Your discomfort can be severe if one of your feet is hurting with heel pain. Your body will attempt to offload the aching heel by shifting more weight to the healthy foot. Because your other foot is being abused, inflammation may develop as the pressure increases. You might even notice a decrease in discomfort in the previously sore heel!
Surgery is considered a last resort in any condition and surgery for heel pain is not an exception. Less than 5% require surgery to treat heel pain. Surgery may provide a permanent solution for your heel pain, but it is not without risks.
Heel pain is a complex injury that necessitates a thorough grasp of the inflammatory process and the biomechanics that prevent it from healing on its own. A podiatrist in Houston is specially qualified to provide this type of care. A podiatrist completes a four-year podiatric medical curriculum and graduates from college with a DPM degree. After that, the foot doctor completes a hospital-based residency program, which lasts at least three years and includes advanced medical and surgical training.
The common cause of heel pain, whether beneath or behind the heel, is an inflammation of the ligament that attaches to the heel bone. Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar fascia ligament that causes pain beneath the heel. Achilles tendinitis or pain behind the heel is commonly caused by an inflammation of the Achilles tendon.
Inflammation of the plantar fascia ligament or Achilles tendon where they attach to your heel bone causes heel pain. Excess tension at the attachment causes inflammation. A heel spur can form at the bottom of the heel bone as a result of the tension. It is applied by the plantar fascia ligament while standing and walking causing a heel spur to form on the bottom of the heel bone. Similarly, Achilles tendon tension can cause a heel spur to form on the back of the heel. These tensions cause an injury beneath the bone’s surface and stimulate the formation of new bone in the direction of the tension.
Shockwave therapy, also known as Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy or Extracorporeal Pulse Activation Therapy, has long been used in Europe as a treatment for musculoskeletal inflammation, such as heel pain. The treatment is available in a variety of wavelengths and intensities, which affect the number of treatments required and whether anesthesia is mandatory.
