Common, and a little commoner in womenStrong evidence
About 1 in 4 people aged 45 and over have frequent foot pain (31 studies, 75,505 people), most often in the toes and the front of the foot, and more often in women. In the US Framingham study, 29% of women and 19% of men had foot pain on most days, and in 3,206 adults in Adelaide it was 19.6% against 15.1%.
The causes are mostly the same in women and men. Women's feet aren't scaled-down men's feet: they differ at the arch, the outer side, the big toe and the ball of the foot, and many people wear shoes that don't fit their width or length (63% to 72% across 18 studies), women more often too small.
Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Bunions: about twice as common in women, often painlessStrong evidence
Across 76 surveys of 496,957 people, 23% of adults aged 18 to 65 and 36% of those over 65 had a bunion (hallux valgus): 30% of women and 13% of men. In 4,249 UK adults, being a woman more than doubled the odds (odds ratio 2.64). Most don't hurt: in 3,077 older adults, 44% of women had one, but only 11% had a painful one. Bunions run strongly in families, in a study of related adults of European descent.
Sources 6, 7, 8, 9
Heel pain: about 1 in 10 over 50, and the sex difference is unclearMixed evidence
In 5,109 UK adults over 50, 9.6% had pain under the heel, as common in women as in men (10.0% against 9.2%), while Dutch GP records, cited on our heel pain guide, found it more often in women. A 2026 focus-group paper says it affects women aged 40 to 60 at twice the rate of men, but we couldn't find the source for that figure.
A stiff ankle, a higher body weight and long hours on your feet go with heel pain (in a study of 50 people with plantar fasciitis, an ankle that barely bent upwards gave 23 times the odds), and the NHS adds being 40 to 60 and shoes with poor cushioning. A deep, bruise-like ache in the centre of the heel pad is heel fat pad syndrome, which may be the second commonest cause of pain under the heel, though only 7 studies have looked at it.
Sources 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Morton's neuroma: more common in womenEmerging evidence
Morton's neuroma, an irritated nerve between the toe bones, is more common in women. In UK general practice, about 64% of new cases were in women (87.5 against 50.2 new cases per 100,000 a year), most often at 55 to 64, though those records also include other pain under the ball of the foot. Series from foot clinics and surgeons run higher (our Morton's neuroma guide cites a UK injection trial in which 85% were women), and an expert review describes the typical patient as a woman in her late 40s or early 50s.
The NHS links it with tight, pointy or high-heeled shoes, lots of running or other activity that puts pressure on the feet, and other foot problems such as flat feet, high arches, bunions or hammer toes; no controlled study has tested shoes as the cause.
Sources 15, 16, 17
The inner arch, flat feet and very flexible jointsEmerging evidence
A foot that flattens in adult life, with pain along the inner ankle and arch, is most often the tibialis posterior tendon: when women over 40 at an English GP practice were surveyed and examined, 3.3% had early stages of it, and none had been diagnosed. Flat feet on their own usually cause no problems, the NHS says: in the Framingham study, flat feet went with arch pain only in men, by a small amount, and a rolled-in foot didn't predict foot injury or bone stress in 21 studies that followed people over time. A foot that changes shape, or only one foot, needs a GP. The NHS says the main treatment for joint hypermobility syndrome is muscle strength and fitness; the evidence on very flexible feet in adults is thin.
Sources 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
Young active women: stress fractures and eating enoughStrong evidence
Stress fractures are commoner in women who train: about 9.2% against 3% in military recruits, and 9.7% against 6.5% in athletes, and in runners women had about twice the bone stress injuries of men. The risk rises with eating too little for the training (which the International Olympic Committee calls relative energy deficiency in sport), missed or irregular periods, a low body weight and low bone density: in 259 girls and young women, 10.8% had a bone stress injury, rising to 46% in those with several of these together. This evidence comes from athletes and recruits.
A stress fracture hurts in one spot you can point to, worse with activity and later a constant ache, even at night.
Sources 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
Pregnancy and after the birthEmerging evidence
In an Australian cohort, 44% of pregnant women had foot pain by 24 weeks and 56% by 36 weeks, mostly very mild to mild and now and then. After a first pregnancy, 30 of 49 women had slightly longer feet (mostly 2 to 10 mm) and 35 had lower arches, about 19 weeks after the birth; the feet rolled in more during pregnancy, but that wasn't linked with pain, and the long-term effect is unknown. Swollen feet late in pregnancy are common, especially in hot weather or after standing, and ease with your feet up and foot exercises.
Sources 31, 32, 33, 34, 35
The menopause and the heel padEmerging evidence
The NHS lists muscle aches and joint pains among menopause symptoms, women lose bone quickly in the first years after the menopause, and gout becomes more likely after it. A 2024 review calls this cluster of joint pain and muscle and bone loss the "musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause", with nothing specific to the feet.
No study we found links the menopause itself with a thinner or weaker heel pad. The heel pad loses some of its springiness and shock absorption with age in small laboratory studies that weren't split by sex, and a 2026 focus-group study says whether there is a causal link between the menopause and heel pain is uncertain.
Sources 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 11, 42
Rheumatoid arthritis, Raynaud's and chilblainsStrong evidence
Rheumatoid arthritis affects at least 1.16% of UK women against 0.44% of men, and it often starts in the feet: the front of the foot was affected at the start in 45% of 1,000 people with it, and 35.4% of 585 said foot pain was their first symptom. The small joints of the hands and feet are often the first affected, usually on both sides, with morning stiffness that often lasts more than 30 minutes.
Raynaud's, where fingers and toes turn white, then blue or red, in the cold or with stress, is commoner in women (odds ratio 1.65, 33 studies), and 79% of 104 people with chilblains in one clinic series were women.
Sources 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50
Causes outside the muscles and jointsStrong evidence
A foot that suddenly turns cold, pale or numb can mean the blood supply has been cut off, and narrowed leg arteries cause slow-healing sores and skin that turns paler or blue. A swollen, throbbing calf can be a blood clot, more likely in pregnancy, after a birth and with contraception or HRT that contains oestrogen. A red, hot, swollen foot can be a skin infection (cellulitis), and a hot, swollen joint with a fever can be a joint infection. With diabetes, any foot problem can be more serious: NICE asks for a new ulcer, infection or hot, swollen foot to reach a specialist foot service within 1 working day.
Sources 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56
When a scan or test helpsStrong evidence
None of the NHS foot pages we read suggests a scan for ordinary foot pain; tests answer specific questions. After an injury, our foot pain guide explains the X-ray rules clinicians use. A suspected stress fracture may need an X-ray or another scan. For suspected rheumatoid arthritis, NICE asks for X-rays of the hands and feet when joints stay swollen, and an urgent specialist referral even if blood tests are normal. For Morton's neuroma, an ultrasound scan is as accurate as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A bunion is judged by how much it hurts, not how it looks: the NHS says surgery is not done just to improve how your feet look.
Sources 30, 57, 58, 54, 59, 60
How it usually goesStrong evidence
NHS inform expects most new foot pain to begin to settle within 6 weeks, and the NHS suggests a GP if heel or sole pain hasn't improved after 2 weeks of looking after it yourself. A stress fracture usually takes 6 to 8 weeks to heal. Bunions don't go away by themselves ("you cannot get rid of bunions or stop them getting worse yourself", the NHS says), but most don't hurt; Morton's neuroma often gets worse over time without changes. With rheumatoid arthritis, early treatment can stop it getting worse and reduce joint damage. Pregnancy changes to the feet may outlast the birth, though their long-term effect is unknown. No one can promise a timescale.
Sources 61, 13, 30, 59, 8, 17, 46, 32, 34
