Ouch, there it is again. That pain in your heel that just won’t go away. Maybe it happens when you first get up in the morning, or when walking during the day, or maybe you’re a runner and it is hindering your active lifestyle. Whatever your scenario, if you have heel pain then you have probably at least thought about heel pain treatment, or wondered if there is even a treatment available. There are many types of heel pain, and it’s important to understand the underlying cause of your pain and the right solution.

Types of heel pain:

There are multiple types of heel pain that you could be having. They include: Plantar Fasciitis – This type of heel pain is usually noticed when you first get up in the morning, or after standing for long periods of time. It happens when the plantar fascia (a strong ligament-like structure between your toes and heel bone that supports the arch of your foot) becomes strained. Having foot misalignment is the leading cause of plantar fasciitis. Heel Spurs – About 1 in 10 people have heel spurs. This happens when there is bone growth on the heel that is abnormal, and it causes pain when walking or running. You can have both heel spurs and plantar fasciitis at the same time. People with flat feet or high arches are more likely to have heel spurs. Stone Bruise – This is a bruising of the heel that generally happens with some sort of injury. It is commonly identified by feeling like you are walking on a stone all day. Heel Bone Fracture – If you’ve had high impact activity on your heel, possibly caused by an accident or when falling from a high place, you may have a heel bone fracture.

The Underlying Cause of Heel Pain

After getting your heel pain diagnosed, there are many treatments available. It’s important to understand that in some cases, particularly plantar fasciitis and heel spurs, the underlying cause may be misaligned feet(when the ankle bone and heel bone are not properly aligned due to the ankle bone slipping off of the heel bone). If this is the case, then the only way to properly deal with the foot problem is to treat the misaligned feet. It is important to know the underlying cause of your heel pain to understand the proper heel pain treatment. The excessive ankle bone motion leads to over-stretching of the plantar fascia. While standing and with every step taken, excessive abnormal forces are leading to micro-ruptures of the fasica. When you are off your foot, or resting at night the fascia contracts and upon weightbearing it becomes over-stretched again.

A Minimally Invasive Solution

You may be thinking that an invasive surgery is the only option for re-aligning the foot structure, particularly if you have severe plantar fasciitis. The thought of surgery can be intimidating and you may be putting it off. There is another way that is minimally invasive and involves placing a titanium stent into the naturally occurring space between the ankle and heel bone. This instantly realigns the ankle bone and has been scientifically proven to decrease the strain to the plantar fascia. Patients commonly recover far more quickly with this type of surgery than with a fully invasive surgery option.