Treating Heel Pain in Bentleigh East
Sandringham Foot Clinic offers quality orthotics & podiatric care to residents of and visitors to Bentleigh East and beyond.
Heel Pain
Heel pain is painful. Heel pain is complex. Heel pain can be debilitating.
The condition that causes more people to cry in the knowledge that they will get better is heel pain.
Heel pain can occur at a number of different sites about the heel and for different reasons. There can be mechanical causes such as those associated with the attachment of the tendo Achilles at the back to the heel. This can lead to the formation of a bone spur which looks very painful on x-ray but may not cause trouble.
The presence of such a bone spur can will increase the risk of its irritation from the hard heel counter of a shoe. Sometimes this rubbing at the back of the heel can lead to a blister. If the rubbing from the heel counter of the shoe is a little less, a soft swelling can form under the skin (bursa) which can then become inflamed if the rubbing continues for too long (bursitis). Sometimes this bursitis occurs because of an inflammatory joint condition such as psoriatic arthritis.
Pain in the heel’s body might be due to bone inflammation (osteitis), and a deeper soreness could indicate a stress fracture in the calcaneum. This heel pain can occur from routine activities, like crouching in gardening or managing young children. Not properly conditioning your body for new or increased walking or running can lead to pain or injuries in your legs and feet, including the heels.
The pain felt at the foot’s bottom heel area can often be attributed to a deficiency in the natural fatty layer under the feet’s weight-bearing sections. This can result in bruising of the plantar medial calcaneal tubercle, more so when you’re wearing shoes with hard soles.
Heel Spur and Plantar Fasciitis
Slightly further forward there can be heel pain because of the formation of another heel spur where the recurrent traction of the plantar fascia overtime leads to the overgrowth of the bone (Heel Spur Syndrome). This mechanism of injury can lead to the very well known because it is very common injury of that tight ligament like structure running along the sole of the foot, (Plantar Fasciitis).
The bone spur might look painful, but the actual source of discomfort may not be at the spur’s location. The spur typically forms due to strain on the plantar fascia from mechanical loading, rather than direct irritation from the spur itself.
An x-ray might often display a pronounced heel spur in a foot that feels fine, while the foot experiencing pain doesn’t have a visible spur.
Causes of Heel Pain
Heel discomfort may sometimes result from irritation of a minor nerve under the heel by an overlying muscle. Proper diagnosis of this and similar conditions is essential to establish an effective treatment plan.
In some cases, treatment may involve straightforward techniques such as cushioning, targeted exercises, and massages. Applying heat and ice judiciously, coupled with dry needling, can aid in relief. There might also be situations where anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroid injections, or using an ankle walker (moon boot) become essential for quick relief.
Orthotic Therapy
Orthotic therapy is required to deflect the pressures of weight bearing away from the painful site and to guide the movement of the foot in such a way that reduces the strain along the plantar fascia and the spur. There are a small percentage of cases in which the surgical release of the fascia is required. Studies have also shown that extra corporeal shockwave therapy can help to reduce the pain of heel spurs and plantar fasciitis.
Severs Disease
Heel pain in children, often a result of activity-related damage at the back of the heel (Severs Disease), can occur when the heel’s growth plate is affected by continuous pulling from a strong calf muscle and tendo Achilles. Making a precise diagnosis is key to selecting the most effective treatment for quick relief and recovery.
Our podiatrists are highly skilled in diagnosis and the management of heel pain.
If you would like more information, please call our Brunswick Foot Clinic on (03) 9387 8555 or Sandringham Foot Clinic (03) 9555 6555 or click below to book online.
FOOT CLINIC LOCATIONS
Our service areas
Sandringham Foot Clinic and Brunswick Foot Clinic provide quality podiatry care to residents across a range of Melbourne suburbs including:
3/231 Bay Road (cnr Advantage Road)
Sandringham Vic 3191
Ph: (03) 9555 6555
Fax: (03) 9555 6556
Email: info@melbournepodiatrist.com.au