Treating Heel Pain in Pascoe Vale
Brunswick Foot Clinic offers quality orthotics & podiatric care to residents of and visitors to Pascoe Vale 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.
Various sites around the heel can experience pain, and the causes are numerous. Mechanical causes, including those involving the attachment of the tendo Achilles to the heel, are often to blame. This can result in a bone spur that, despite looking painful on x-ray, might not lead to any issues.
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.
Heel pain at the bottom of the foot can be due to having an inadequate amount of the natural fatty padding that underlies the weight bearing surfaces of the feet. This can lead to bruising of what is known as the plantar medial calcaneal tubercle, especially when wearing hard soled shoes.
Heel Spur and Plantar Fasciitis
Just ahead in the foot, heel pain might occur due to another heel spur caused by ongoing strain on the plantar fascia, leading to excessive bone formation (Heel Spur Syndrome). This type of strain commonly results in Plantar Fasciitis, an injury to the ligament-like structure along the foot’s sole.
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.
It is not uncommon for an x-ray to reveal a large heel spur on a pain free foot whilst the foot that is sore has no 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