Heel Pain
A good feel story here from SOLE THERAPY. Recently a 66-year-old female who came into our clinic with heel pain.
When this patient came to us at SOLE THERAPY, she had just increased her walking load in preparation for a trip to Canada and Alaska. The patient originally came to see us in July when she reported that her heel pain was up to a 8/10, this left her unable to walk nervous that this would hamper her grand holiday plans to see the rocky mountains in August.
After an initial biomechanical assessment using our wonderful treadmill system with video analysis we were able to determine that poor foot mechanics where to blame for a debilitating form of heel pain called Plantar Fasciitis. Plantar Fasciitis is the inflammation of your plantar fascia which is a key structure on the bottom of your foot originating at the heel. The patients foot tended to roll in (pronate) when she walked which collapses the arch of the foot and places the muscles and other connective tissue such as the plantar fascia on the bottom of your foot under a greater strain than normal.
Once we discovered the root cause our treatment included a multi-pronged approach combining many of the therapies we have here at SOLE THERAPY. The patient was made a pair of custom orthotics made here in our SOLE THERAPY lab to control the motion of her foot and support the arch; She also bought a pair of HOKA Hapana shoes which we at SOLE therapy sell and highly recommend. New shoes and customs orthotics where combined with the soft tissue therapies we practice here at SOLE THERAPY including TENS and Dry needling. The patient was also given a tailored in-home exercises regime to stretch and strengthen key muscles of the foot and lower limb.
After a few sessions of soft tissue therapy and wearing her new shoes and orthotics the patient was pain free and moving around like a new woman ready to go and enjoy her north American holiday!
If you suffer from heel pain, please come in and see one of our podiatrists who are experts in all things foot and ankle!
Words from our podiatrist's
BEN FERGUSON
