As we age our feet have been stressed and pushed to the limit everyday. Every mile you walk puts tons of stress on each foot as the heel is the first to contact the hard solid surface. Maybe you have pounded your feet on hard surfaces playing sports or wear shoes that irritate sensitive tissue, at some point you may develop heel pain, the most common complaint affecting the foot. Many people try to ignore the early signs of heel pain and keep doing the activities that caused it. Continuing to use a sore heel will only worsen the pain and could become a chronic condition leading to more problems. Some people suffer for years with heel pain and others that seek treatment on the first hint of heel pain can over-come the pain as fast as it came on. Rarely is surgery or ultrasound treatment necessary if you follow good advice and utilize proper insoles at the onset of heel pain.

Heel pain can have many causes. The most common is Plantar Fasciitis. The plantar fascia is a band of tissue, much like a tendon, that starts at your heel and stretches along the bottom of the foot to the toes. It attaches to each one of the bones that form the ball of your foot. The plantar fascia works like an elastic band between the heel and the ball of the foot to form the arch of the foot. If the plantar fascia is short, you have a high arch, and likewise if the plantar fascia is long the arch is low or flat. A pad of fat in the heel protects the plantar fascia to help absorb the shock of walking and sports activities. Damage to the plantar fascia can be a cause of heel pain.

As a person ages the plantar fascia becomes less like a flexible elastic band and more like a rope that doesn’t stretch very well. The fat pad on the bottom of the heel becomes thinner and can’t absorb as much shock caused by normal daily activities. The extra shock begins to damage the plantar fascia and may cause it to swell, tear or be bruised.

Other causes or risk factors of heel pain:

• Overweight and obesity
• Diabetes
• Spending most of the day on your feet
• Increased activity in a short period of time
• Being flat-footed or having a high arch
• Stone bruise from stepping on a hard object
• Heel Spur from a calcium deposit build up

All of the sudden a pain or hotspot will be noticed in the very center of the bottom of your heel. It feels like you have a rock stuck in your shoe. People with plantar fasciitis often describe the pain as worse when they get up in the morning or after they have been sitting for long periods of time and get up to walk. After a few minutes of walking the heel pain decreases, because walking stretches the fascia. For some people the pain subsides but returns after spending time on their feet.

The symptoms of plantar fasciitis are:

• Pain on the bottom of the heel
• Pain that is worse upon arising in the morning
• Pain that increases over a period of months
• Burning hotspot in the bottom center of the heel

Conditions that cause heel pain generally fall into one main category pain beneath and centered on the heel.

Treatment includes resting from the activities that caused the problem, doing certain stretching exercises, using properly designed insoles that relief pressure on the center of the heel.

• Stretch your Achilles tendon by leaning forward against a wall with your foot flat on the floor and heel elevated with the insert.
• Avoid going barefoot when you walk without shoes, you put undue strain on the plantar fascia.
• Ice pack on your heel for 20 minutes several times a day helps reduce inflammation. Place a thin towel between the ice and your heel; do not apply ice directly to the skin.
• Limit physical activities to give the heel time to heal.
• Modify your shoes by inserting Heel-Well insoles to reduce pressure on the center of the heel and because Heel-Well insoles elevate the heel it also acts to stretch the plantar fascia.