What causes heel pain?

Heel pain is a common condition that is often caused by physical reasons. Generally speaking, there are six major reasons. Endocrine disorders and nerve compression can cause it, followed by heel inflammation, and then shoes that do not fit the feet. People who are overweight or too fat often encounter this situation. In addition, damage to the bones and joints of the feet and muscle injuries can also cause symptoms of heel pain.

Six main reasons:

(1) Nerves. The nerve enters the palm tunnel and is compressed, causing symptoms. The reason why the channel becomes narrow and causes nerve compression symptoms is often related to trauma, osteoarthritis, endocrine disorders, etc. The pressure increases especially when the joints are inactive, such as after sleep or a period of inactivity.

(2) Inflammation. Most heel pain is caused by inflammation of the ligaments.

(3) Shoes. Shoes are one of the main causes of heel pain. The bones, muscles and ligaments of the feet bear the entire body weight of a person, which requires the shoes to fully support the arch of the foot, so that the force on the sole of the foot is evenly distributed and the ligaments are properly relaxed. However, the structure inside some shoes cannot effectively support the arch of the foot, and the force is concentrated on a certain part of the sole of the foot. This will increase the pressure on the ligament and make the ligament more susceptible to inflammation. The most common cause of pain in the forefoot is interstitial neuritis or neuroma caused by frequent wearing of pointed shoes, compression or irritation of the foot and metatarsal heads by external forces.

(4) Weight. Gaining weight or sudden weight gain may be related to heel pain. Generally speaking, obese people are more likely to suffer from heel pain. Or it may occur after long-distance walking or prolonged illness;

(5) Injury. Weak interosseous muscles of the foot and chronic damage to the transverse ligament of the metatarsal head due to long-term overstretching can also cause plantar pain;

(6) Deformity. The foot bones develop abnormally, the metatarsals deviate inward and cannot effectively bear the body weight. They are then replaced by the second and third metatarsal bones, thus damaging the transverse ligament of the metatarsal heads, which can also cause forefoot pain.