Heel Pain is one of the most common foot complaints. Heel pain is the condition where weight bearing on the heel can cause extreme discomfort. The discomfort usually occurs under the heel or just behind it, where the Achilles tendon connects to the heel bone. This pain can also affect the inner and outer side of the heels.
What are the factors that cause pain or discomfort to heel?
It’s not important that heel pain will occur only because of some injuries. However, injuries are another reason that causes heel pain. This has been seen that initially, people feel a very mild pain but with time and no care, it becomes severe and sometimes disabling. Many times this has been seen that it disappears without any treatment, but this happens with 2 out of 10 cases.
There are a number of factors that can cause heel pain like weight gain, injury, worn -out shoe, walking barefoot, walk on the hard or uneven surface, exercise exertion, ill-fitting shoes etc. Any of the following reason in combination with how your feet function, may cause chronic heel pain and plantar fasciitis.
Causes:
Like we said, heel pain is not caused by one single injury like fall or twist or sprain. But it’s a process that may cause because of repetitive stress on a heel. There are some common causes like:-
- Heel Bursitis
- Plantar fasciitis
- Severs Disease
- Chronic Inflammation of heel pad
- Heel bumps
- Achilles Tendonitis
- Stress Fracture
Treatment & Preventions for managing Heel pain
- Exercise, there are some physical therapies that stretch the Achilles tendon & plantar fascia and strengthen the lower muscles. This will help in stabilizing ankle & heel
- Taping gives the bottom of the foot better support
- Avoid running & standing for a long period, don’t put stress on your exercise schedule
- The best home remedy is an ice pack. Place an ice-pack wrapped in cloth on the affected area for about 10 to 15 min.
- Ensure shoe fits properly and avoid wearing worn out shoes
Choose your footwear smartly:
- Shoes with soft & minimum one-inch heels are good option to opt
- Avoid wearing flat footwear
- Avoid walking bare feet on the hard or rough path
- Always make a practice of purchasing good quality shoes
- Keep replacing worn out and used shoes
When to see a physiotherapist?
If your heel pain persists when you are not doing any activity like walking, exercising or standing, then it’s a high time to visit a physiotherapist. He/she will examine the cause of heel pain properly and will suggest you the proper treatment for the same. A proper and accurate diagnosis is more likely to lead towards effective treatment.