Foot Pain Differential Diagnoses
From WikiMSK
Foot (rear foot) and heel pain
- Plantar Fasciitis
- Fat Pad Contusion
- Calcaneal fractures (traumatic and stress)
- Inferior Calcaneal (Baxter) Nerve Entrapment
- Medial Calcaneal Nerve Entrapment
- Lateral Plantar Nerve Entrapment
- Medial Plantar Nerve Entrapment
- Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome
- Lumbar Radicular Pain
- Talar stress fracture
- Retrocalcaneal bursitis
- Spondyloarthritis
- Osteoid osteoma
- CRPS
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
- CRPS
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
Paediatric Heel Pain
Acute injuries
- Friction blister
- Plantar puncture wound
- Laceration
- Contusion
- Calcaneal fracture
- Achilles tendon rupture
Overuse Injuries
- Sever Disease (Calcaneal Apophysitis)
- Plantar fasciitis
- Painful heel pad syndrome (heel contusion)
- Achilles Tendinopathy
- Retrocalcaneal bursitis
- Posterior ankle impingement
- Calcaneal stress fracture
Bone Conditions
- Unicameral (simple) bone cyst
- Bone tumour
- Osteochondritis dissecans (posterior medial talus)
Infectious, Neurologic, and Systemic Conditions
- Cellulitis or abscess
- Calcaneal osteomyelitis
- Plantar warts
- Inflammatory enthesitis
- Tarsal tunnel syndrome
