heel pain

Hi I've had a problem that I think is plantar fasciitis but I would like to explain it here. I've felt a kind of dull pain in my heel for about 4 months now. I am a 22 year old former college student that played soccer all my life, including in college, and I stopped last spring for a while. I'm not sure exactly when the pain started. Over the summer I started to do more physical activity with good shoes and I was wearing worn out shoes to work, but I was mostly sitting during that time. The worst day was the morning after I ran at the beach. I woke up with such incredible pain that I had to crawl around my house. I couldn't even walk on the balls of my feet. It got better as the day went on, but still hurt quite a bit. That's the only time that has happened though and I've run on the beach since to test it. Since then It seems to hurt more from walking but I can do physical activity without problems besides that same dull pain. I played soccer on hard field turf and that's the only time since the first that I've had pain all day, but not severe. Bending my foot towards the shin hurts only in the heel and putting pressure on it with my hands hurts it whether from the bottom of the heel or the side of it (inside only). There is no apparent swelling or anything visible. Does this sound like plantar fasciitis? Thanks.

[Dr Vinod]

Hello!

Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the band of tissue (the plantar fascia) that extends from the heel to the toes. In this condition, the fascia first becomes irritated and then inflamed resulting in heel pain. This can be a developmental problem with the arch of foot, faulty footwear etc.

Heel pain is most often caused by plantar fasciitis which is sometimes also called as heel spur syndrome when a spur is present. Heel pain may also be due to other causes, such as a stress fracture, tendonitis, arthritis, nerve irritation, or, rarely, a cyst. Because there are several potential causes, it is important to have heel pain properly diagnosed. A foot and ankle surgeon is best trained to distinguish between all the possibilities and determine the underlying source of your heel pain.

Take care!