Physical Therapists Reveal Why Your Feet, Knees, Hips, or Back Hurt After Walking—Plus What to Do About It

Walking has so many benefits—it can lift your mood, help you de-stress, and is an easy, low-effort way to fit movement into your days. Plus, it supports good heart health and healthy aging. But after a while, you may start to notice pain in your feet, knees, back, or hips when you lace up—and you may start to wonder if you should push through the discomfort or switch things up.

Your feet and beyond may be hurting for a few reasons. Doing repetitive movements over and over again (like walking or running for years) can impact how your muscles and joints feel after working in the same way for so long.

Age can also change how your body feels and handles exercise. You naturally become less flexible and experience a decline in muscle mass and bone density as you get older, which can impact joints and how your body moves and feels; foot changes such as developing flatter arches, your foot widening, or fat pad loss (which provides cushioning for your feet) can also occur. If you don’t find ways to counteract those natural aging changes and build strength as you get older, pain and issues with balance and overall mobility can crop up.

It’s always a good idea to talk to your doctor about any new pain, especially if it is sharp or severe. Here, experts share some of the most common walking pains and how to treat them so you can keep on strutting.

Meet the experts: Teresa Schuemann, P.T., D.P.T., a physical therapist at Evidence in Motion in Texas; Joel Press, M.D., physiatrist-in-chief at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City; Sheila Dugan, M.D., physiatrist and chair of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Rush Medical College.

Plantar Fasciitis

What it feels like: Tenderness on your heel or bottom of foot

What it is: The plantar fascia is the band of tissue that runs from your heel bone to the ball of your foot. When this dual-purpose shock absorber and arch support is strained, small tears develop and the tissue stiffens as a protective response, causing foot pain known as plantar fasciitis. People with high arches or who walk on the insides of their feet (known as pronating) are particularly susceptible. “Walkers can overwork the area when pounding the pavement, especially when you wear hard shoes on concrete, because there’s very little give as the foot lands,” says Teresa Schuemann, P.T., D.P.T., a physical therapist at Evidence in Motion in Texas.

How to treat it: At the first sign of stiffness in the bottom of your foot, loosen up the tissue by doing this stretch: Sit with the ankle of your injured foot across the opposite thigh. Pull your toes toward your shin with your hand until you feel a stretch in your arch. Run your opposite hand along the sole of your foot; you should feel a taut band of tissue. Do 10 stretches, holding each for 10 seconds.

Ingrown Toenail

What it feels like: Soreness or swelling on the sides of your toes

What it is: Toe pain can develop when the corners or sides of your toenails grow sideways rather than forward, putting pressure on surrounding soft tissues and even growing into the skin. You may be more likely to develop ingrown toenails if your shoes are too short or too tight, which causes repeated trauma to the toe as you walk. If the excess pressure goes on too long, such as during a long hike or charity walk, bleeding could occur under the nail and your toenail might eventually fall off.

How to treat it: Leave wiggle room in your shoes. You may need to go up a half size when you buy sneakers, because your feet tend to swell during exercise. Use toenail clippers to cut straight across instead of rounding the corners when you give yourself a pedicure.

Bunion

What it feels like: Pain on the side of your big toe

What it is: A bunion develops when the bones in the joint on the outer side of the big or little toe become misaligned, forming a painful swelling. Walkers with flat feet, low arches, or arthritis may be more apt to develop bunions.

How to treat it: Wear shoes that have a wide toe box. Cushioning the bunion with over-the-counter bunion pads can provide relief, and applying ice for 20 minutes after walking will numb the area to help with pain and inflammation. Severe cases can require surgery to remove the bony protrusion and realign the toe joint.

Achilles Tendinitis

What it feels like: Pain in the back of your heel and lower calf

What it is: The Achilles tendon, which connects your calf muscle to your heel, can become irritated by walking too much, especially if you’re new to exercise or took a walking break. Repeated flexing of the foot when walking up and down steep hills or on uneven terrain can also strain the tendon.

How to treat it: Reduce your mileage and “avoid walking uphill because this increases the stretch on the tendon, irritating it and making it weaker,” says Dr. Schuemann. Doing calf stretches before and after your walks may also help prevent Achilles tendinitis. After you walk, apply ice for 15 to 20 minutes to reduce inflammation and pain. You can also take a temporary walking break and do non-weight-bearing activities such as swimming until pain subsides.

Lumbar Strain

What it feels like: Ache in your mid- to lower back

What it is: You can technically tweak your back doing just about anything, and walking may also make an existing lower-back injury worse (it’s even easier to “throw out your back” when tendons and ligaments around the spine are overworked). Arthritis or inflammation of surrounding nerves can also cause lower back pain.

How to treat it: A strong core can help prevent back pain, so add ab exercises to your regular routine. While you walk, try to focus on keeping good posture and “avoid bending forward at the waist, a tendency when you are walking fast or uphill,” adds Dr. Schuemann.

Neuroma

What it feels like: Pain in the ball of your foot or between toes

What it is: If tissue surrounding a nerve near the base of the toes thickens, it can cause tingling, numbness, or pain that radiates to surrounding areas; it frequently develops between the base of the third and fourth toes.

How to treat it: See a podiatrist at the first sign of foot pain, as this condition can worsen quickly, and treatment varies from simply wearing roomier shoes to surgery depending upon the severity. Choose walking sneakers with a roomy toe box and limit how often you wear heels or tight shoes that squeeze your toes.

Shin splints

What it feels like: Stiffness or soreness in your shins

What it is: Pavement-pounding activities like walking and running can cause inflammation in the muscles and tissues surrounding the shins, causing pain.

How to treat it: Cut back on your walking for three to eight weeks to give the tissues time to heal. And “if it hurts to walk, avoid it,” says Joel Press, M.D., physiatrist-in-chief at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Ibuprofen and ice packs can help tame pain and inflammation that causes it, as can this stretch: While standing, lift your toes toward the shins 20 times.

Bursitis

What it feels like: Soreness on the outside of your hips

What it is: Although there are many potential causes of hip pain, it’s common for the fluid-filled sacs (bursae) that cushion the hip joint to become inflamed with repetitive stress.

How to treat it: Mix up your walks with other types of cardio, such as biking or swimming, and do hip-strengthening exercises. Always warm up and cool down before and after your walk, and don’t forget to stretch. An over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen can also help ease discomfort, as can ice or heat packs.

Runner’s Knee

What it feels like: Throbbing in front of your kneecap

What it is: Constant walking may cause your kneecap to start to rub against your femur (the bone that connects your knee to your hip), causing cartilage damage and tendinitis that triggers pain. Walkers with a prior injury, loss of knee cartilage (like from carrying excess weight), or flat feet may be especially prone.

How to treat it: Take a break from walking and pick up another type of exercise until the knee pain subsides. Doing lower-body weight-training exercises can help strengthen your quads and other surrounding muscles to take some of the pressure off your knees.

Stress Fracture

What it feels like: Acute pain in your foot or lower leg

What it is: If you feel tenderness or pain when you press on a spot on your foot or lower leg, you may have a stress fracture—a tiny crack in a bone. Most common in the lower leg, they tend to occur when your leg muscles become overloaded from repetitive stress because the shock is absorbed by the bone, rather than the muscle.

How to treat it: See a doctor, who will likely tell you to kick back and let your foot or leg pain heal for several weeks. “You need to get off your feet to avoid loading the bones,” says Sheila Dugan, M.D., physiatrist and chair of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Rush Medical College. Replace your walking shoes when the interior cushioning has worn down to ensure that you have adequate shock absorption. To optimize bone health, do lower-body strength-training twice a week and eat bone-friendly foods.

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