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The response to the question below was authored by Marc Mitnick DPM

Foot pain at base of the foot near the big toe

by Chris
(United Kingdom)

The foot problem is occurring at the forefoot in between the base of the 2nd toe and 3rd toe causing walking difficulty over varying distances depending on footwear. It feels like I'm walking on cotton or a pad under my foot in the general area when nothing is there. If pressure is applied to the base of the big toe I feel a sharp pain this pain is also felt when I walk certain distances. My toes begin to swell and spread apart and i get numbness in the base of the foot.

This has been happening for about 2 years and I have been to the doctors but they either state they don't know or nothing is wrong with the foot.

Any help will be appreciated

ANSWER
Hi Chris,

Your description is a bit misleading because your title mentions your big toe but the body of your post describes the pain at the base of the second and third toe so there is a difference in location.
That notwithstanding a couple of potential causes come to mind, based on your symptoms.
The first thing I would have your doctors look into would be capsulitis, which is the inflammation of the ligament on the bottom of the foot that attaches the toes into the metatarsal bones just behind them.
This condition may occur any where along the ball of the foot. When it occurs at the base of the big toe, it is known as turf toe, but essentially is capsulitis.
You will experience the fullness that you describe and it will be worsened by certain shoes and the distances that you walk.
Two other potential conditions also come to mind. They would include a fibular sesamoiditis and possibly a inferior metatarsal bursitis. Sesamoiditis would tend to give you more pain and not so much a feeling of fullness in the area. A bursitis could give you pain as well as the fullness you describe.
I do not know what kind of doctor you have been to, but you need to see a foot specialist as I find that general doctors only have a passing interest in foot pathology and tend to lump all foot aches and pains into a couple of diagnoses. Most non foot sepcialists would not be aware of the conditions that I have described.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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Columbia University Department of Rehabilitation

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American Family Physician

Cedars-Sinai

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Foot pain at base of the foot near the big toe

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