Runners are a gutsy bunch.  For the most dedicated, it’s hard to slow them down from the routine.  This can be a problem when it comes to heel injuries.  In all honestly, for most non-fracture heel pain while running, you can probably run through the pain.  However, most heel injuries induced by running really need rest and limited pounding on the foot as a treatment.  Although running on trail or grass is better than pavement, it’s not exactly what I would call a heel pain treatment.  As with the stone bruises, the only effective method of treating this has been the RICE method.  Surgery, cortisone shots, and the like have proven effective for some, but the benefits are usually fleeting.  Runners take my advice: rest.  If you give your body time to recover you’ll be able to bounce back to 100%, if you do not you’ll face nagging pain indefinitely.

An increasing diagnosis for heel pain is the pesky stone bruise.  Given the rise in this problem, many have wondered what is the proper stone bruise treatment?  Unfortunately, like a lot of heel pain there is not a lot of good news.  The most effective method for treating this common ailment is the RICE method.  In other words, rest, ice, compress, elevate.  You can definitely ameliorate your pain with the use of a generic ibuprofen pill, which should help you get by the early stages of the bruise.  Like any other bruise it just takes time to go away.  How do you know if you have the stone bruise?  The most common description is a significant pain as if walking on top of a small pebble.  The good news is there is no painful or invasive method for healing the stone bruise, but that is also the bad news too as they are often difficult to get rid of.

People often wonder what the best treatment for heel pain is.  This can be a difficult question, because it really depends on the type of pain you’re having and the exact diagnosis.  For some, heel pain can lead to surgery where they will essentially release your fascia, although they only release about one-third to one-half.  Others, the best option is anti-inflammatory drugs.  Even better, though, is a diet rich in anti-inflammatory nutrients, like Omega fatty acids.  Lastly, and probably the middle road, is physical therapy.  This can be the most tedious and least rewarding option, but has worked very well for many people.  Do yourself a favor during treatment and wear good shoes and not put too much stress on your heel.

Sometimes we step on an extremely hard object in the wrong way.  This can cause bruising underneath our heel.  This is known as a stone bruise.  The word bruise can be somewhat misleading because you may or may not have a buise-like discoloration on your foot.  The name stone bruise comes as if you stepped hard and wrong on some form of rock or stone.  The good news about a stone bruise is that it will eventually go away.  You may want to rest, take it easy, in order to speed the healing process up, but you will not do any long term damage by walking on a stone bruise, though it may be painful.  The best treatment, however, is rest.

Pregnancy can add myriad health complications.  A growing number of women, however, are experiencing heel pain and seeking treatment.  The reason they are facing this pain: fashion.  A recent study showed that pregnant women still feel pressure to keep up with celebrity fashion trends – many of which include shoes difficult to wear under normal circumstances.  Adding the weight and body changes of pregnancy, however, only complicates the problem for many women.  They continue to wear fashionable, but unsupportive shoes (high heels, ballet pumps, flip flops, etc).  The treatment solution for this problem: stop doing it.  When pregnant, your body faces many challenges, don’t add to them just by trying to look good ladies.

A growing number of podiatrists are using shock therapy to treat heel pain.  The use of shockwaves can be a less invasive alternative to surgery for those with serious heel pain.  The energy used in this treatment is similar to the radioactive waves sent to break up kidney stones.  Most treatments last only 15-minutes sending two thousand different waves through the heel.  Most researchers believe that these pulsations can help the stimulate the body’s natural healing process.  The price of the therapy is not cheap and is of course not guaranteed.  You’re likely to pay anywhere between $400-$600 for the procedure.

Oh boy, do we ever let stretching become the one great treatment that we forget to do.  There are a variety of rational reasons why stretching gets neglected.  Firstly, you rarely see immediate effects.  Secondly, it’s a tedious endeavor.  A few very easy stretches can help keep your tendons in flexible and heel pain down.  The first is simply sitting down and touching your toes.  Alternatively, you can also do this standing up.  The other stretch is to place your feet along the edge of a stair and (gently!) lower your heel off the stair.  Be careful not to extend your heel down too far or put tons of pressure as this is an unnatural position, but it can help treat your heel pain.

Can different shoes dramatically alter how you feel heel pain?  The answer for some is yes.  The University of Maryland recently released a study that showed how tight shoes, especially those with a raised heel, contribute to heel pain.  This is often devastating news for the fashion forward female, but the fact is you could be doing serious damage to your heel, especially if you’re already suffering from heel pain.  Other than shoes a variety of custom arches to place in your shoes to help make them feel less painful.  One such arch that seems to be popular is the Footminders brand.  Unfortunately, it takes some trial and error to figure out what works best for you.

For many, including skilled doctors, it can be difficult to distinguish between posterior heel pain and tendinitis.  In many cases, tendinitis is caused through overuse, as is the case with runners or other very active people.  An important thing before discussing treatment of one of these two types of heel pain is whether or not this is an acute or chronic problem.  Acute problems can often be improved simply by taking some time off and resting.  Those suffering from chronic heel pain should enter into rehabilitation immediately.  Unless of course it is an issue with Achilles tendinitis that has compromised the integrity of the tendon.

You’ve tried everything: pills, shoes, orthotics, diet, but could it be that heel pain is in your head?  That’s not to say the pain isn’t real.  Anyone who suffers from chronic heel pain will tell you just how real the pain is.  Some argue, however, that the brain can create or exacerbate pain by not sending sufficient oxygen to certain areas of the body.  Why?  To divert you from past or present psychological pain.  This pain could be latent pain from your childhood, or even the result of an existing trauma.  In this way, meditation and yoga have helped numerous people ‘cure’ their heel pain.  It’s an alternative theory to heel pain treatment, but one you may want to think about.