One of the most common ailment presenting to the doctors in our office is HEEL PAIN. The complaint of heel pain is commonly caused by PLANTAR FASCIITIS. This condition is often characterized by severe heel pain on the first step in the morning or following rest.

Common causes for plantar faciitis can be one or many of the following: progressive flattening of the arch, lack of proper arch support, tightness of the calf muscle of the leg, significant high arch foot, and excessive weight gain. Any of these conditions can cause the plantar fascia to tear away from the heel bone. The heel reacts to this "tearing" by laying down more bone in the area of the pulling or tearing, which can be seen on an X-ray as a heel spur.

As you might be aware, the plantar fascia is often not seen on a conventional X-ray. We have recently acquired a DIAGNOSTIC ULTRASOUND MACHINE for soft tissue imaging. We are now able to identify and measure the amount of soft tissue swelling and injury to any plantar fascia, along with visualization of neuromas, soft tissue cysts and stress fractures with this type of machine.

Heel pain is often treated successfully with a regiment of stretching, anti-inflammatory drugs, cortisone injections and orthotics. Orthotics are greater than 90% successful in curing and preventing a recurrence of plantar fasciitis.

We alos would like to remind you that we have an extraordinary success with EXTRA CORPORAL SHOCK WAVE THERAPY treatment for plantar fasciitis and heel pain where conventional treatments have failed. By applying a high intensity sound wave to the plantar fasial region of the painful foot, a patient's chronic heel pain is often rapidly eliminated.

Remember, our office is open six days a week and we have early morining hours and late hours to accommodate all of our patients' needs. We accept most insurance plans and offer free consultations to new patients without any health insurance. Please feel free to contact our office with any questions you may have.