The cuboid is a smaller cube shaped bone on the lateral side of the foot around about the center of the foot. The bone is a little bigger than a common gaming dice. The bone participates in three joints and operates as a lever for the tendon of the peroneus longus muscle to pass under. Since this is a strong muscle it can move the cuboid bone too much if it is not secure and strain those joints that the bone is a part of resulting in a ailment known as cuboid syndrome. This is probably one of the more common causes of pain on the outside of the foot, generally in athletes. The pain commonly begins quite mild and is located around where the cuboid bone is on the outside of the foot. The pain is only at first present during activity. If the exercise levels are not lessened the problem will most likely progress and then show up after exercise in addition to during. From time to time the pain can radiate down into the foot. Although this is the commonest reason for pain in this area, there are others like tendinopathy and nerve impingements.

The main management of cuboid syndrome is relief of pain. This is normally done with a reduction in exercise levels and the using of low dye strapping to immobilise and support the cuboid. Mobilisation and manipulation is frequently used to fix this condition. Over the longer term foot orthoses may be required to control the movement and support the lateral arch of the foot. This helps make the cuboid more stable so it is an efficient lever or pulley for the tendon to function around. Generally this approach works in most cases. If it doesn’t there are no surgical or more advanced treatments and a further reduction in activity amounts is usually the only option.