The weather has been cooling down for fall, which makes visiting beautiful trails like the Anne Springs Close Greenway even nicer. This Indian Land park hosts hiking and biking trails, educational events, boating, fishing, horseback riding, fitness programs, and more. It’s a great place to enjoy time outdoors and to be active. It’s hard to enjoy yourself if you have pain in the ball of your foot, though, particularly if the pain is from fractured sesamoids. Treating sesamoid fractures isn’t hard, but it does take time.

The sesamoid bones in your feet are two small bones embedded in a tendon that runs underneath your big toe. They act as weight-bearing surfaces under the ball of the foot and as pulleys for your big toe to give it more power. Just like any other bones, however, they are susceptible to pressure and injuries.

You can fracture your sesamoids a couple of ways. The most common is through trauma. A direct blow or impact to the ball of the foot damages the bones. This can happen when you land a jump incorrectly, fall, or are in some kind of accident. You can also break the bones through repetitive stress and pressure. The tissue cracks and worsens as you continue to put weight on the affected foot.

Treating sesamoid fractures means removing the weight from the bones and giving them time to heal. Typically this means immobilizing the foot in a cast so pushing off the ground doesn’t aggravate the ball of the foot. You’ll need to decrease inflammation and swelling in the forefoot as well. Keeping your limb elevated and icing the painful area can help with this.

Once the fracture has healed, you’ll need physical therapy to get your feet back to full strength. You may need to change your shoes or add custom orthotics, too. They can help pad the area and protect it from biomechanical problems that may put too much pressure on the forefoot.

If you think you may have broken your little sesamoids, don’t wait to seek help. The sooner you begin treating sesamoid fractures, the quicker you’ll be able to return to the outdoors and activities you love. Let the experts here at Carolina Podiatry Group in Lancaster, Rock Hill, or Indian Land, SC, help you. Make an appointment with us by contacting two of our offices: (803) 285-1411 in Lancaster, or (803) 548-FEET in Indian Land.