Although riding a bicycle is an effective form of sport and exercise, it carries serious risk of injury. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that more than 500,000 Americans are injured in bicycle-related accidents every year. Because so much pressure is placed on the bones, muscles and tendons of the foot area while bicycling, it is especially susceptible to injury.
Symptoms
Bicycle-related foot pain can involve any part of your foot, from your toes to the back of your heel. The severity can range from a mild annoyance to extreme and debilitating pain. Additional symptoms can include a combination of bruising, redness, numbness, tingling, tenderness, warmth and swelling. Loss of mobility or instability issues can also occur when you try to put pressure on the injured foot.
Causes
You can experience foot pain when bike riding if you are wearing ill-fitting shoes, put continuous pressure on the feet from excessively riding up hilly areas or as the result of road vibration. In addition, you can overuse the muscles and tendons in your feet if you do not warm up or take appropriate breaks between workouts. Foot pain can also occur as the result of dislocations, fractures, sprains or strains from falling or catching your foot in a moving wheel.
Treatment Options
If you experience foot pain while riding your bike, adjust or loosen your shoe. If that doesn't help, take a break from bike riding for a few days to prevent further injury and encourage healing. Wrap ice in a towel, and apply it to the foot to ease pain and inflammation. You can also wrap the extremity in an elastic bandage to constrict the blood vessels and reduce symptoms. Severe sprains, dislocations and fractures will need to be treated by a doctor.
Warnings
Call your doctor if foot pain and swelling does not dissipate after three days. Seek immediate medical attention if you can see an exposed tendon or bone in your foot, have severe pain accompanied by swelling, notice that particular bones in the foot are painful to the touch, are unable to put any weight or walk on your foot, or develop an open wound that is swollen and red and oozes pus.
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