If you are a runner, you probably have suffered a heel bruise some time during your running career, either by striking a stone or landing on your heel wrong. It is a painful, long-lasting injury, one that can keep you on the disabled list for weeks.
The heel of your foot is protected by a thick layer of fat to cushion foot strike, and the skin on your heel is the thickest area of skin on your body. But in spite of all this protection, coming down on a sharp object with full heel strike can cause damage to tissue that surrounds the bone in the heel, which is very sensitive to sharp blows and bruises easily.
The rupture of blood vessels in the heel and damage to the periosteum tissue results in bruising and pain that can last for several weeks. To the athlete, that is an intolerable amount of recuperation time that can never be recovered if you are in training for a special event.
Most athletes can remember the occurrence of the heel bruise; where they hit the object or when they suffered the pain. At that time, the sport should be stopped and ice applied. The R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression and elevation) method of dealing with this sports injury certainly applies. When you can resume easy-walking movements using the heel with no pain or discomfort, you can again consider the resumption of your sport.
I have had many students who run or jog and even speed walk who have suffered heel bruises. The single most helpful thing they do is to constantly cushion the injured heel. Adding padding to the shoe for shock absorption seems to help speed healing. Day-to-day living involves the use of feet. Even your most simple tasks can result in heel pain. Normal walking movements bring the heel in contact with the ground first, and your heels take the full weight of your body.
My sports injury books suggest the continued use of ice following the resumption of your sports activity. In any case, use common sense. Don't exercise if the injury can still be felt, especially if there is the slightest amount of pain.
Most heel injuries are not of the simple form of heel bruising. It takes a doctor to diagnose an injury that does not heal quickly. If you cannot identify the cause of your heel bruise, and if it doesn't respond to treatment and heal quickly, check with your doctor for the real cause. Plantar heel pain can have other, more serious causes that need medical attention.
Jerry Vance is owner of The Sweat Shop/Wet Sweat. She offers classes through Carson City Recreation and Aquatics Center and is a fitness instructor for the Senior Center.
