Suffering Heel or Foot Pain?
You may not be aware that your heel is a cushion of fat that protects the foot structures: heel bone, muscles and ligaments. Heel pain is a very common foot complaint.
Common injuries include plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, fat pad injuries and Sever’s disease.
Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the ligament that runs the length of the foot, commonly caused by overstretching, flat feet or muscle weakness. It results in pain under the heel, particularly after rest or when walking and running.
A heel spur is a bony growth where the plantar fascia inserts into your heel bone. It is the result of a chronic plantar fasciitis or delayed healing that causes bone to grow within the ligament.
The fat pad is normally injured by repeated landing trauma and can occasionally be a precursor to a stress fracture of the heel bone.Sever’s disease is caused by stress on the growth plate in the heel bone and is common in active 8 to 13 year olds.
Anyone can suffer from heel pain, but certain groups seem to be at increased risk, including:
- Middle aged men and women
- Active people eg running sports
- People who are very overweight
- Children aged between 8 and 13 years
- Pregnant women
- People who stand for long periods of time.
What Commonly Causes Heel Pain?
Some of the many causes of heel pain can include:
- Abnormal walking style (such as rolling the feet inwards)
- Obesity
- Ill-fitting shoes eg narrow toe, worn out shoes
- Standing, running or jumping on hard surfaces
- Recent changes in exercise program
- Heel trauma eg. stress fractures
- Bursitis (inflammation of a bursa)
- Health disorders, including diabetes and arthritis.
How is Heel Pain Treated?
Most heel pain is caused by a combination of poor biomechanics, or muscle weakness or tightness. The good news is that heel pain can be effectively managed once the cause is identified.
Most heel pain can be successfully treated via:
If you think that your footwear or sports training schedule are potentially causing your heel pain, then we are happy to inspect your footwear to see if it is a match for your foot; or discuss your training regime to see if you are doing too much.
If you have any further questions about your heel pain, please ask your physio or check out the following link.
Most heel pain can be successfully treated via:
- pain and pressure relief techniques
- biomechanical correction eg orthotics, taping, foot posture exercises
- muscle stretches and massage
- lower limb muscle strengthening
- proprioceptive and balance exercises to stimulate your foot intrinsic muscles.
If you think that your footwear or sports training schedule are potentially causing your heel pain, then we are happy to inspect your footwear to see if it is a match for your foot; or discuss your training regime to see if you are doing too much.
If you have any further questions about your heel pain, please ask your physio or check out the following link.
Monday, March 26, 2012
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