To test for extensor tendonitis, your doctor will ask you to flex your foot downwards, and then try to pull your toes up while you resist. They may also ask you to walk and perform exercises like rolling your foot to evaluate your range of motion.

They may press on different areas on the foot to see where you feel pain. They may ask about your physical activity and any past injuries to your feet or ankle. When you make an appointment with your doctor, they’ll ask you about any other symptoms and potential ways your foot could have been injured. You can call your general practitioner, who may refer you to a podiatrist. You should also call your doctor if your pain is severe enough to keep you from walking, or if you have burning pain, numbness, or tingling on the affected foot. If you have persistent foot pain that lasts longer than a week despite home treatment, you should make an appointment to see your doctor.

common peroneal nerve dysfunction, which is the dysfunction of a branch of the sciatic nerve that can cause tingling and pain at the top of the foot, along with weakness of the foot or lower leg.

peripheral neuropathy, which causes pain, prickling, or numbness that can spread up from the feet into the legs.

bone spurs, which are painful growths that form along your joints, in the joints in your feet by your toes.

gout, which can cause sudden, intense pain in the joint at the base of the big toe.

Other causes of pain on the top of the foot can include: This injury will likely have swelling as a symptom.

Stress fractures of bones in the feet: Pain can result particularly from fractures in the metatarsal bones, which are located in the top of the feet.

This condition causes pain in the top of the foot and outside the ankle.

Sinus tarsi syndrome: This is rare and characterized as an inflamed sinus tarsi, or the channel found between the heel and the bone of the ankle.The tendons that run along the top of the foot and pull the foot upwards become inflamed and painful. Extensor tendonitis: This is caused by overuse or tight-fitting shoes.“This type of foot pain is often found with high-arch foot types, so custom orthotics can also be helpful,” he says.Pain on the top of the foot can be caused by different conditions, the most common of which are due to overuse in activities like running, jumping, or kicking. What to do: In addition to icing and taking an anti-inflammatory, you’ll also want to do some toe grip exercises to take the stress off the tendon, along with dorsiflexion (flexing your foot up towards your shin), which Wynes says helps this type of tendonitis. “You might also have shin splints since the tendon starts near your shins.” (Two for one!) How you know you have it: “The pain will be concentrated in the middle of your foot and off to the instep, close to your big toe,” he says. “You can develop tendonitis of the tibialis anterior tendons, which run from the middle of your leg down to the middle of your foot,” says Jacob Wynes, D.P.M., assistant professor of orthopaedics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

an inflamed tendon) with knee pain, but it’s also a common cause of top-of-foot pain. Lots of people associate tendonitis (a.k.a. Quick Fixes for the Most Common Running Injuries.The 6 Most Common Causes of Lower Leg Pain.

Middle top of foot pain when walking