Joe A Shaw PA-C - 7/11/2008

Question
Hi...three days back i was standing on a small chair trying to fix curtain and i slipped and fell down.  In a desparate attempt to stay on the chair i put pressure on my heels while falling down. After the fall my heels (both) were hurting so much that i couldnt keep my feet on the ground. My heels were burning as if they were on fire. i had to put ice pack on it immediately. Soon the right heel was ok but the left heal kept hurting and that is a little swollen now and the little area is blue .Next day i went to the docotor and he said there might be  a chance  that the heel is fractured and it will take a long time for it to heal.But he also said theer is no definate way of knowing abt it cause the x-ray of heel will not be able to tell if its a fracture or not. i am a mother of 2 kids under three and for me this immobility is very very frustrating.i cant put any pressure on it and i am walking on my toe, which is causing pain i my thigh muscle . Doc recommended cruches but they are soo not feasible for me as my kids keep getting in the way and i cant move around with it.
my question to you is that is there any way of knowing if its a fracture or not cause if it is i need to get some help and if its only a bad bruise when should it heal?
thank you so much ... i am really desparate so please do answer.

Answer
Zara,
Sounds like you need one of those retractable dog leashes to keep up with the kids, because you are probably going to be sore for awhile! I'm not sure why he said that about the xray..I have seen several xrays over my career of heel fx's. One guy even had both heels fx'd..fell off a roof though. It is a hard bone to break..usually takes a pretty good force like falling off a roof or car accident. If it is not getting better though with ice and advil and staying off of it..I would want an xray!..Other tests that can show fractures are a CTscan or bone scan (not as specific though) but these are expensive tests and generally an over kill. Now for the bad news..even if heel bone has a crack in it there's not a whole lot to do..other than crutches or a padded walking boot and staying off of it. Of course you would know you are in for a longer haul than if it was brusied..and he could prescribed you some *NSAIDs or pain killers as well.

* http://www.carpal-tunnel-symptoms.com/carpal-tunnel-relief.html