Plantar plate tears or dysfunction are a common cause of metatarsalgia in the ball of the foot. It typically causes pain under the ball of the foot, especially under the 2nd metatarsophalangeal joint that can also cause that weird sensation like a scrunched up sock sensation when the sock is not. When standing it is common to the 2nd toe slightly elevated or even not touching the ground.
A reasonable new device from Spain, the FixToe is starting to be used more commonly to treat this problem, especially if that 2nd toe is off the ground:
You can purchase the FixToe device here:
FixToe (USA); Fix Toe (Canada); Fix Toe (Mexico)