How To Cure or Heal Your Heel Pain - Nurse's Guide

How To Cure Your Heel Pain - Nurse's Guide 

If you're suffering now from minor or severe pain in your heel, you may be wondering how to cure it. Before you can cure pain in your heel, you must know what is causing it. Heel pain is a very common ailment.  Thousands opf people suffer from heel pain every day without ever knowing the cause.  However, with a little research the reason and solutions are simple.  So what causes pain in the heel? If you don't already know what causes the pain re are a few possible reasons for it.

Plantar Fasciitis As A Cause of Pain

The most common cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis.   This pain is located on the bottom of the heel.  If you press about one inch in from the back of the heel on the bottom of the foot and feel pain, it's probably plantar fasciitis.   It's caused by the irritation and inflammation of the fascia, which is the tight tissue on the bottom of the foot that forms the arch.

You may notice the pain first thing in the morning before you get out of bed.  Or you may first notice it when walking for long distances or standing for long periods.  It happens often after wearing a new pair of shoes.  So if you've bought a new pair of shoes lately, look to that as a cause first.

Some people try to put inserts or orthotics in the offending shoes but that may not always work.  Also, if it doesn't work then you may make the plantar fasciitis worse.  It is curable. There are heel exercises you can do, and orthotics you can wear.  However if it's just from one pair of shoes, if you stop wearing them, the plantar fasciitis will get better.

Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome

The second possibility is tarsal tunnel syndrome. This syndrome is caused by a large nerve in the back of the foot becomes pinched or entrapped.  It’s similar to carpal tunnel syndrome in your hand.

Stress Fracture of the Foot

The third possible cause is a stress fracture.  You can get a stress fracture of the calcanus in the foot.  This happens more often in athletes who put heavy stress on their feet.  This includes basketball players and long distance runners. However, it can happen to you when you're running or walking, participating in sports or whenever you're putting a lot of stress on your feet.

Achilles Tendonitis or Retrocalcaneal Bursitis

If your heel pain is on the back of the heel, it could be Achilles tendonitis or retrocalcaneal bursitis. However, this is less common.

Heel surgery is not common. You should be able to cure your pain or heal your foot naturally without any medications.  Sometimes people get other pain in the ankle or calf from changing the way they walk due to the pain in the heel.

So the most common cause of your heel pain is plantar fasciitis. Eliminate that as a cause first. If it is plantar fasciitis, there is a lot you can do to heal or cure heel pain with treatments at home and get pain relief.  You can use arch supports or orthotics if all or some of your shoes cause it. If you're having severe or chronic heel pain then make sure to see a podiatrist for the right diagnosis and treatment.  You may need to buy custom orthotics if you can't heal or cure your heel pain any other way.  

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