Question
Dr.,

I slowly developed pain and same symptoms at the back corner of both heels - pain increases w/ activity level and feels best in the morning.  Never had any pain in the foot before.

Went to DPM who did xray + MRI, diagnosed as "stress reaction".  Walking or standing for more than a few minutes becomes painful.  Before this had only walked 1 mile uphill 3x / wk. for a year; now doing no exercise due to pain.

Will just normal walking from working in an office cause any more damage while this heals?  Some days this is quite painful.
Any ideas on how to make sure this gets better or what to do to make it heal faster (i.e. should I use crutches or some type of cast)?
Thoughts on what could have caused this?  I do no strenuous exercise and am 41 yr. old male and weigh only 130 pounds.

thanks in advance for your time,

Fred


Answer
This Podiatrist will answer this question
Never heard of stress reaction. I would be curious to the medical cause of "stress reaction"
Sounds like plantar fasciitis. See our website at Anklenfoot.com for more info.
Usually plantar fasciitis is more painful in the AM-but can hurt worse at the end of the day with increased physical activity and give no pain in the AM.
It was caused by the uphill walking.This overstretched the plantar fascia. Either your shoes wore out, you changed them, or something else changed in your physical routine.
Try stretching exercises ,Icing, and max over the counter dose oral anti-inflamatories. Perhaps some shoe inserts-check out our website-AnkleNFoot.com shopping store for examples.
Usually a well made orthotic will work better for a plantar fasciitis caused by something that is not going to change soon-
For example if it's weight and you lose it-then it may respond with an insert only but...
if it's a tight tendon(a tight Achilles tendon can cause plantar fasciitis)then an orthotic is recommended.
Hope this helps!
Good Luck!


Dr George Tsatsos & Svetlana Zats
Podiatrist Chicago 60618 & Elmhurst 60126 Podiatrists
Board Certified in Foot and Ankle Surgery & Orthopedics
New South Loop Location-Chicago 60661
AnkleNFoot.com

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