Your Great Neck Podiatrist discusses 3 Things That Could be Causing Your Mysterious Heel Pain

15 May Your Great Neck Podiatrist discusses 3 Things That Could be Causing Your Mysterious Heel Pain

Are you suffering from a mysterious, chronic case of heel pain that seems to plague you every time you walk and even when you’re resting? There’s no reason to live with the pain and discomfort when there are plenty of solutions to remedy the issue with your heel, even if you can’t figure out what is causing it. If you can’t understand why you are experiencing the pain and have thought of multiple solutions that don’t seem to work, scheduling an appointment with a podiatry specialist is your best option. However, if you are still trying to figure out what is causing your mysterious heel pain on your own, here are three could-be culprits.

1. Improper Footwear: Let’s get the most common and usually least severe case out of the way right off the bat. In many instances, people experience heel pain when they walk long distances in bad footwear. If you can’t think of any recent injury that could be causing the pain, try switching your footwear, especially if you typically wear shoes with very little or no support or are used to wearing uncomfortable high heels regularly. Simply by spending less time in improper footwear, you can experience fast relief.
2. Stress Fracture: Another common cause behind heel pain is the infamous stress fracture, known to plague everyone from young children to agile athletes to the elderly. A stress fracture is a very common occurrence in anyone who has decided to hit the gym for an intense workout session or go for a long-distance run when they haven’t been physically active in a while. If you overdo your workout immediately, especially when you’re a bit out of shape, you are dramatically increasing your risk of developing a stress fracture, thus experiencing pain in your heel and other parts of the leg and foot. If you continue to put pressure on the foot that you have a stress fracture in, there is a high likelihood that you’ll end up with a larger and more severe crack in the bone. The best thing to do if you think you have a stress fracture is to visit a doctor. They will be able to provide you with a proper diagnosis and tell you what needs to be done to heal the bone correctly and completely.
3. Achilles Tendonitis: In your leg, you contain the largest tendon in your entire body: the Achilles tendon. This tendon connects your calf to your heel bone and when it has been overworked or worn out, you’ll experience inflammation. Anyone who does lots of jogging, endurance running, and other excessive cardio workouts without resting and stretching is susceptible to Achilles tendonitis. The best thing to do for a case of Achilles tendonitis is to properly stretch and gently exercise the calf muscle. Effective exercises include calf raises and a towel stretch. Do a few rounds of calf raises on the injured foot and finish off by stretching the calf with a towel. Simply wrap the towel around the foot and pull it toward you, getting an active stretch in the calf and the heel. Lastly, massaging the worn tendon and the rest of the calf will help reduce pain and inflammation. You can do this by gently rubbing the area yourself or seeing a massage therapist. In severe cases of Achilles tendonitis or in the case that there is a complete tear, you will need to see a podiatry specialist to be properly treated.

Looking for more information to help you get rid of mysterious heel pain? Or are you suffering from another foot-related ailment? Don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have. We are happy to discuss our full list of podiatry services.