Foot Care|Overload Heel Pain Syndrome|Podiatrist Explains
Authored by Dr. Burton S. Schuler,
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Next to toenail conditions the most common problems seen by podiatrist, foot care specialist in their offices are those that are affecting the heels. And the most common cause of heel distress is plantar fasciitis. I have written a great deal about plantar fasciitis both on my website and in my books . I have also made a video on youtube about it. But I am not going to write about plantar fasciitis today, but about another very painful heel condition known as Overload Heel Pain Syndrome.
Overload Heel Pain Syndrome is not as famous as plantar fasciitis but it still causes grief for many people. As the name implies in Overload Heel Pain Syndrome the padding directly under the heel bone are irritated by a day in and day out repetitive pressure from working, standing and walking. This condition should be known as Overworked Heel Pain Syndrome not Overload Heel Pain Syndrome. Some of the things that cause it to occur are a abnormal shaped heel bone and too much weight; this is one of the few foot condition that I feel weight can cause. The rest of the time I tell my patients that weight gets a bad rap for causing foot problems. I WILL PROVE IT! Does every heavy person you know have bad feet, of course not!
The major different between plantar fasciitis and Overload Heel Pain Syndrome is where they cause pains to occur on the heels. In Overload Heel Pain Syndrome, the patients will have their pains appear more in the middle of the heel bone. With plantar fasciitis the discomfort is seen more in the inside of the heel bone. Like in plantar fasciitis the smoking gun in diagnosing Overload Heel Pain Syndrome is when the patients states that their heels kill them upon getting out of bed and standing up in the morning; or upon rising after resting for a while. These specific aches and pains are the hallmark of most heel conditions and are called PostStatic Dyskinesia > Treatment I treat Plantar Fasciitis and Overload Heel Pain Syndrome basically the same Treatment is always non-surgical The aim of the treatment is to repair and rehabilitate the damage done to the heel area by the consisted micro trauma being applied to it. I love using heat for treating these heel problems as I do with most foot problems I treat. See a youtube video about the use of heat instead of ice in treating foot problems
Besides heat I use ultra sound and electrical stimulation in combination to treat most foot problems . Padding and strapping are used by the vast amount of podiatrist who treat both plantar fasciitis and or Overload Heel Pain Syndrome. The aim of the padding is to 1. allow the weight being applied to the heel to be protected from the ongoing increased abnormal recurring load of the body and 2. help the damage heel tissues heal by redirecting the forces away from the injured tissue,
Plantar Fasciitis and Overload Heel Pain Syndrome are distant cousin in the world of heel pain. They are basically the same except for where on the heel they hurt> In my office they are treated the same way.
About the Author: Dr. Burton S. Schuler foot doctor, foot care specialist, podiatrist of Panama City, Fl and the director of the Ambulatory Foot Clinics Podiatric Pain Management Center and is a leading authority on the Morton’s Toe, Long Second Toe and it associated problems. He is the author of the newly published book about The Morton’s Toe, Why You Really Hurt: It All Starts In the Foot. The book is published by the La Luz Press, Inc and is disturbed national by the Cardinal Publishing Group.