Heel pain and Physiotherapy

Heel pain usually affects the bottom or back of the heel. Heel pain can get in the way of
activities, such as walking and left untreated, can become chronic.

Causes of Heel Pain:

The most common causes of this condition are listed below:

– Achilles tendinitis
– Achilles tendon rupture
– Ankylosing spondylitis
– Bone tumor
– Bursitis (A condition in which small sacs that cushion the bones, tendons and
muscles near joints become inflamed.)
 – Calcaneal Stress fractures (Tiny cracks in the bone.)
 – Haglund’s deformity (bony growth on the calcaneus where Achilles tendon
attaches)
– Heel spur
– Osteomyelitis (an infection in a bone)
– Paget’s disease of bone
– Peripheral neuropathy
– Plantar fasciitis
– Plantar fascia rupture
– Psoriatic arthritis
– Reactive arthritis
– Retrocalcaneal bursitis
– Rheumatoid arthritis (a condition that can affect the joints and organs)
– Sarcoidosis (a condition in which tiny collections of inflammatory cells can form in
any part of the body)
– Sever’s disease (apophysitis especially in children)
– Tarsal tunnel syndrome

– Weakness in lower leg muscles and hip muscles
– Poor biomechanics of the foot
– Improper footwear
– Flat or highly arched feet
– Stiff big toe joint
– Injury or trauma to the heel or foot
– Bone deformity
– Increase in physical activity
– Muscle imbalance or tightness of the muscles (calf muscle)

There are some risk factors found to be associated with plantar heel pain,
including:

– Prolonged standing

– Recent change of footwear
– Stress
– Excessive running or suddenly increasing running distance
– Pes planus
– Limited ankle dorsiflexion and foot strength deficits
– Obesity

Clinical Assessment:

At your first appointment your physiotherapist will begin by asking questions
about your symptoms, what aggravates and eases your pain, your past health,
and your normal daily routine and exercise regime. This will help to build up a
picture of the probable diagnosis.

After the subjective consultation, your physiotherapist will complete a series of
clinical tests to confirm their diagnosis; this may include:

– Feeling around your heel and foot, to find exactly where it is most painful.
– Looking at your foot posture and assessing the range of movement of your foot
and ankle.

– Testing the strength of your foot and lower leg muscles.
– Assessing muscle length and flexibility of calves, and Achilles tendon.
– Watching you move your foot and ankle, and how you perform activities such as
walking, hopping, jumping and running.
– Checking other regions of the body, such as hips, knees, and lower back. This
will help to identify if other areas are contributing to the problem.

After your initial assessment, if your physio feels there might be an alternative
diagnosis, or has any concerns regarding your symptoms, for example they suspect a
tear in the plantar fascia, they may suggest that you have a diagnostic ultrasound scan.
If a calcaneal stress fracture is suspected an X-ray or an MRI scan may be advised.

Physiotherapy Treatments for Heel Pain

1. Manual Therapy: 

Manual therapy is a form of physical therapy where our skilled therapists use hands-on techniques such as deep friction massage and mobilization to treat your heel pain. This is very effective in heel spur treatment.

2. Laser Therapy:

Laser uses low-level light therapy to stimulate natural cell growth and repair your feet. It is applied directly to the affected area for several minutes. The light is believed to encourage cellular metabolism and an increased immune response. This combats the inflammation in your heels, offering some relief. It also speeds up the healing process, restoring your feet to health more quickly than on their own. 

3. Interferential therapy:

Pain relieving modalities to reduce pain and increase blood flow in the heel.

4. Shockwave Therapy: 

Shockwave for plantar fasciitis is a non-invasive and effective treatment where we use sound waves to aid your heel’s natural healing process by generating new blood vessels and increasing blood flow to the region.

5. Acupuncture: 

Here, needles are inserted into certain anatomical parts of your heel, increasing the production of endorphins (pain-relieving neurohormones) to reduce pain and inflammation in your heel. This is also a great treatment for heel spurs, a condition in the underside of the heel often characterized by a lot of inflammation.

6. Dry Needling: 

Dry needling is a modern clinical technique where we use a very thin needle to penetrate your heel’s skin and soft tissue. This causes tissue remodeling in and around the needling site, relieving you of pain.

7. Stretching Exercises to Improve Tight Muscles: 

Our team of physiotherapists will make a customized stretching exercises plan for your heel and back, which will stretch your nerves and soft tissues to help improve tight muscles, preventing the risks of an injury.

8. Strengthening Exercises (to prevent re-injury): 

We believe that injury prevention is just as important as healing the injury. After your heel treatment, a tailor-made strengthening exercises program will be recommended to prevent re-injury.

9. Education Regarding Proper Footwear and Support: 

Footwear is a very important factor in heel injuries and pain. Your footwear can be the sole reason for many health-related problems in your foot, so it’s very important to know which footwear to wear while doing different activities.

Self-care

Heel pain often goes away on its own with home care. For heel pain that isn’t severe, try the following:
– Rest. If possible, don’t do anything that puts stress on your heels, such as
running, standing for long periods or walking on hard surfaces.
– Ice. Place an ice pack or bag of frozen peas on your heel wrapped in a towel for
15 to 20 minutes three times a day.
– New shoes. Be sure your shoes fit properly and give plenty of support. If you’re
an athlete, choose shoes that are designed for your sport. Replace them
regularly.
– Foot supports.  Custom-made orthotics are a good option if you have
mechanical abnormalities in your foot.

Immediate Help through Physiotherapy for Heel Pain:

Are you experiencing continuous heel pain? Looking for a sustainable cure for heel pain? Not knowing about how heel pain recovery would take? Searching for heel injury help from registered therapists? Looking for easy exercises for heel pain? Interested in braces for heel injuries or heel pain?

At Curezone Physiotherapy, our heel pain physical therapy experts in Mississauga and Oakville improve heel strength and flexibility with targeted exercises and stretches. For Heel Pain Physiotherapy in Mississauga or Oakville, or if you are searching for “heel pain physiotherapy near me”, contact us to start your recovery journey. Call us or book an appointment online with our expert physiotherapists.

Also, check out our other heel pain blog entries for further information on this topic.

Heel Pain Treatment Mississauga:

Physiotherapy Clinic Mississauga – Curezone Physiotherapy, Heartland Mississauga.

Physiotherapy Clinic Erin Mills – Curezone Physiotherapy, Erin Mills Mississauga.

Heel Pain Treatment Oakville:

Physiotherapy Clinic Oakville – Curezone Physiotherapy, Burloak Oakville.