By the end of this article you will know how to treat heel pain in Pascoe Vale.
But why should you care?
If you’re like me, you’re a podiatrist who is visited by hundreds of Pascoe Vale residents limping in with sore heels in the morning or aching heels when they run. And when someones sitting in front of you looking for answers – you better know what to do!
But, maybe you’re not like me at all.
You’re not a podiatrist working in Pascoe Vale, but you do live in Pascoe Vale, or maybe nearby in Glenroy or Strathmore. And your heel is hurting you every time you take that first step.
Well, strap in.
Let’s uncover how to treat heel pain in Pascoe Vale together.
Treating heel pain in Pascoe Vale is hard if you don’t know what kind of heel pain it is.
Seems simple at first, heel + pain = heel pain.
But what if the cause of your heel is an injury called plantar fasciitis, and the cause of my heel pain is a fat pad injury, are we going to treat it the same?
Of course not.
Here’s the main mistakes others have made.
- Wrong diagnosis
- Plantar fasciitis is not the same as Baxter’s neuritis.
- Wrong treatment
- Shockwave therapy helps plantar fasciitis but is painful and not going to help a heel fat pad injury.
- Wrong timing
- Heel pain in the morning that warms up? That’s likely a tendon or fascia injury.
- Heel pain that gets worse as you walk? That could be a bone stress injury or fat pad injury.
- Timing is everything with heel pain.
- Wrong dosage
- Too little medicine and you’re not getting a therapeutic dose. Too much and you overdose.
- It’s the same with exercises, shockwave, orthotics and rest. You need to have your dosage right for your heel pain treatment.
So if they’re the wrongs, what are the rights?
Here’s how you can treat heel pain in Pascoe Vale as a podiatrist or punter with a sore heel.
Step 1: The right diagnosis for you
You don’t want to waste time and money treating the wrong type of heel pain.
Book in with your podiatrist in Pascoe Vale and they (we, I) will help you find the exact diagnosis and cause of your heel pain.
But if you’re reading this from a little further afield, you can start off with the free online heel pain test to get an online diagnosis.
Step 2: The right treatment for your heel pain
Follow your right diagnosis with the right treatment and you’re on the way to resolving your heel pain.
Optimising load is about taking excess stress and strain away from whichever tissue is overloaded at your heel and allowing it to start to heal. Depending on which diagnosis you have this might involve specific shoes, strapping techniques and changes to activities.
Then there’s the capacity building side of the equation.
All tissues within your body (and heel) are trainable. You can increase their capacity to work and undergo stress. For heel pain these might be exercises to build capacity in the tissues of your foot and ankle as well as further up your leg in your hamstrings and glutes.
Your podiatrist will help you identify the exact amount of load optimisation and capacity building you need to treat your heel pain.
Step 3: The right dosage
Underdosed heel pain treatment feels like what you are going through right now… heel pain with the added frustration of doing something about it (that’s not working).
Overdosed heel pain treatment is also frustrating and painful too. If you’re overdosing your exercises your calves will be heavy, sore and fatigued (and your heel still sore too).
And if you’re overdosing your load optimisation you’ll be stuck in shoes you don’t want to be in or missing out on the physical activity you need to keep your mind happy.
But the right dose.
That’s what you’re chasing to resolve your heel pain. When your dosage of load optimisation and capacity building is right for you, your heel pain improves as your activity levels increase. That’s the kind of heel pain treatment that we love to be part of.
Before you go
You’ve come so far.
Heel pain in Pascoe Vale is no longer an abstract, painful daily problem for you. Now, you know just what to do. It all starts with a visit to your podiatrist. Give us a call or book online and we’ll go through the 3 steps with you.
And if you’re looking for more information on heel pain in the meantime, why don’t you check out the best shoes for heel pain, strapping for heel pain or the free online heel pain test.
About the Author
Melbourne and Pascoe Vale podiatrist Tim Mulholland has spent well over a decade helping clients through heel pain. He’s also suffered it himself and worked through foot and ankle injuries that have popped up due to his love of being an active runner, rider and risk taker.
Frequently asked questions about heel pain in Pascoe Vale
As your podiatrists who are your foot and ankle experts in Pascoe Vale, we diagnose your heel pain using a combination of clinical tests, a thorough history, examination and potentially imaging as well.
For us it’s vital that not only do we get the diagnosis correct, but you understand your diagnosis and what you can do to help your feet feel better. It’s all well and good for you to get an accurate diagnosis, but if you’re not across the treatment that you need then how are you going to start to get better?
So, our first visit together is vital. Actually, on that…
After your first visit to your Pride podiatrist you should feel relief.
Relief that you now know what and why your heel has been sore, and how you’ve found a guide to help you on your journey back from suffering with heel pain.
In reality, this will involve your podiatrist getting hands on, assessing capacity, your gait, your shoes and what you do in your life that impacts your feet.
It’s a good idea to come prepared, bring in your shoes your work or spend lots of time in. Bring in your shoes you work out or exercise in. Have a think about what you’ve tried thats helped or made your heel pain worse. All these clues help your podiatrist and you put together a plan to get you achieving your heel pain free goals.
This is a tricky question we’ve answered in more detail here. Essentially, while your heel is sore, and on an xray you have a heel spur evident, it’s highly unlikely that the spur is the cause of your pain.
Most likely, it’s a soft tissue that’s tugging or pressing onto your heel pain which is causing your heel pain in Pascoe Vale.
This is good news as it means you don’t need to have a surgeon cut out your heel spurs which are usually considered a normal part of the aging process of your heel bones.
See your podiatrist and get stuck into the 3 steps we outlined above.
Usually a shoe with a drop or pitch of at least 10mm is best for heel pain. You can read all about shoes for heel pain here.
