Treating Heel Pain in Mentone
Sandringham Foot Clinic offers quality orthotics & podiatric care to residents of and visitors to Mentone 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.
Pain in the heel can manifest in several areas and be caused by different factors. Mechanical causes, particularly related to the tendo Achilles’ connection to the heel, are common. These issues may lead to a bone spur, which, while seemingly painful on an x-ray, may not actually cause any discomfort.
The existence of a bone spur may enhance the risk of irritation from a shoe’s firm heel counter. Such friction can occasionally cause a blister at the back of the heel. When the rubbing from the shoe’s heel is gentler, it might create a bursa under the skin, which can turn into bursitis if the friction continues. Bursitis sometimes develops as part of inflammatory joint disorders like psoriatic arthritis.
Pain within the body of the heel can be due to inflammation of the bone (osteitis); a deeper ache can indicate a stress fracture of the heel bone (calcaneum) itself. This sort of heel pain can even arise through the normal activities of daily living including the crouching down when gardening or when wrangling of small children. Not conditioning your body correctly when you begin or increase the amount or the speed of the walking or the running that you do can lead to an ache if not injury of your legs and feet, including your 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
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
The purpose of orthotic therapy is to shift weight-bearing pressures from the painful area and guide foot movement to decrease strain on the plantar fascia and spur. Surgical intervention for releasing the fascia is needed in a minority of cases. Additionally, extra corporeal shockwave therapy has shown effectiveness in reducing heel spur and plantar fasciitis pain.
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
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