Is it a strain of a fracture? i was running yesterday and about an hour after, the right side of my right foot started hurting very badly. it feels like i strained a muscle, but i'm not sure. i'm at work today and i'm wondering if it's a good idea to move

Hello: If : Hello: if you are having pain still, it is not easy to sort out whether the pain is coming from muscle strain or a fracture here. The location (right side of right foot, more along the outside) is concerning, in that it is an area we orthopedists should always be on a lookout for a fracture, most likely on the fifth metatarsal. But, certainly, a bad muscle strain can hurt just the same. I do believe in this case a visit to your orthopedist can sort this out, which is important unless your symptoms suddenly vanished. Even if the chance of such a fracture is lower than the more common muscle strain, given that the consequences of a delayed diagnosis of a foot fracture can be very undesirable, and that the proper muscle strain treatments and fracture treatments are vastly different, i would recommend that you have your foot examined and x-rayed. Hope this helps! sincerely, jim hsu, md seattle, wa.

Evaluation: I would recommend evaluation. An x-ray would also be beneficial. In the meantime, ice, compression and elevation.