 |
| Heel pain causes and treatment |
Heel pain - causes and treatment
The outline of the article:
Heel pain due to exertion
Diseases that cause heel pain
What diseases are common causes of heel pain?
Diagnostic measures for heel pain
How to get rid of heel pain?
Pain in the heels can bother anyone, regardless of age and gender. And this does not always indicate any serious illness or injury. In order to determine the cause of the pain and the appropriateness of contacting a doctor, you need to be careful about your feelings, and remember what preceded their occurrence.
Heel pain due to exertion
Painful sensations in the heels are often the result of:
Prolonged stress of the foot due to new and uncomfortable shoes or too high heels;
Thinning of the subcutaneous fat in the heel from a sharp and significant increase in the amount of movement;
Spent the day;
The rapid growth of body weight.
So if you first put on new shoes, started running in the mornings, got well sharply, or if you have standing work, the pain in your heels that has appeared can only indicate an overstrain caused by a suddenly increased load. At the same time, do not take your feelings too lightly, because then you can see the first signs of a serious illness.
Heel pain
Diseases that cause heel pain
Unfortunately, in some cases, the pain is caused not just by the load, but by a serious illness.
Systemic pathologies
Pain in the heels is sometimes one of the manifestations of ankylosing spondylitis. This is an extremely dangerous ailment in which the human immunity begins to fight with the tissues of its own joint-ligamentous apparatus. The result of the disease can be absolute ossification of the spine, its fusion into a monolithic structure. Although this is an extremely rare disease, do not ignore heel pain when standing on a hard surface. It’s better to go to the hospital once more than to launch a serious illness.
Another dangerous disease that can cause heel pain is rheumatoid arthritis. At the initial stage of this disease, pain occurs only when moving, but with the development of the inflammatory process, they can occur at rest, and also cause awakening from a night’s sleep. If sore heels are accompanied by common symptoms such as loss of appetite, fatigue, and weakness, this may be a sign of rheumatoid arthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis
A disease caused by the deposition of urates (uric acid salts) - gout - can also affect the articular apparatus of the heels (one or both). In this case, redness, swelling and acute pain are observed in response to even light touches. If you do not treat gout, the attack can last up to several weeks, delivering tangible inconvenience.
Infectious diseases
These include the following diseases:
Reactive arthritis. As a consequence of many infectious diseases, it also sometimes develops in the joints of the foot. The root cause of heel pain in this case is sexually transmitted infections (gonorrhea, chlamydia, etc.), as well as intestinal (salmonellosis, dysentery, etc.) In this case, pain in the heels occurs both when walking and at rest. If, during a night's rest, the heels are unbearably painful, and a number of other symptoms are noted, such as sore eyes and uncomfortable sensations in the genital area, you should not hesitate to visit the doctor.
Bone tuberculosis of the heel. Sometimes it starts with pain in the heel. With this terrible disease, necrosis of the tissues adjacent to the bone develops and its softening itself, as a result of which a purulent fistula open outwards is formed. Despite the extremely severe course of the disease, after its most acute phase, stabilization and remission often occur. Naturally, it is very important to identify the ailment in time and begin treatment, without waiting for its extreme manifestations.
Calcaneus osteomyelitis. With it, in the bone itself and in the tissues surrounding it, an inflammatory process caused by a bacterial infection develops, quickly passing into a purulent-necrotic phase. Like many diseases of an infectious nature, osteomyelitis begins with high fever, aches throughout the body and weakness. In this case, the focus of inflammation in the heel immediately manifests as bursting or boring pain. There is swelling, intense redness of the skin, expansion of the veins.
Traumatic background of heel pain
Stretching (rupture) of the Achilles tendon is the result of a strong blow to it or a sharp contraction of the adjacent muscles. In this case, very severe pain appears, later edema develops, the work of the joint becomes difficult or completely impossible. The doctor, when probing, is likely to detect a violation of the integrity of the tissues.
An unsuccessful jump to the heels from a height will, at best, lead to a bruise, which is manifested by a sharp, burning pain. Naturally, when leaning on a sore heel, discomfort intensifies. If it is impossible to lean on the injured leg at all, we are talking about a crack or fracture of the calcaneus, which can even be determined visually by the displacement of the heel. Swelling and enlargement of the heel are also noticeable, bruising can be observed. The arch of the foot becomes flatter, the movements of the ankle are limited and the mobility of the subtalar joint is completely blocked.
