Heel Pain E-Book

Patrick Hofer

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 100

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Heel pain is at the top of the list of the most common foot problems. Many people suffer from heel pain in their lives, for example, through a heel spur. More and more often, long-lasting and disturbing painful conditions occur. The questions about why, and how to get rid of these chronic complaints, are increasingly heard. In his many years as an orthopedic technician, Patrick Hofer has been confronted with hundreds of different hepatic symptoms, and has been able to continuously refine the treatment methods. In this book, he explains the development of heel pain and summarizes the most effective forms of therapy on the basis of his experience. With many easy-to-understand tips, he opens the way for a practical way out of the tricky situation. This brings order to the confused variety of different and partly contradictory recommendations and advice.

Leseprobe

Whoever tries to run away from his difficulties, gets them attached silently to his heels.

Peter E. Schumacher (1941 - 2013), Aphorism collector and publicist

Content

Preface

Introduction

How does pain develop?

Health begins in the head

The heel

Lower (plantar) heel pain

Heel spurs

Inflammation of plantar fascia (Fasciitis plantaris)

Upper (cranial) heel pain

Achilles tendon complaints (Achillodynia)

Bursa inflammation (Achillobursitis)

Haglund’s deformity (Haglund syndrome)

Risk factors

Treatment

Other medical conditions

When to go see a doctor

Walking barefoot

Nutrition

Stretching

Customized shoe inserts

Hekla-Lava

Schuessler salts

Rhododendron cp. ointment

Shockwave therapy

Silicone heel pads

Massage

Foot baths

Ice

Bandages

Kinesio-taping

Grandmother’s home remedies

Soft shoes

Shoes with heels

Night splints

Iontophoresis

Medication

Ultrasound

Radiotherapy

Surgery

Common mistakes

Conclusion

Preface

Dear reader,

This is the preface of an old general practitioner: we general practitioners often get to see heel pain. When patients complain that they have been suffering from such stress problems for a long time, I know that I, as a medical doctor, can not promise quick healing. The causes are not always clear. Tendonitis is often a chronic condition that requires a lot of patience and - as described in this book - different treatment approaches. The prognosis is always good, but "miracles" sometimes take time...

I wish the readers a speedy recovery thanks to this book. In addition to stretching exercises, inlays are the best documented measures - get well soon!

Dr. med. Rudi Baumann

Rudi Bume, as he calls himself, is known for his unconventional and personal way of helping patients. With his extraordinary medical expertise, he led the village of Hirzel above Lake of Zurich for over thirty years to become a modern community with an advanced group practice.

Introduction

"When I got up one morning, about three months ago, I was surprised by an unexpected piercing pain below my right heel. At first, I did not take the problem seriously and thought I had just "gotten up on the wrong foot", especially since the pain subsided after having taken several steps. I quickly forgot about the incident until after lunch when I tried to stand up and I was reminded of it again. The pain was there at every step and I began to worry."

This is a scenario that is often described that I myself have also experienced. The pain comes and goes leading you to assume that it might heal itself. However, exercises, hiking or permanent standing activities can worsen the situation and take away the hope of recovery once again.

Now what? One can only get so much help from friends and from the Internet, especially since they often contradict each other. The most disturbing part is the fact of not knowing the cause of the pain. Heel pain is one of the most common foot problems.

With this book I would like to offer a way to better understand heel pain and to do something about it yourself. All the questions related to pain under and behind the heel are answered in this book in an intelligible and detailed manner. Practical tips are thoroughly explained with step-by-step directions. You will be shown the causes of heel pain, how to deal with problem effectively, and when it is necessary to go to the doctor. Multiple exercises and alternative therapies are also presented. You will learn how to prepare a simple ointment and the best behavior when you are suffering from heel pain.

Important: The content of this book is based on my own experiences over the years and is for your information only. It is neither scientifically based nor does it replace the diagnosis or treatment by a doctor. Reliable decision-making for the use of aids or therapies can only be appropriately diagnosed by a doctor. Despite careful research, I cannot guarantee the completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of all information in this book. The described measures are applied at your own risk. Liability claims in any form that may arise from the application and implementation of information contained in this book are principally excluded. Please consult your doctor or pharmacist about the risks and side effects of the indicated remedies and the tolerability in your personal case. I look forward to any feedback about your own experiences and suggestions that you may have.

Do not trust anyone who claims to know everything, be critical and trust your own intuition. I wish you a lot of fun while reading!

How does pain develop?

As I have already described in detail in my first book, "Your Feet -Recognize and treat foot problems", physical complaints arise when our bodies can no longer adequately compensate for deficiencies or deficits. In medicine one speaks of "decompensation". Unfavorable conditions such as a ganglion or excessively high arches can remain unnoticed for years since they do not cause any discomfort to the person. The body is constantly compensating for such deficiencies, and only when this is no longer sufficient, for instance, when we get older, does the body respond in the form of pain to make us aware of the problem. Such a decompensation is usually manifested by an overloading of individual structures such as tendons or bone skin, which are overtaxed by the compensation. Such an overload results from an imbalance between load and load capacity. In the case of physical damage caused by accidents such as tripping of falling the resulting bruises and strains can not be compensated immediately by the body. The subsequent pain comes from the inflammation with which the body reacts to the damages.

