Heel Pain Treatment in Northcote
Brunswick Foot Clinic offers quality orthotics & podiatric care to residents of and visitors to Northcote 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.
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 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.
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
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).
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.
It’s often the case that an x-ray uncovers a substantial heel spur on a foot that doesn’t hurt, whereas the aching foot might not have any spur.
Causes of Heel Pain
Sometimes heel pain can arise from a small nerve that supplies the under surface of the heel being irritated by the muscle that crosses it. These and other conditions need to be correctly identified so the best management plan can be brought about for relief.
Sometimes treatment might involve simple cushioning, exercises and massage. The thoughtful use of heat and ice, as well as dry needling have been shown to help. There are times when anti inflammatory medication perhaps even injections of corticosteroid and the use of an ankle walker (moon boot) is required for early relief.
Orthotic Therapy
To alleviate pain, orthotic therapy works by moving the weight-bearing pressures away from the painful areas and altering foot movement to reduce plantar fascia and spur stress. Surgery to release the fascia is sometimes necessary. Extra corporeal shockwave therapy has also been shown to be effective in lessening the pain from heel spurs and plantar fasciitis.
Severs Disease
Active children may experience heel pain due to damage at the heel’s rear (known as Severs Disease), often caused by the repeated strain from a robust calf muscle and tendo Achilles. Accurate diagnosis is crucial to ensure that the best treatment is provided for both 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