Plantar Heel Pain, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Plantar Heel Pain, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

Plantar Heel pain is most often a symptom indicating the result of overuse.
It can also be caused by an injury.
Causes
The heel may become painful and swollen from:
1. Shoes with poor support or shock absorption
2. Running on hard surfaces, like concrete
3. Running too frequently
4. Tension or rigidity in the calf muscle or the Achilles tendon
5. Sudden inward or outward turning of the heel
6. Landing hard or uncomfortably on the heel
Disorders that may cause heel pain are:
1. Swelling and pain in the Achilles tendon (Achilles tendonitis)
2. Swelling of the fluid-filled sac (bursa) at the back of the heel bone under the Achilles tendon (bursitis)
4. Swelling of the thick band of tissue on the bottom of the foot (plantar fasciitis)
5. Fracture of the heel bone that is related to landing very hard on the heel from a fall (calcaneus fracture)
Most cases of heel pain have a mechanical cause.
Other causes are:
1. Trauma;
2. Neurological,
3. Arthritic,
4. Infectious,
5. Neoplastic
6. Autoimmune conditions, and
7. Other systemic conditions.

Main disorders causing plantar heel pain are:
1. Plantar fasciitis - the most frequent cause in adults - tenderness at the origin of the plantar fascia (the medial tubercle of the os calcis).
2. Achilles tendonitis - an acute disorder and painful because of acute minor tears and linked inflammatory change
3. Calcaneal apophysitis (Sever's disease), which happens most often in adolescents.
Diagnosis and Assessment

The doctor should always consider trauma in an acute manifestation:
1. Talar injuries often accompany falls on to the feet or after violent dorsiflexion of the ankle.
2. Calcaneal fractures normally accompany a fall from height on to the heel.
3. Fractures are often bilateral.
4. There is swelling, bruising and tenderness over the calcaneum.
5. There may be related injuries to the knees, hips, pelvis, lumbar spine or cervical spine.
6. Talar and calcaneal fractures should be referred for urgent orthopedic assessment.
7. Patients with plantar fasciitis often have higher amount of heel pain with their first steps in the morning or when they stand up after prolonged sitting.
8. There is normally painful palpation at the calcaneal tuberosity and pain is raised with passive dorsiflexion of the toes.
9. Achilles tendonitis is linked with posterior heel pain.
More pain happens with running, jumping, or making quick turns.
There is pain and tenderness over the insertion of the Achilles tendon.
There is often a rise in pain with dorsiflexion of the foot.
10. Calcaneal stress fractures are more likely to happen in athletes who partake in sports that need running and jumping.
11. Tarsal tunnel syndrome may manifest with plantar heel pain followed by tingling, burning or numbness.
12. Symptoms are often started by percussion of the tarsal tunnel or dorsiflexion and eversion of the foot.
Treatment
Home Care
Crutches are used to take weight off the feet.
Rest is important and should be done
Ice should be applied to the painful area.
Acetaminophen or ibuprofen is taken for the pain.
The patient can use a heel cup, felt pads in the heel area, or shoe insert.
Night splints can be worn
Initial treatment choices will be dependent on the diagnosis but are:
1. Rest,
2. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs),
3. Local steroid injection,
4. Orthotics
Physiotherapy may be helpful.
If symptoms are not better then surgery may be required - e.g., removal of the prominent posterior superior aspect of the calcaneus and inflamed bursa, the plantar fascia is released from where it attaches to the bone, removal of spur

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Plantar Heel

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Sep 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463790540

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Plantar Heel Pain,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2018 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Plantar Heel Pain, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What The patient Need to Treat Plantar Heel Pain)

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Plantar Heel pain

What is Plantar Heel pain?

Plantar Heel pain is most often a symptom indicating the result of overuse.

It can also be caused by an injury.

The heel may become painful and swollen from:

1. Shoes with poor support or shock absorption

2. Running on hard surfaces, like concrete

3. Running too frequently

4. Tension or rigidity in the calf muscle or the Achilles tendon

5. Sudden inward or outward turning of the heel

6. Landing hard or uncomfortably on the heel

Disorders that may cause heel pain are:

1. Swelling and pain in the Achilles tendon (Achilles tendonitis)

2. Swelling of the fluid-filled sac (bursa) at the back of the heel bone under the Achilles tendon (bursitis)

4. Swelling of the thick band of tissue on the bottom of the foot (plantar fasciitis)

5. Fracture of the heel bone that is related to landing very hard on the heel from a fall (calcaneus fracture)

Causes:

Most cases of heel pain have a mechanical cause.

Other causes are:

1. Trauma;

2. Neurological,

3. Arthritic,

4. Infectious,

5. Neoplastic

6. Autoimmune conditions, and

7. Other systemic conditions.

Differential diagnosis

1. Plantar fasciitis - the most frequent cause in adults - tenderness at the origin of the plantar fascia (the