Plantar Heel Pain

Original Editor - Mariam Hashem

Top Contributors - Mariam Hashem, Jess Bell, Lucinda hampton, Kim Jackson, Tarina van der Stockt and Habibu Salisu Badamasi

Introduction

Plantar heel pain, also known as plantar fasciitis or fasciopathy. Differentiation between terms is important because there is a number of causes that can cause or contribute to the heel pain and not all of them relate to the fascia.

Plantar heel pain is most common in middle-aged women. The reasons for the high incidence in women are not known, however, it has been linked to early menopause. The hormonal changes are believed to attribute to a weakening of the fascia and maybe an increased stress.

The symptoms of plantar heel pain are in middle-aged women are associated with:

Prolonged standing

Recent changing of shoe wear

Stress

The pain tends to be particularly bad in the morning causing the patient to struggle when they get out of the bed and start their day.