One of the more commonly recognized problems within the office are patients that present with lumps or bumps on top of their feet. While these bumps can range all across the board from hard to soft and benign to malignant, I’ll concentrate more on the most commonly found bump on the foot, a cyst.
Cysts can obviously be found anywhere on the body; however, the top of the foot extending to the ankle is the most common location in the lower extremities. A cyst can be caused by a disruption in the sheath of the tendons on top of the foot which lead to the cyst expanding. When the cysts expand and become larger they tend to cause irritation on the top of the foot. A cyst is usually filled with fluid, feels fairly soft and movable. Because of the location of the cysts, they can become painful due to rubbing in shoes or being in close proximity to the nerves on the foot.
When treating a cyst, we always prefer to start conservatively at Healthy Feet Podiatry. Aspiration of the cyst (draining the fluid) is usually the best place to start. If that doesn’t work occasionally injecting in and around the cyst with a steroid can cause a breakdown of the shell of the cyst causing it to resolve. Another route would be skipping the islet in your shoe lace to avoid pressure directly over the cyst. If all these options fail, surgical removal would then be attempted. Cyst removal surgery is typically a very simple surgery with a quick recovery; however, cysts have the potential to come back and all surgical patients should be aware of this prior to surgical removal of a cyst.
If you have a bump on top of your foot and are unsure of what it is, call us at Healthy Feet Podiatry so we can help steer you in the right direction and get you back on track.