"In principle, inflammation is an early warning system of the body."

Inflammation is a local reaction of the body to harmful internal or external stimuli. The aim of inflammation is to eliminate the damaging stimulus and create the conditions for repair procedures (healing). Inflammation is thus an expression of the immune reaction of the organism.

Did you know that tendon diseases, so-called tendopathies, are among the most common causes of discomfort in the locomotor system? Overtime the inflammatory response to various factors can cause chronic inflammation where the body can no longer counteract the continues inflammation of the organs and tissues.

Statistics show that the number of chronic inflammatory diseases has risen sharply in recent decades and continues to rise. This trend is particularly noticeable in industrialized countries causing experts to refer to chronic inflammation as a phenomenon of civilization. In my opinion, the modern lifestyle, characterized by unhealthy eating habits, lack of physical activity and increased stress, is to blame for this epidemic of chronic inflammation.

If this defensive mechanism of the organism becomes permanent, i.e. chronically, inflammation damages healthy organs and becomes a breeding ground for some serious secondary diseases in the whole body. In the meantime, the suspicion that chronic inflammation can be responsible for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, arteriosclerosis, arthritis, asthma, dementia, diabetes, myocardial infarction, cancer, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, neurodermatitis, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and psoriasis. Because with the inflammation, the immune system mobilizes messengers, which not only effect useful tissue but also attack more and more healthy tissue. In addition, immunological signal structures are important for the aging process, so that age-related diseases, as well as premature aging, are often interpreted by scientists as "inflammation".

If we do not react adequately to pain, the body is forced to intensify the inflammatory reaction which increases the pain, in order to prevent us from putting additional stress on the overburdened places. In this way, the body tries to prevent permanent damage to the structures such as the heel. Without a painful impulse, a continually overstretched Achilles tendon could tear without notice.

In the case of prolonged tendonitis, the tendon is insufficiently healed and the tendon structure disorganized. Recent scientific studies show that, in the case of chronic tendon problems, the structural changes of the tendon tissue rather than the inflammatory changes are predominant and the healing can be very difficult.

Health begins in the head

"Knowledge is better than suffering."

Our ancestors went to the doctor only when they could no longer help themselves. This was certainly due to the fact that in the past, a doctor could not be consulted with every cold. The medical basic care provided by doctors and hospitals was not regulated as much as today, and often there was no money for it. Today, we rely on experts who we are willing to take responsibility for our health; this means we do not even get the idea to treat small sufferings ourselves. We often wait, do nothing, and then go to the doctor very quickly, if we do not know how to help ourselves.

As a result, valuable knowledge about simple home remedies is gradually being lost. Our body is supposed to work and disturbances are always inconvenient. We do not ask ourselves where the suffering might come from and what our body may be missing, but go to the doctor with the expectation that he will take away the pain. Not infrequently, this attitude leads to disappointment and helplessness when medical treatment does not meet the expectations.

Research shows, however, that anyone who knows how to help himself gets healthy more quickly. This is due not only to the rapid interference, but also to the confidence and trust in one’s own body and the self-healing powers associated with it. In addition, there is the attention that you can enjoy and the good feeling that comes with a relaxing foot wrap, for example.

This "wellness for body and soul" stimulates the self-healing powers in a not to be underestimated way.

Every healing is ultimately a self-healing.

The heel

In this book, three protagonists will be presented. Let me introduce them to you.

The Achilles tendon

The names of the Achilles' heel and the Achilles' tendon are derived from Greek mythology. The Greek hero Achilles was immersed into the underworld river Styx as a child by his mother and thereby rendered invulnerable. Only the heel, by which his mother held Achilles, was not wetted by the river and remained unprotected. Before Troy, Achilles was the fastest and strongest hero of the Greeks. Only Paris managed to kill Achilles by an arrow shot in the heel. It is questionable how true this story is, but it wants to convey mainly two messages to us:

Heroes and half-gods are also vulnerable.

The Achilles tendon is a weak point of the human body.

The Greek half-god and hero Achilles with an arrow in the heel.

The Achilles tendon is the thickest and strongest tendon of the human body. It originates at the very back of the calcaneus, which we shall get to know later. When healthy, it holds a pulling force of 1700 pounds and measures about 0.124 square inches at the narrowest point, about 1.5 inches above the bone. The strong calf muscles, consisting of the two-body calf muscle gastrocnemius and the flat muscle called soleus pull the Achilles tendon at every step and thereby tipping the foot down, allowing us to walk or stand on tiptoes.

The calcaneus

The calcaneus (lat. Calcaneus) is also known under the term heel bone. It is the largest of the 28 foot bones and dominates the entire heel.

The upright gait of humans greatly increases the function of the calcaneus compared to the quadrupeds. It serves as a lever arm with its strikingly protruding heel bone (Tuber calcanei). The image on page → shows how the force is transmitted from the Achilles tendon (a) to the plantar fascia (b), which I shall present to you soon, and the musculature of the foot, far from the pivot point (c) leading to a reduction in force during kick-off and advance.