toe/foot pain

by jack selby
(fairfield,ohio,usa)

My second toe next to my big toe has a burning pain. If you bend the toe under and toward my end toe it has a bruised pain if you bend it over and in same direction it is a burning pain. the pain also extends into the ball of my foot as well. I have also noticed when once in karate class i kicked an opponent lightly, joking around and i had a sharp pain in the ball of my foot, and was unable to support much weight on my foot. My toes are not curving much like hammer toe.

Hi Jack,
The burning pain in the toe is suggestive of nerve involvement; bending the toe in one direction may be over stretching the nerve and it starts to "burn".
As far as the pain in the ball of your foot if it only happened once and is not an ongoing problem I would not worry about it.
I imagine in karate you may be very prone to bruising your feet; just like tennis players can develop tennis elbow.
If any of your pains persist over a period of time than you should have them looked at by a podiatrist.
Good luck.
Marc Mitnick DPM