All pain sensations come from your nerves, which send signals to your brain to warn you there’s damage to your tissues. However, in some cases, the pain comes from the nerves themselves.

There are several ways nerves can cause pain in your feet; something could be pressing on the nerve or irritating it, or you could have nerve damage from a disease like diabetes.

Innovation Medical Group sees several conditions that can cause nerve pain in the feet, including:

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy is a problem resulting from diabetes; it develops when high blood sugar levels damage the nerves in your feet. As a result, you might experience prickly, sharp, or burning pain.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy also causes numbness that increases your risk of infected wounds. Due to the poor circulation in diabetic feet, an injury could develop into a diabetic ulcer — a painful, open sore that’s resistant to treatment.

Morton’s neuroma

Morton’s neuroma is a thickening of the nerves between your third and fourth toes due to compression. Wearing footwear with a narrow toe or high-heeled shoes might result in Morton’s neuroma. Other causes include:

• Repeated stress on the ball of your foot
• Bunions
• Hammertoes
• Flatfeet
• Injuries

In addition to nerve pain, you might have tingling or burning sensations and feel like there’s something inside the ball of your foot.

Tarsal tunnel syndrome

The tarsal tunnel in your ankle is a small passageway through which nerves, blood vessels, and tendons pass to reach your foot. Tarsal tunnel syndrome arises when the posterior tibial nerve comes under pressure inside the tarsal tunnel.

Nerve compression can result from inflammation that occurs when you injure the tissues, for example, spraining your ankle. Other causes include overuse and diseases like arthritis and diabetes. The nerve pain you feel with tarsal tunnel syndrome could be aching, shooting, burning, or like an electric shock.

Relieving nerve compression and inflammation is often one of the main aims of nerve pain treatment at Innovation Medical Group. Some potential nerve pain therapies include:

• Padding and arch support
• Icing to reduce swelling
• Custom orthotics (shoe inserts)
• Activity modifications
• Change of footwear
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
• Bracing
• Immobilization
• Physical therapy
• Steroid injections

When treating diabetic peripheral neuropathy, the focus is on improving your diabetes management, as controlling blood glucose levels is the best way to minimize the damage to your nerves. It’s also essential to have regular diabetic foot checks to prevent ulcers from developing.