Heel Pain

What is causing my heel pain?

Heel pain has several common causes, and identifying the right one is the key to effective treatment:

• Plantar fasciitis — the most common cause, an irritation of the band of tissue running along the sole of the foot.
• Sever’s disease — a growth-plate condition causing heel pain in active children and teenagers.
• Calcaneal stress fractures — small fractures of the heel bone, often from repetitive load.
• Bursitis — inflammation of the small fluid-filled sacs that cushion the heel.

Treatment

Most heel pain responds well to conservative treatment. Custom orthotics are often the single most effective treatment, reducing the load on the painful structures while they heal. Alongside this we may use footwear changes, stretching and strengthening, strapping and activity modification.

How Auckland Sports Podiatry can help

We’ll examine your foot and biomechanics to pinpoint exactly which structure is causing your heel pain, then build a plan around it — frequently led by custom orthotic therapy, which is one of the most effective treatments for heel pain.

Every plan starts with finding the true cause of your pain. From there we may combine orthotic therapy, footwear advice, strengthening and stretching, strapping or bracing, gait changes and activity modification — whatever gets you moving comfortably again.