Heel and Arch Pain
There are many structures going through the heel and arch areas of our feet. Issues with any of those surrounding soft tissue and bony structures can lead to pain. Often times its not an acute injury but rather overuse of certain structures that leads to pain.
​
Conditions associated with common causes of heel and arch pain:
​
- Pes planus feet type
- hyper-mobility/ hyper-flexibility
- Sports, footwear and or biomechanical factors
- Genu valgum (internally rotated knees)
​
- Plantar fasciitis
- Achilles tendinopathy
- Tibialis posterior tendinopathy
- Heel spur
- Haglund's deformity
- Bursitis
- Calcaneal injuries and fractures
- Tendon rupture
​
​
Our podiatrists have extensive experience in diagnosing and treating wide range of lower leg conditions. Contact us today to see how we can help get you back on your feet pain free!.
Plantar Fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain. It impacts the membrane/fascia that underlies the sole of a foot. If the plantar fascia is thickened and tight it can also irritate its attachment point on the calcaneus leading to heel spur development.
​
Tendinopathies can be caused by:
- long term overuse due to biomechanical abnormalities and uneven weight bearing
- injuries.
- Auto immune conditions
​
​
Treatment
​
- Rest, Ice, Elevate and Compress during acute pain
​
- Soft tissue therapy across impacted areas.
​
- Stretching and strengthening of all musculature surrounding the impacted area. This is critical regardless of pain as symptoms may settle with scar tissue build up. It is important to reduce scar tissue and promote strength and range of motion in order to prevent future injuries.
​
- Shock-wave Therapy
​
- Spiky or round ball : Roll the arch area on top of the ball to help release the fascia. 2 min/day. Alternatively if pain is strong, round water bottle can be filled with ice cold water and the arch rolled across the bottle to obtain pain relief.
​
- orthothics and footwear modification to offload impacted areas.
​
