Sometimes plantar fasciitis (and other causes of heel pain) does not respond to standard treatments. If this applies to you, don’t worry. If your heel pain refuses to go away, there are a number of innovative therapies that may be able to help relieve your pain. If you are in the Montreal area, you can make an appointment at Dr. George Bochi, Podiatrist where we treat the most challenging cases of heel pain. We can almost always help you even if you have seen several other doctors without relief. If you can’t visit us, try our self-treatment plan for heel pain for a few weeks. If that doesn’t work, find a Podiatrist in your area trained in the treatment of heel pain.
Why don’t some types of heel pain go away?
There may be a number of reasons that heel pain does not go away. In general, however, there are three main reasons: misdiagnosis, improper treatment and the presence of a disease called “plantar fasciosis”.
1. Misdiagnosis
Although plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain, it is necessarily due to plantar fasciitis. Therefore, if your plantar fasciitis does not improve, you may not have plantar fasciitis and a different treatment must be performed to relieve your pain. Other causes of heel pain include nerve entrapment, tarsal canal syndrome, sciatica, plantar fascia rupture, calcaneal stress fractures, Sever’s disease in children, rheumatoid arthritis and many other conditions. We can offer you a correct diagnosis.
2. Mistreatment
It is possible that you simply did not receive proper treatment. There are many treatments for plantar fasciitis and other causes of heel pain and you should make sure your doctor is aware of the latest research. An example of incorrect treatment that we often see is patients who have received orthotics that have not been properly prepared to treat plantar fasciitis. There are many other examples as well. We will review your treatment plan to ensure that you are receiving the appropriate treatment.
3. Plantar fasciosis
Sometimes chronic heel pain is due to a condition called “plantar fasciosis”. Plantar fasciosis is a thickening or scarring of the plantar fascia that occurs due to chronic inflammation of the plantar fascia. We often diagnose this problem using ultrasound. A normal plantar fascia is about 4 mm thick where it attaches to the heel bone. If plantar fasciosis is present, the plantar fascia may be 6 mm, 7 mm, or even thicker.
If plantar fasciitis has been present for a long time, the fascia may be healed and resistant to treatment. In other cases, healing of the plantar fascia may occur.
Treatment of plantar fasciosis
There are several treatments for plantar fasciosis that are generally successful. You can use the links below to learn more about each of these treatments:
- Orthesis for plantar fasciitis
- Ultrasound-guided injections
- Dry sting
- Shock wave therapy
If you have chronic heel pain, contact us today to schedule an appointment at Dr. George Bochi, Podiatrist.
© 2019 Dr. George Bochi, Podiatrist