Do you feel a stabbing pain in your heel with your first steps out of bed in the morning? You’re not alone! Every day, thousands of Americans suffer from this condition. Plantar fasciitis, more commonly known as heel pain, is by far the most common complaint patients bring to podiatric physicians.

Aching heels can truly affect your lifestyle and disrupt essential activities and prevent you, to a large extent, from playing sports or simply going for a walk. An accurate expedient diagnosis of the cause of your symptoms will help you receive the appropriate treatment.

There are several causes of heel pain. The most common include:
*Plantar Fasciitis – Inflammation of the band of fibrous connective tissue (fascia) running along the bottom (plantar) surface of the foot, from the heel to the ball of the foot. Both heel pain and heel spurs are frequently associated with plantar fasciitis.
*Heel Spurs – A bony growth on the underside of the heel bone. The spur, visible by X-ray, appears as a protrusion that can extend forward as much as half an inch. Heel spurs can result from strain on the ball of the foot and repeated tearing away of the lining or membrane that covers the heel bone.
*Excessive Pronation – Excessive inward motion can create an abnormal amount of stretching and pulling on the ligaments and tendons that attach to the bottom back part of the heel bone. Excessive pronation may also contribute to injury to the hip, knee, and lower back.
*Achilles Tendinitis – Pain at the back of the heel is associated with Achilles tendinitis, which is inflammation of the Achilles tendon as it runs behind the ankle and inserts on the back surface of the heel bone.
*Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome – This syndrome causes a large nerve in the back of the foot to become entrapped, or pinched. Similar to carpal tunnel syndrome in the hand, tarsal tunnel syndrome can cause heel pain.

Other possible causes of heel pain include rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of arthritis (e.g., gout); Haglund’s deformity (a bone enlargement at the back of the heel bone in the area where the Achilles tendon attaches to the bone); inflamed bursa (“bursitis”), a small, irritated sac of fluid; neuromas (nerve growths) or other soft-tissue growths; and bruises or contusions, which involve inflammation of the tissues that cover the heel bone. A bone bruise is a sharply painful injury caused by the direct impact of a hard object or surface on the foot.

Some contributing factors associated with heel pain are age (with increasing age, often there is decreasing flexibility); any sudden change in activity (particularly activities that increase weight bearing or pressure on the foot); flat, pronated feet or high-arched feet; a sudden increase in weight; pregnancy; stress from an injury; a bruise incurred while walking, running, or jumping on hard surfaces; or medical conditions such as tarsal tunnel syndrome.

If you have any questions on heel pain, contact Dr. Bowman at Houston Foot Specialists.

Don’t know if you know it or not, but one of Dr. Bowman’s patients, Christi, has been keeping a blog through her experience with Dr. Bowman.  If you haven’t already, you should check it out and read her blog to hear straight from a patient what it’s like to have Dr. Bowman as your podiatrist.  See her testimonial by clicking here.

Christi has need several surgeries to correct the problems in her feet and ankles.  Where many other podiatrists told Christi that she had plantar fasciitis, but only offered injections to take care of the problem.  Dr. Bowman knew that something had to be wrong because of the amount of injections she had received, but the pain still remained.  So he guided her through the surgery process and even preformed the surgery for her. 

But after the surgery for the plantar fasciitis, Christi still had pain in another part of her foot.  After further inspection, Dr. Bowman figured out that Christi’s Anterior Tendon was damaged.  So another round of surgery by Dr. Bowman on Christi’s right foot.  Now she is healing up very nicely and by January, Christi was able to walk a 5k on the beach of Galveston!  Recently, Dr. Bowman also fixed her Achilles Tendon Rupture and she is doing great!

The funniest thing about this though is that Christi is a Ohio State Buckeye, while Dr. Bowman is a Michigan Wolverine.  If you read Christi’s blog, you’ll see the hilarious antics these two have done to support their teams.

If you have any questions on plantar fasciitis, Anterior Tendon damage or any other questions on foot or ankle pain, contact Dr. Bowman at Houston Foot Specialists.  Dr. Bowman would love to help you just like he helped Christi.

And thanks Christi for being such a great patient!  Oh and GO BLUE!!!

When I was young, I dreamed of being an NFL star just like a lot of my friends.   Now, I am glad I never made it that far in football.  Why?  Easy to answer - look at all those injuries. After just watching my home team the Houston Texans, those injuries seem to be even more prevalent this year.  A recently developed treatment has been used on these injured football players and other athletes with very good results.  Texans Mario Williams has used this treatment for foot pain with great results.

Platelet Rich Plasma, or PRP, is used more and more often not just for professional athletes, but for everyday people like you and me.  PRP is performed in the office.  The doctor draws blood from the patient’s arm and spins the blood down to separate the platelets.  Next, the patient’s own platelets are injected into the painful or injured area under a local anesthetic.  The growth factors in the platelets have been shown to have strong anti-inflammatory effects and help in the healing process of both acute and chronic injuries by signaling the body to initiate a healing response. Most patients feel relief within a few days to a few months.  

This procedure is being used to treat chronic and acute plantar fasciitis, arthritis, ankle injuries, tendonitis, cartilage damage, and many more conditions.  Research is currently showing PRP mixed with stem cells may work even better.

Is this procedure for everyone?  No.  It doesn’t help every condition and doesn’t take the place of surgery when needed.  Also, even though research shows it is effective, most insurance companies will not cover the procedure. The cost per treatment is approximately $1,000.  For those wanting to avoid surgery and for those whose foot pain can be treated without surgery (such as with tendonitis), this may be a viable option.  

Discuss the PRP procedure with your foot and ankle pain specialist and see if it is an option for you.

Dr. Jeffrey Bowman of Houston Foot Specialists is trained in the PRP procedure and has used it with good results.  To get more information, contact us at www.houstonfootspecialists.com or call 713-467-8886. One of our friendly staff members will schedule a consultation for you to learn more.