Heel Pain Treatment in Collingwood
Brunswick Foot Clinic offers quality orthotics & podiatric care to residents of and visitors to Collingwood 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 discomfort can arise from various locations around the heel due to multiple reasons. Mechanical factors, like issues with the tendo Achilles attaching to the heel, are common. Such conditions might result in a bone spur, which appears severe on an x-ray but might not be problematic.
A bone spur’s presence increases the chances of it being irritated by the shoe’s hard heel backing. This friction at the heel’s rear might cause a blister. If the shoe’s heel counter causes milder friction, it could lead to a soft, under-skin swelling (bursa), which might inflame into bursitis if the rubbing doesn’t stop. Sometimes, bursitis can be a consequence of inflammatory joint diseases, 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.
Pain at the bottom of the heel might result from insufficient natural fatty padding beneath the feet’s weight-bearing areas. This lack of padding can cause bruising in the area called the plantar medial calcaneal tubercle, particularly if you wear hard-soled shoes.
Heel Spur and Plantar Fasciitis
Further towards the front of the heel, pain can be caused by another type of heel spur, which develops from repeated stress on the plantar fascia leading to bone growth (Heel Spur Syndrome). This repetitive stress is a common cause of Plantar Fasciitis, the injury to the taut band running beneath 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.
Frequently, an x-ray shows a significant heel spur on a foot without pain, while a painful foot may not exhibit any spur at all.
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
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