Effective Heel Pain Treatment Choices for Lasting Comfort

September 2024 by Steven

Feet are much more complex than most of us might realise with 26 bones, 33 joints, and hundreds of tendons, muscles, and ligaments that work together to allow you to walk and move normally.

When injury or inflammation occurs, this complex system can cause intense pain, causing you to miss out on the activities you enjoy. The good news is you don’t have to live in pain and effective heel pain treatment is on the horizon.

Read on to learn everything you need to know about heel pain and the available treatments to help you regain control of your life.

Overview of Heel Pain

Heel pain is a common foot and ankle issue that results in soreness, tenderness, and pain anywhere in the heel area. Heel pain makes it challenging to walk normally and also makes daily exercise difficult.

It’s most common to experience pain in the back and underside of the foot and is usually due to conditions like plantar fasciitis or Achilles tendinitis.

Heel pain can be mild to severe and can occur suddenly without injury. It can also develop slowly over time. If you have heel pain, it’s essential to talk to your doctor to determine the exact cause and rule out anything serious.

Common Heel Pain Causes

Certain common conditions and injuries can cause heel pain to come on quickly and in some cases become a chronic issue. These causes include:

Plantar Fasciitis

Typically, heel pain is caused by plantar fasciitis. Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the plantar fascia in your foot, which is a fibrous attachment that extends from the ball of the foot to the heel. It’s very stretchy, much like a wide rubber band, and connects the bones of your foot, forming the arch.

Plantar fasciitis occurs when you overuse or overstretch the plantar fascia, which causes inflammation and swelling.

Achilles Tendinitis

The Achilles tendon is a band of dense, fibrous tissue that connects the heel bone to the calf muscle and is the body’s strongest and longest tendon.

If you play sports like basketball or are a runner, you may be more prone to developing this condition. This overuse injury results in tendon inflammation which causes stiffness, pain, and swelling at the back of the heel.

Other Causes

Traumatic injuries to your foot can cause lasting heel pain and inflammation. Other less common causes include:

• Stress fractures
• Heel spurs
• Bone bruises
• Flat feet
• Arthritis

You can also develop heel pain if you spend a lot of time standing on concrete floors and wearing ill-fitting shoes.

Heel Pain Treatment

The first step to heel pain treatment is to talk to your healthcare provider about the symptoms you’re experiencing. You may need imaging tests like an X-ray to check for bone misalignment and joint damage, and an MRI to check for soft tissue problems X-rays can’t reveal.

In most cases, heel pain will improve in time without surgical treatments. The goal of treatment is to reduce inflammation, improve flexibility, and minimise strain on your heel.

Home Care and Pain Relief

First things first, you’ll need to establish a basic home care routine to ease your pain and start the healing process. First, try to rest as much as you can and apply ice to your heel for 10 to 15 minutes twice daily.

You should also take over-the-counter pain medications like Advil and Tylenol for pain and make sure your shoes fit properly. Your doctor may also recommend shoe inserts or heel lifts to help with pain. A pharmacist can recommend over-the-counter pain medications and the best pads for your shoes.

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy is one of the most effective heel pain remedies since it addresses pain in different ways, ultimately resulting in foot pain relief that lasts.

First, you’ll get a thorough evaluation and custom treatment plan to address your symptoms. Usually, this begins with a personalised home exercise programme that focuses on increasing foot flexibility and strength. These exercises will help you heal and also work to prevent future injuries.

You’ll also get heel pain education on your specific condition, like strategies for arthritis pain or various heel spur solutions to try when the pain flares up.

Shockwave Therapy

Shockwave therapy is an effective non-invasive treatment for painful conditions that impact tendons, ligaments, muscles, and bones. The therapy includes low-energy sound waves that go through the skin and tissue. This stimulates blood flow which helps to speed up healing and cell regeneration.

It’s been in use since the late 1960s when research began on the effects of shockwaves on the human body. Later in the 1990s, scientists learned that both high and low-energy shockwave treatments were extremely effective. In fact, recent studies show that shockwave therapy is an effective treatment for plantar fascitis, improving pain and quality of life in most study participants.

Shockwave treatment is common for anybody with injuries like a golfer’s elbow, pulled hamstring, plantar fasciitis, or tennis elbow. It’s also used to break down deposits in the body, like kidney stones.

How Does Shockwave Therapy Work?

During a shockwave therapy session, a therapist handles a probe attached to a machine which allows the sound waves to pass through the skin.

If your heel pain is due to plantar fasciitis, you’ll get an initial assessment to determine what symptoms are bothering you the most. This assessment also determines if shockwave therapy is the best plantar fasciitis treatment for your situation. You’ll also need to stop taking pain medications like ibuprofen or aspirin at least two weeks before treatment.

As your treatment begins, your therapist will place ultrasound gel on your heel and you’ll feel a series of throbs. Each session lasts between 10 and 15 minutes and you should only feel mild discomfort.

Get Effective Heel Pain Treatment Today

Now that you understand more about heel pain treatment, you’ll be more comfortable taking the next steps in this journey.

To get the effective treatment you need, it’s time to turn to Midlands Shockwave Therapy & Physiotherapy Clinic. We pride ourselves on compassionate care and are dedicated to helping people live pain-free lives.

Our services include physiotherapy, shockwave therapy, exercise plans, sports injury treatments, and a heel pain clinic. Make sure to contact us today to learn more about our services and book an appointment!