Heel pain in adults may be resulting from many different causes, but by far the most frequent cause is a disorder called plantar fasciitis. The pain from plantar fasciitis commonly are under the heel and the traditional sign is that the pain is worse when getting up first thing in the morning for those initial steps. Right after those first steps the discomfort does typically ease to some extent, however gets worse again as the day goes on. The plantar fascia is a long ligament underneath the bottom of the foot that is responsible for supporting the arch of the foot, so plantar fasciitis is because there is a lot of stress on the arch of the feet. The main risk factors for this are tight calf muscles, being overweight and having increased amounts of exercise. Lower limb alignment issues that adds to the load in the plantar fascia are also an issue in increasing the stress.
The primary approach to plantar fasciitis is pain relief with the use of ice following activity and possibly using anti-inflammatory and pain relief drugs. Low dye strapping can also be used for the short term to help with the pain. Foot supports can be used to reduce the force on the arch of the feet and correct any dysfunctional issues that might be a issue in causing the problem. It is important to stretch the leg muscles as it really is a big risk. Night can also be used to assist with that stretching if required. Strengthening the muscles that also support the arch may also be advantageous as they take some strain of the plantar fascia. Over the long term, weight reduction is crucial because this actually does produce a lot of stress in the feet. In the event these types of strategies may not be helping the plantar fasciitis to well, then it's time to try treatment such as shockwave therapy or corticosteroid injection therapy. A last resort would be surgical procedures.