Heel pain treatments

Your heel pain may be caused by several factors, but rest is good first treatment for all of them. If that doesn't work, your doctor will have other ideas you can try.

For all types of heel pain, resting and not walking on your foot is a good first step.

Make sure you’re wearing well-fitting shoes that provide support and don’t rub your feet as you walk.

If you have a bruise on your heel, rest and time will let the bruise heal.

If you have plantar fasciitis causing heel pain, where the tissue along the bottom of your foot gets inflamed, exercises, medication, and a special shoe insert may help.

If the plantar fasciitis causes an extra bit of bone called a bone spur to grow, the treatment steps for plantar fasciitis also work. An x-ray can diagnose a bone spur.

If you have broken the calcaneus, the bone in the back of your foot, you may need to wear a cast or splint and may be restricted from doing certain activities as it heels. If the bones aren’t where they are supposed to be you may need to have surgery.

Physicians who treat heel pain

Find a specialist in your location.