What is Heel Pain?

Heel pain is a common foot complaint and may involve injury to different areas of the foot; it is often caused by pain usually under the heel or behind it where the Achilles tendon connects to the heel bone. Heel pain can often be caused by a stress fracture, tendinopathy, arthritis or nerve irritation. Heel pain can be attributed to a number of different injuries, conditions and diseases.

Types of Heel Pain:

Fat Pad Syndrome or Fat Pad Inflammation

Beneath or heel bone (calcaneus) is a fat pad which acts like a cushion for when our heel strikes the ground. With heavy loading of the heel due to a range of factors that can lead to it becoming very inflamed which can be very painful and feels like bruising at the heel.

Stress reaction of the heel bone

This occurs with repetitive strain from pulling on the bone from the attachment point of the plantar fascia. This is why it is important that if you do get pain in your heel it is important to get it treated asap to avoid secondary complications like this.

Nerve Entrapment

There is a nerve that runs on the inside aspect of the heel near the plantar fascia. This can become trapped and very inflamed and give off a shooting pain, which can radiate down the foot. Nerve entrapment can technically refer to the entrapment or impingement of any nerve, and is another common form of foot pain.

What causes Heel Pain?

The main underlying cause of heel pain is misalignment of the bones of your foot and ankle that leads to compensation of the soft tissues around the heel area. Which in turn leads to micro tears in the tissue and inflammation that leads to pain. This misalignment affects the way you stand and the way that you walk.

When Should You Treat Heel Pain?

• Heel pain is often worse in the mornings so this is a clear indicator that treatment may be required

• When everyday activity is impacted or restricted by pain

• When experiencing regular heel pain that runs the risk of becoming chronic pain

• When you want to keep doing the things you love, pain free

Heel Pain Treatment:

The best way to treat heel pain is to address the underlying cause which is the level of misalignment the bones of your feet. The alignment of your joints will affect the way you stand and walk. Feet that are out of alignment will cause compensation through the soft tissues which leads to pain and inflammation.

The way we treat the underlying cause of your heel pain is by correcting this misalignment of your joints through a technique called foot mobilisation therapy. Foot mobilisation therapy corrects the alignment joints through a gentle hands on technique and then we reinforce this position by strengthening the muscles that surround the relevant joints.

The great news is that this treatment method for heel pain is a long term solution and you don’t have to change your shoes, or activity. Our unique approach to podiatry treats heel pain by using our Foot Mobilisation Therapy technique.

How we can help:

• Help to diagnose the underlying cause in your heel pain assessment

• Treat the underlying cause of your heel pain

• Fix your heel pain long term

• Keep you doing the things you love

So what’s the process?

1. Book an assessment with our podiatrists

2. Allow us to assess your foot and diagnose the underlying cause

3. Come up with a plan to fix your heel pain

4. Carry out the plan together and fix your heel pain forever

    Contact us to book an appointment today