Pain on the outside of the foot below the ankle?

I woke up maybe 1-1.5 months ago in the night to visit the bathroom and was surprised when I stepped on my left foot. There was a very sharp pain on the outside of my foot right above where my foot meets the ground. The pain was slightly ahead of the ankle, by about 1/2 a cm. I was nervous about it till I reached the bathroom and realized the pain was gone. From that day on the same thing has been happening quite often at night. The pain was always disappearing very quickly. So I chose to ignore it. Now it has become more frequent and longer lasting. There are days when it is always there in the background as a dull ache. It only spikes a bit when sitting for a while then standing. It seems to be getting worse as time passes. I have new shoes with decent arch support and I am also a runner. But I have not been running much lately. I spend part of my day standing at work. In front of a computer. Otherwise there have been no situations I can recall that would have caused an injury. At least none that felt like an injury.

Thanks for you time,
Bill

Hi Bill,

My first thought based on the location you describe would have been a tendon problem, perhaps of the peroneus longus tendon where it curves around the cuboid bone, but in general tendonitis will worsen as you walk and you state your pain is the most evident upon stepping on the foot.
The next most common cause of pain in that area would be due to irritation of the fifth metatarsal base which many times occurs from shoes that are too narrow in the mid portion of the foot. The fifth metatarsal base has a normal lateral flare to it and in some people it is very pronounced. If your shoes, particularly your running shoes are too tight in that area you will get irritation.
Since you have not been able to run, I would suggest you see a podiatrist for some help.
Good Luck.
Marc Mitnick DPM