Pain in the heels

[ostnc]

For 2-3 years now I am suffering from an annoying pain in the rear back and in the slightly inner part of both heels, around 1"-1.5" from the bottom of the foot.
I feel the pain mostly when I am lying on the back or when walking barefoot. I think it is the Calcaneal that I am pressing.
Other then that I can feel the pain only if I press the inner part of the heels on both feet.
I've seen many doctors, used insoles but the pain remains.
I even don't have a diagnosis.
I've been jogging for the last 10 years so it must be related.

[pckt10s]

could be planter fascitis... the fascia or tissue that kind of holds your foot together from underneath could be inflamed. You probably feel a sharp pain when you first get out of bed and thats because it is shorted through out the night and stepping on it stretches it and causes the pain.

Some things you can start to do would be to stretch your calves out 3x a day, ankle exercises to strenghten the muscles in your foot to take some of the stress off the fascia, you can do these with an elastic band... and at night you can sleep with a brace that keeps the fascia in your foot lenghtened

[ostnc]

Thanks for your comment but this is not the symptom. The problem is when I walk barefoot and after standing or walking a lot.

[Ruth]

Hi ostnc,

Have you ever had an x-ray of your feet to determine if there is any bony abnormality?

It does sound like plantar fasciitis (note that this can be felt from the base of the calcaneal right up to the ball of the foot, many people think it is only experienced under the mid-foot) - when you walk bare foot you have no support whatsoever for either of your arches in the foot, therefore this can cause stretching of the fascia.

What it could also be (likely if it is bilateral) is a small bony spur that could be digging into the fascia, this would also cause similar symptoms and would need to be ruled out by x-ray.

Have you seen any specialists, podiatrists or physiotherapists about this problem? I would strongly suggest this if you can, many GP's wouldn't really know where to start with this type of problem which is probably why you've been fobbed off with no diagnoses and very little in the way of advice and information.

Unfortunately I can't really give you any hard and fast suggestions for rehab without doing an assessment to find out what exactly is causing the problem, but I am sure if you can see one of the above healtcare professionals they will be able to help you out. good luck, and please let us know how you get on!

[mwpod]

stretching the plantar fascia and the gastroc-soleus achilles complex has shown to be quite valuable in dealing with this problem.

First of all, before you get out of the bed or after long duration of inactivity, bend all your toes back (hold 10 secs, rest, and repeat 10 times) before you start walking.

Do not spend too long on your feet, take some anti-inflammatory drugs if you know you've got a hard day coming.

Strap the foot up, roll feet on golf ball, and stregthening work will all help.

Visit a podiatrist or physiotherapist, there are so many different causes for heel pain, get it check out.