Important distinction should be made between both acute and chronic heel pain. Most physicians consider acute heel pain something that is 4-6 weeks old in nature and still has the ability to resolve on its own and often doesn’t take a lot of intervention. These are the typical patients I can ice and stretch and find a fair amount of relief. However there is a different category of patients ones where the heel pain becomes chronic and these are much harder to treat.
Chronic heel pain is usually described as anything over 6 weeks in nature and oftentimes fairly debilitating. I see quite a few patients that often times have heel pain that has been around for more than a year and regardless of stretching and icing. Chronic heel pain is a different animal and normally requires some sort of biological intervention. I think it is important to address the nature of the chronic heel pain and an MRI to evaluate whether or not a tear is present can be highly beneficial.
If you are suffering from heel pain and this has been going on for months to years I can help. First it is important to identify the underlying causes and at this point implementing a treatment plan that can be curative. Give us a call at 425-391-8666 or make an appointment online today.
Sincerely,
Board-Certified Foot and Ankle Physician
