Heel Injury From Sport

Some of the more ordinary injuries caused by sport activities are listed below.  These sorts of injuries can also be triggered by work or activity which mimics the action as in the sport.

Bruised heel

A bruised heel can be brought on by either a sudden impact (such as landing heavily) or repetitive pounding. The heel bone is protected by a pad of fat. Continual pounding of the heel can produce the fat pad to be pushed up the side of the heel leaving less of a protective layer creating heel pain. This heel injury is also sometimes known as Policeman’s heel. It is ordinary in sports requiring a lot of impact onto the heel and in particular soldiers marching up and down on the parade square.

Blisters

Blisters are brought on by friction from shoes or clothing which rubs repeatedly on the skin causing friction burns. As the outer layer of skin separates from the inner layers the space between fills with lymph fluid.

Blisters are a common problem with athletes wearing in new shoes as well as athletes or walkers who take part in exceptionally long events such as marathons or long hill walks.

Fracture of bones

The navicular bone is a bone in the ankle which sits on top of the heel bone. A stress fracture of this bone is one of the more usual stress fractures  seen in the feet of athletes, especially those involved in sprinting, jumping or hurdling.

Heel Injury

The plantar fascia or arch ligament is a band that runs from under the heel to the front of the foot. A strain or rupture to this is quite frequent. A plantar fascia strain might result from one single traumatic incident or may gradually happen over a period of time.

Athletes foot

Athletes foot (also known as Tinea Pedis) is a skin infection which is regularly thought to happen amongst athletes and those who wear trainers  and other non-breathable footwear.

Achilles tendon

Runner frequently experience sorenes of the Achilles tendon. It can often be mistaken for Achilles tendinitis or can also happen in conjunction with Achilles tendinitis. A bursa is a small sack of fluid that goes between a tendon and a bone in the feet to aid the tendon move smoothly over the bone.

Over stressing the body, especially by atheletes who train through pain barrier are likely to develop soreness of Achilles tendon . Shoes can rub against the spur and cause pain. In addition, a painful fluid-filled sac abeled as a bursa can develop between the heel bone and the tendon. Traditionally, correcting this tightness involved severing the tendon, removing the bone spur or bursa, and then reattaching the tendon.

Different Types Of Heel Injury

Listed below are various types of heel injury.

Painful tissue at centre of heel is caused by tightening of muscles around the heel and calf muscles. Normal position of muscles is to be in balance. Muscles are grouped to be complimentary, meaning that one muscle controls lifting of the arm say and its complimentary muscle lowers the arm. When one of the muscle groups is much tighter or stronger than its complimentary partner an imbalance will occur. This will lead to pain of some type and in case of heel injury the pain will be located near the heel.

Edge of heel pain is commonly caused by some sort of trauma such as landing clumsily on your heel from a fall. This type of heel injury will heal in its own time provided no permanent structural damage has occurred or the injury is not re injured during the healing period. Pain in the edge of heel can also be caused by very tight muscles around the heel.

People with cracked heel more often than not have some form of dietary deficiency. There may be several minerals missing which in turn prevent the heel form healing itself. Exposure to breeze and or water can instigate cracking of the heel due to continual drying of the skin in breezy surroundings. Very frequently this occurs to workers who are required to work outside and have exposure to some chemical substance which comes in contact with their heel.

A fracture or break of any of the bones in the foot will cause pain. Bones will heal when normal healing is allowed. The way bones heal is they grow more bone around the fracture or break until the break has healed. The bone will then shrink back to its original size.

When heel injury is due to ligament damage it is usually accompanied by severe pain. Any type of movement will impact on the foot and hence cause more pain. Seeing as ligaments are joined to the bones the pain can feel as if it is in the bones when in reality it is ligament pain.

Muscle tear on the other hand can be painful but they last far shorter than ligament tear. It is important to allow muscle sufficient time to repair itself. Unlike ligaments muscles are designed to tear and be repaired as this is the common life of any muscle.

Pinched nerve in the back can cause heel injury type pain and this can be hard to locate with conventional medical treatments. Alternative medical treatments are usually the best way to deal with this injury. Chiropractor is the right person to deal with this type of complaint. To ensure the treatment is lasting affected area needs to be massaged first before undertaking manipulation of the spine. Manipulation of the spine will release the nerve and hence remove the cause of pain.

Heel injury has many causes of heel pain and for successful treatment it is imperative to have the accurate diagnosis. Medical treatments cannot locate the problem as a lot of their methods are geared to fix the symptom rather than the cause of the pain.