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What is a Mid Foot Sprain?

January 16, 2019 • • foot pain

Like most foot and ankle injuries, a midfoot sprain (Lisfranc) is painful. It’s an injury to the central region of your foot’s ligaments or the midfoot. It’s a common injury athlete suffer with, particularly when they play sports where there’s twisting and cutting. Similar to having an ankle sprain, athletes with a midfoot sprain often miss a lot of time from their season.

Symptoms of a Midfoot Sprain

Common symptoms of midfoot sprains are:

•The top of your foot might be painful and swollen.
•Pain may worsen with walking, standing or trying to push off on your affected foot. Crutches may be needed when pain is severe.
•You may have a bruise on both the bottom and top of your foot.

If traditional treatment (ice, rest, elevation) for a broken foot or midfoot sprain doesn’t relieve the swelling and pain, you may require treatment from an orthopedic surgeon.

Causes of a Foot Sprain

Lisfranc fractures and sprains are often caused by a lot of force applied through your foot’s center. Football and other contact sports often cause this type of sprain when you lift your heel off the ground and another player falls on your foot. Three common causes of Lisfranc sprains are: 1. Foot entrapment: You fall backward when your foot is in a fixed position. For instance, your foot becomes trapped in a stirrup and you fall off a saddle or you fall down the stairs can cause a midfoot sprain. 2. Compression: A force compresses your heel and toes together and the middle of your foot can’t withstand the sprain. 3. Falling directly on the toes: Your foot points straight down, like during a ballet dance, and you fall straight on your toes causing your midfoot to absorb excessive weight. During a physical exam, your injured foot will be tender over your injured joints and will look swollen. Your doctor will need to localize your injury to the specific involved joint. Your foot tendons should stay intact with a Lisfranc sprain, but their motion might produce foot pain if motion places stress on your injured joints. A grade 1, mild midfoot sprain may be treated non-operatively with a brief immobilization period in a removable boot or hard-soled shoe. You may require a brief period of limited weight-bearing to allow the ligament to heal and the pain and swelling to subside. Regular elevation, icing and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines (NSAIDS) are essential for treating the pain and swelling. Usually, athletes can go back to participating in their sport around a week to several months.