HEALTH & SCIENCE

Weight gain can trigger foot and ankle pain

Increased stress on tendons can lead to reconstructive surgery if proper steps are not taken.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. March 21, 2005.

Washington -- Add foot pain to the growing catalog of health concerns that result from weight gain. About a year ago, a group of foot and ankle specialists looked out at their full waiting rooms and asked: As we are getting heavier, are we crushing our feet?

Not surprisingly, the answer they found was yes.

The rising level of obesity now appears to be taking a toll on the nation's health from head to toe. Feet and ankle problems have been placed on the list of weight-related conditions, which already includes increased risk of strokes, diabetes and heart disease.

For example, respondents to an online survey who reported that they had had foot surgery, seen a physician for foot or ankle pain or changed shoes based on physician advice were also likely to be heavier than normal. Their average body mass index was 27.9 kg/m. Desireable BMI is 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m.

In addition, nearly 41% reported gaining weight before the onset of pain.

The online survey, which tallies more than 6,000 respondents, was launched early last year by the education committee of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society and is being offered as evidence that weight gain is indeed triggering foot pain. The committee will continue to analyze the data and will present more complete findings at the society's meeting this summer in Boston.

The weight doesn't even have to be substantial to have an impact. The committee found that a gain of even 10 pounds could trigger a foot problem, said committee member Stuart D. Miller, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Md.

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