnoses

Foot (rear foot) and heel pain

• Plantar fasciitis
• Fat Pad Contusion
• Calcaneal fractures (traumatic and stress)
• Medial calcaneal nerve entrapment
• Lateral plantar nerve entrapment
• Tarsal tunnel syndrome
• Talar stress fracture
• Retrocalcaneal bursitis
• Spondyloarthropathies
• Osteoid osteoma
• Regional complex pain syndrome type 1 (after knee or ankle surgery)

Foot (mid foot) pain

• Midtarsal joint sprain
• Tibialis posterior tendinopathy
• Extensor tendinopathy
• Plantar fascia strain
• Stress fractures (navicular most common, less common cuneiform, cuboid, base second metatarsal)
• Peroneal tendinopathy
• Abductor hallucis strain
• Cuboid syndrome
• Tarsal coalition (in adolescents)
• Kohler's disease (in young children)
• Accessory navicular bone
• Lisfranc joint injury (fracture or dislocation)
• Osteoid osteoma
• Complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (after knee or ankle surgery)

Foot (fore foot) pain

• Corns, calluses
• Onychocryptosis
• Synovitis of the MTP joints
• First MTP joint sprain
• Subungual haematoma
• Hallux abducto-valgus
• Hallux limitus
• Morton's neuroma
• Sesamoid pathology
• Stress fractures (second and third most common), sesamoid
• Fracture of the fifth metatarsal
• Freiberg's osteochrondritis
• Joplin's neuritis
• Toe clawing
• Plantar wart
• Subungual exostosis
• Synovitis of the metatarsal-cuneiform joint
• Complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (after knee or ankle surgery)