Treating Heel Pain in Coburg
Brunswick Foot Clinic offers quality orthotics & podiatric care to residents of and visitors to Coburg 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.
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Inflammation in the heel bone (osteitis) can cause pain within the heel, and a more profound ache may be a sign of a stress fracture in the calcaneum. Such heel pain can result from ordinary activities, such as gardening or caring for young children. If you don’t properly condition your body when starting or intensifying your walking or running regimen, you may experience pain or even injury in your legs and feet, heels included.
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
A bit more towards the front of the foot, heel pain may arise from a second heel spur, formed due to continuous pulling of the plantar fascia, resulting in bone overgrowth (known as Heel Spur Syndrome). Such strain often causes Plantar Fasciitis, a familiar and frequent injury to the ligament-like tissue under the foot.
Whilst the bone spur looks painful but the pain itself may not be where the spur is located. The development of the spur but generally is due to the mechanical load from the strain along the plantar fascia rather than the heel spur digging into the foot.
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.
The treatment regimen may at times include basic cushioning, specific exercises, and massage therapy. Effective use of both heat and ice treatments, as well as dry needling, has proven helpful. In certain scenarios, resorting to anti-inflammatory medications, corticosteroid injections, or using an ankle walker (moon boot) may be necessary for early 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
Children can develop heel pain as a consequence of being active and causing damage at the back of the heel (Severs Disease). The growth plate of the heel can be disrupted by the recurrent pull of a strong and powerful calf muscle and tendo Achilles. It is important for a accurate diagnosis to be made of these conditions so the most effective treatment can be applied for 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
Brunswick Foot Clinic and Sandringham Foot Clinic provide quality podiatry care to residents across a range of Melbourne suburbs including:
9 Glenlyon Road (cnr of David St)
Brunswick Vic 3056
Ph: (03) 9387 8555
Fax: (03) 9388 2288
Email: info@melbournepodiatrist.com.au