Actively involved in sports, adolescents from 9 to 14 years old are at risk for calcaneus epiphyse. During the period of rapid growth of the musculoskeletal system, injuries often occur due to excessive stress on incompletely hardened bone tissues. It is in this situation that a gap arises between the body and the apophysis of the calcaneus. In this case, the child feels especially intense pain when walking or running, as well as a decrease in the amplitude of the movements of the lower leg. At the rupture site, edema and hyperthermia are often observed.
Oncological diseases
Unfortunately, pain in the heels may also indicate the onset of the oncological process. With the development of a malignant neoplasm in the calcaneus, at first the discomfort is insignificant and is noted only from time to time, then the pain becomes permanent, and its intensity increases.
If the heel pain can be explained by various reasons, then the next symptom of oncology is obvious - a swelling appears, which then increases. Depending on the type of tumor, it may be dense or soft.
In diseased children, the neoplasm grows especially intensively, there is a severe hemoglobin deficiency and cachexia. Sometimes fractures caused by changes in the bones occur, and there is also a vascular network over the tumor. Naturally, at the slightest suspicion of the oncological process, it is urgent to contact specialists.
Inflammatory diseases
It is difficult to confuse bursitis with anything - it will make itself felt by all the standard signs of inflammation. The back side of the heel will turn red, swelling, hyperthermia and soreness will appear. With the development of the disease, swelling increases, and with its protracted nature, it can also thicken.
Sore bursa
A fairly common pathology of the heel is tendonitis (inflammation) of the Achilles tendon. And this is understandable, since it may be caused by:
Excessive calf muscle tension, for example, when running under a slope up or down;
Unusually long or intense stress;
Uncomfortable shoes;
Excessively high heel;
Frequent change of high heel to shoes with its complete absence.
Tendonitis appears with pain spreading from the heel along the tendon, swelling, redness, fever in the region of the Achilles tendon. Usually, when you try to jump or stand on your toes, a sharp pain occurs.
An inflamed tendon in some cases bursts with a characteristic clap, then it becomes almost impossible to move. Timely medical attention is very important.
Osteochondropathy of the cancellous calcaneus is a necrosis, the cause of which is not an infection or inflammation, but a large load with motor activity. Intense pain appears almost immediately after the start of walking, which makes the patient rely only on socks. Most often, you can only move around with crutches or a cane. This ailment eventually leads to atrophy of the lower leg muscles.
What diseases are common causes of heel pain?
The vast majority of cases of pain in the heels are caused by two diseases that are often confused with each other - plantar fasciitis and heel spur.
Plantar fasciitis is inflammation caused by micropores of a special ligament that runs along the sole and supports the arch of the foot. The cause of the disease is congestion of the foot or stretching of the plantar fascia. The most characteristic symptom is heel pain in the morning after getting out of bed or after a long rest at any time of the day. At first, the pain intensifies, but after the patient "diverges", they subside.
Plantar Fasciitis
A true calcaneal spur (a spike formed by the deposition of salts at the site of attachment of the fascia to the calcaneus) is much less common than is commonly believed. According to many experts, it can be completely asymptomatic. However, in a number of cases, intense pain during walking, especially prolonged pain, associated with trauma to the soft tissues adjacent to the spur, is possible.
Diagnostic measures for heel pain
The specialist forms the initial opinion on the causes of pain in the heels based on the patient's complaints. The most complete information is important about what other symptoms are observed, in addition to heel pain: whether there were injuries or unusual forms of stress, infectious diseases, etc. Based on the initial examination, taking an anamnesis and talking with the patient, the doctor will prescribe additional diagnostic measures:
Blood tests - general, biochemistry;
Microbiological analysis for suspected infectious disease;
X-ray
Oncological markers in the presence of symptoms of a malignant tumor;
Serological analysis;
Bone biopsy, if necessary to confirm tuberculosis or osteomyelitis.
How to get rid of heel pain?
It is clear that treatment depends on the identified disease, which caused pain. However, for any diagnosis, following a few simple tips does not hurt:
Control of body weight, as one of the main factors in regulating the load on the legs.
Using orthopedic insoles to relieve excessive stress on the heels.
Wearing comfortable shoes with low heels (about 5 cm).
Regular therapeutic and preventive exercises.
In the medical guide, you can count more than a dozen diseases that are manifested by pain in the foot. However, most often these are not some complex and dangerous pathologies, but minor inflammations, sprains, minor injuries, etc., caused by elementary negligence. To avoid problems, lead a healthy lifestyle and be attentive to the signals of your body.