What are possible causes of lateral foot pain when walking and weight bearing?

Thank you for making contact and I can understand your concerns. It seems there are two issues here: Firstly your concerns about blood clots, or what is medically known as deep vein thrombosis. Immobilisation can be a risk factor, together with others including a previous history of clots, being on a combined oral contraceptive, various auto-immune conditions and also if you smoke. Then there are the flight factors such as being in a cramped cabin, drinking alcohol and the flight duration. Indeed, there are many!

Thanks for posting your question – it’s a really interesting one and something I am sure that is shared by many others. As Dr Sean has mentioned, flat feet are common, but they should not necessarily be regarded as a “problem” per se. If you look at most Asian patients, low arches are the norm. There is often a line of thought that flat feet are the root of all pain and injuries. In fact, pain can be attributed to different factors such as: Your chosen activity Your training load Overall strength Whether any equipment you are using is appropriate for you.