Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Foot Pain from Pedaling!

Hi. I've had this strange pain in the ball section of my right foot, but not easily isolated or identified...kind of throughout the "ball" region (the widest part), especially apparent when squeezed from the sides. My doctor prescribed custom insoles for arch support...which I got a few days ago, without much noticable difference yet.

This has been going on weeks now, and I couldn't figure out why. I had a realization playing the other night that it could be from pedaling....possibly improper technique combined with ???...who knows, bad shoes, whatever.

I'm a long-time pro, so this is new....but I can't think of any other reason for this pain, and I have been playing a lot the last couple of years. has anyone ever heard of this? I can find little information on any syndrome like "pianist's foot".

any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thicker soles needed on your shoes?

How about some of those shoe cushions to see if that helps.

Since you've been playing "a lot" the last few years, it seems improbable that the pedal is the cause unless some other variable has changed.

Jump off any step-ladders lately?

Good luck.

Welcome to Piano World, and what a first post!
Have you pulled something like the back of your leg? This will cause the ball of your foot to hurt as well because this will pull the tendons and make the toes flex. I have had problems with this in the past due to a surgically repaired clubbed-foot. When the heal chord tightens up, my toes pull and the ball of my foot hurts as well.

Is your pedal up too high, or your bench any different? These can cause foot trouble too if you're at the wrong angle, or if the pedal is too high so you have to pull your toes up too high.

I have also found that playing with slippers on causes the ball of my foot to hurt in that area as well as the back of the heal.

Good luck,

John

thanks for the replies. I may look for thicker soled shoes...also, tonight as I played, I made an effort to maintain proper foot position. The sustain pedal is a little higher than ideal, imo. But I seem to have developed a bit of a bad habit of doing way too much moving of my legs as I "groove", swing, or whatever. My right foot does way too much work, it seems, and is actually suspended in the air quite a bit, either because I'm not pedaling at the time, or because I'm moving up and down the keyboard and the foot is not stationary. I made much effort to keep it planted firmly on the ground at all times. It was difficult.

btw, the same motion, I realized, is used while driving a car and using the gas pedal and brake. On the way home from the job, my foot and lower leg felt fatigued and sore even driving and using the pedals.

I'm a bit at a loss for why this has never happened before. and I'm not even certain that it's a result of the pedaling....maybe it's a combination of things conspiring.... pedaling incorrectly, bad shoes in general, using my eliptical too much, with bad shoes, etc...

thanks again.

Well, I know I'm totally late to the post here, BUT, I've been searching for any reference to foot pain related to long term use of barefoot pedalling. I've been playing piano for well over 40 year, and as a child, I didn't wear shoes in the house, so that meant barefoot/sock pedalling. As an adult, I experienced a lot of pain in the ball of my foot, right where my foot would connect with the damper pedal. We have 26 bones in the foot, and it is conceivable that use of the damper pedal on a developing foot could cause the bones to be shifted ever so slightly so that it can cause issues. (I have to stomp my foot down to try and realign the bones on some days) As a teacher, I always tell students to grab a pair of slippers or shoes when they have a piece that has pedal. It sounds really silly, but it's a good habit for anyone to have. I'm a little surprised that I haven't been able to find any studies on the long term effects of a hard metal object being pushed against the ball foot over an extended period of time. Having a good pair of hard sole slippers or those shoes that you hardly get to wear - might be a good solution to preventing injury down the road. I know people think that I'm crazy for suggesting this, but it's a lot of consistent pressure over a long period of time, and corrective braces, etc. will move TEETH. Why not bones being shifted?

Yes a long time ago I had pain in my right foot but not at the ball level. In my case it was along the sides and sole and more toward the back of the foot. I had several sessions of massages with a physiotherapist, changed my shoes with a thicker sole (but not rigid though) and made some regular exercices to stretch daily that the doctor indicated. It went away after a couple of weeks. It seems like too much pedaling also created a minor tendonitis in the Achilles tendon ( i already had a couple due to mountaineering). It also subdued after a couple of weeks.

Well, for one thing, you wear braces 24/7 for years.

How long do you step on the pedal per day?

No, your bones won't shift with pedalling the piano (BTW, Alice Sara Ott always play barefooted - and she's a concert pianist). You should seek expert help to find the cause of your pain. There are too many possible causes to mention......

Plantar fasciitis (sole of foot) is more common as we age. Maybe pedaling happens to put pressure on a spot that has gotten inflamed? Rest, ice, compression, elevation, and wear shoes with good support, especially when walking on hard surfaces.

I've had the issue for decades. I started playing piano at age 3, and was using the pedal by age 4. I have this belief because kids bones are different from adult bones. Yes, I know there is the barefoot concert pianist. I've been playing for well over nearly 50 years at this point, but I noticed a decrease in foot pain when I had a car accident and had to stop playing for a number of years. I was playing at a very high level by the time I was 6, and started teaching music when I was 11. I am pointing this out because I don't think adults really think about how kids are different from adults. I would like to see some medical feedback on this rather than people pointing out the barefoot concert pianist. My foot pain is in the one foot that uses pedal, and lines up with the point where the pedal would be pressed against on the bottom of the foot. I had that pain all the way through my teens. The problem disappeared when I was playing as an adult, >with shoes on<. Plantar fasciitis tends to be more on the arch, than the ball of the foot, which is why it was dismissed when I did see a doctor about it.

I found this information about bone development, which leads me to suspect that it is important to consider that having kids wear shoes or hard sole slippers when using the pedal. (my young beginners are using the pedal within the first few months)

Here are some ways kid and teen bones are different from adult bones and reasons why seeing a pediatric orthopedic specialist matters:

Babies have more bones than adults.
Children’s bones are continuously growing.
Kids’ bones are more flexible than adults’ bones.
Children heal faster than adults and can remodel or reshape their bones.
Children are often more active than adults.
Children’s bones are smaller than adults’ bones.

Do you think you'd get medical feedback on your problem in a piano forum? Or maybe you've just got it?



It seems strange to me that you - or your parents - didn't seek medical opinion then. Any bone or joint pain in a child or teenager is always taken seriously by any doctor.......

Incidentally, in many countries - including the tiny insignificant one I grew up in - no-one wears shoes indoors. Unless they had a problem that requires them to wear shoes.

And no pianist grew up with misshapen right foot.