Heel Problems , getting WORST

I am having this strange problem with my heel. Right after waking up I can barley walk. I have so much pain in my heel, there’s no bruise what so ever, NOTHING!

It’s strange because after about 5 hrs into the day it goes away.

Somedays during warm up it hurts like crazy, but after jogging on it for 5-10 mins it goes away.

What is this? Should I worry about this?

Well YEeeA, like Dr. Phil says hahah, Because I feel it’s getting worst, When it first started it went away after a few strides, not now!

Kenny Mac~~

Kenny, be very careful with injuries that follow the pattern you described. The first phase is that the affected part hurts only during and directly after exercise. Phase two is that it hurts in the morning when you get up, but disappears during the course of the day. Phase three is that it hurts all the time. You are at phase two right now. Do not let it get to phase three, because if it is by chance tendonitis, then it can be quite possibly career-ending. See a sports physician as soon as possible.

Thnaks guys!

I ran 11.04 on it this weekend.

I’m geting this checked out QUICK!

It’s hurting very BAD as I type LOL!

Thanks again

Kenny Mac~~

Kenny. E-mail to info@charliefrancis.com and I’ll send you the number for a therapist in the Sunnyvale/Stanford area who might be able to help.

I’m the same - plantar f

Get up and after 10 minutes it’s okay. I got good flexibility in calves but htey are still tight, I also have flat feet.

Get them fixed without any sort of operation and quickly

Kenny, what part of the heel is it? Is it right on the very bottom, or is it higher up, closer to the lowest part of the achilles tendon? A lot of people don’t realize that the achilles tendon attaches very low down on the back of the heel. There is a condition called achilles tendon enthesopathy, which is basically inflammation at the lowest point of the achilles tendon attachment. The description of your symptoms i.e. pain in the morning and pain during warm up, but improving during the workout sounds like this condition. I suffered from achilles tendon enthesopathy for 3 years in both achilles tendons. My right achilles tendon attachment still bothers me. I’ve never had any pain in the actual tendon itself, however - just pain on the back of the heel. There’s nothing much you can do about it, apart from icing it after you workout and maybe taking anti inflammatory medication. I found that topical anti inflammatories creams/gels to be useless for this condition. I tried just about every one!

No matter what the ultimate diagnosis is, the first order of business is to check the calves to see if they’re tight. This is the root cause of most of these problems. I’m especially suspicious that this is involved as you get relief later in the day (when improved blood flow might loosen the area.) Massage, both self administered and from a professional should help.

It’s a very strange injury I must say.

As far as the location it’s the lower heel almost at the tip where the heel curves about 4 inches from the achilles tendon.

I have been running track for over 16 years and this is my first serious injury.

Coach Francis my calves are very flexible.
It feels like I ran a mile on my heels the whole way during the next day.
I pay close attention to my foot strike while sprinting and my heels NEVER hit the ground.

Like right now it’s hurting, and I have a meet at Cal- Berk this evening in the RAIN YeeeA, My goal is to go under 10.9, and 22.1, strong winds tho! See what the coach can do today against his athletes.
I’m running against 8 of my sprinters.

Thanks for the reply guys!

It’s just funny that the pain goes away later in the day.
Somedays it hurts so bad, I panic because it feels like the pain is too server to leave:mad: hahahah

Thanks again

Kenny Mac~~

I have the same injury and it has laid me up for most of a year. Mine was diagosed as plantar faciatitis (SP?)
One good exercise is to put a piece of rope under your injured foot and with your leg straight pull your foot towards you. Then when you have reached the limit of how far you can pull then pull your toes and foot toward your body.

You probably have a muscle strength imbalance there causing the pain. I noticed IMMEDIATE relief when doing these exercises. Do 3 sets of 20 for each foot a day.

Cheers,
Chris