What Causes the Cuboid Syndrome?

The cuboid bone is just in front of your heel bone. It gets its name because it's shaped like a cube. A tendon coming from the outside of your ankle called peroneal, a peroneal tendon. It comes around the back of your ankle and courses all the way under your foot in a groove, right under the cuboid all the way over to the bottom of the first metatarsal bone on the other side of the foot. This tendon helps us to bring down that bone and have that beautiful pose as you come off the ground.

The peroneal tendon can become irritated as it courses under the cuboid. You'll notice if you look at this, that it almost takes a right angle turn. Imagine one of your old movies where the rope is over the cliff, and it's about to split. Well, due to many different factors, this tendon coursing under that, at that angle, can become very irritated. You notice the bone right in front of it. It's really prominent. You can feel this on the outside of your foot. But the pain isn't there. It's directly behind that and underneath.

The pain along this tendon can also occur as the tendon takes a right angle turn up behind the ankle. So the cuboid syndrome would also include the peroneal tendon, add -itis for inflammation, and we get peroneal tendonitis and the cuboid syndrome.

What Puts You At Risk for Cuboid Syndrome?

People at higher risk for cuboid syndrome have:

• high arches and roll their ankle outward, which pulls on the peroneal tendon
• tight calf muscle and Achilles tendon. If this is too tight, as you drive forward and you're walking or running, if you can't move properly because of the tightness, the force can go elsewhere and bring on the cuboid syndrome.
• flexible flatfoot and you roll their ankle excessively inward. So, along with everything else related to the flexible flat foot syndrome, the cuboid syndrome can also occur.

Treatment of the Cuboid Syndrome

Once the problem is diagnosed and does not involve other joints or other tendons, the problem is treated several ways.

Application of a Cuboid Pad

A cuboid pad is applied to the bottom of the foot. When this pad is applied underneath that bone, it pushes it up and relaxes the tension on the tendon. 

Stretching Tight Calf Muscles

Use of an Achilles splint for 30 minutes once or twice day is very effective for stretching out tight Achilles calf muscles.

Custom Orthotics for Treating Improper Foot Mechanics

To prevent the foot from overpronating or supinating, your podiatrist will scan your feet for custom orthotics.