What’s Causing Your Heel Pain

Every time you walk, jog or lift weights, you put a lot of stress on your feet. Actually, the feet can handle a lot of stress but of course there are times that some structures of may give in and get injured causing mild to severe heel pain.

 When you pound your foot while playing sports or walk long hours using wrong footwear, this can injure the deep tissues of the foot, making it sore. Usually, allowing the foot to rest is enough for it to heal. However, many individuals ignore the early signs of heel pain and continue their daily activities. Doing so will introduce more injury to the foot which could lead to chronic heel pain.

Diagnosing Heel Pain

 If you experience any heel pain whether it’s mild or severe, see your doctor right away and get treatment. There are many causes of heel pain and a doctor will ask you the exact location of the pain and how long you had it. Your doctor will also examine your foot, look for signs of tenderness and swelling, and do some physical tests (walk or stand on one foot) to determine the cause of heel pain.

Types Of Heel Pain

Generally, the cause of heel pain fall into two categories: Pain under the heel and behind the heel.

Pain Under the Heel

If pain originates beneath the feet, it can be due to one or more of the following:

1.       Plantar fasciitis – this is one of the common cause of chronic heel pain under the foot. This is  swelling of the pantar fascia, a strong fibrous tissue that maintains the arch of the foot.

2.       Stone bruise – typically due to bruising of the fat pads of the foot when stepping on a hard object like a rock or stone.  Pain goes away gradually with rest.

3.       Heel Spur – Usually due to chronic plantar fasciitis. Continued injury to the plantar fascia may form a bony protrusion under the calcaneus bone causing severe foot pain.

Pain Behind the Heel

            Pain occurring behind the foot is due injury of the Achilles tendon which is called Achilles tendinitis.