Causes of morning heel pain and its management – Dr. Hanume Gowda

Heel pain is a very common problem mostly in females compared to me. It will be early morning pain, like you sleep in the night and wake up in the morning , you have a pain and you walk for few steps, 8 – 10 steps, then it gets better. The Same thing may happen when you sit for half an hour and get up. You may get, you may get pain. Again you take few steps, 8 – 10 steps, then your pain will go off. This condition is grouped into a condition called plantar fasciitis, also called as heel pain. Most of the times, there are no causes for this, it just happens like that. Over time, there is a heel pad fat, between the bone and the skin, which will get flattened or worn off. When it gets worn off, the bone will start taking more load. This is the commonest cause. The other one is, there is a tissue called fascia, which connects the heel one to the toes. The plantar fascia from the heel to the toe, it can get tightened, also giving rise to this pain. It happens due to multiple reasons, like rheumatoid arthritis, uric acid problems leading to gout and gout related or gout type of arthritis. Here are more types of arthritis which can lead to pain, but most times the reason is unknown.it can be an old injury like a stone or a thorn which has pricked you. The stone would have come out, but the fat part is injured, leading to long term pain. Sometimes the infection can also lead to pain. How to manage this? An easier way is by exercises, stretching of the plantar fascia, that is stretching of the foot. Secondly wearing soft footwear. Microcellular rubber, microcellular polymer slippers are available. There is silicone heel pad. For​ people wearing shoes can use the silicon cup inside the shoes and that will also help. Sometimes with all this pain doesn’t come down, give pain killers and do physical therapies in the form of ultrasonic massages. If this doesn’t work, give local injections with steroids. With one injection, more than 70 – 80 % will get relief. If it doesn’t help, then we have to operate and clear the heel. So the pressure on the heel and then the pain also comes down.