Hi all,

Has any one on here ever had a heel bruise? On my fitness journal I've noted several times that I was having a little pain in my left heel. I never knew what it was, but just assumed it would go away. Well today I finished my weight training and decided to hit the treadmill for a 30 minute uphill walk at a fast pace. At the time my heel was feeling fine but afterwards it started hurting again. So finally I got fed up :( and decided to research it a little to see if I could find out what was wrong. based on my research I've come to believe I have a heel bruise. It is basically a thinning of the fat tissue under the heel bone caused by plyometric type exercises such as jumping or running on flat hard surfaces. The treatment is simply stay off it for awhile and or use heel gel pads for my shoes.

So for now I am going to follow the advice of several websites and stay off of it as much as possible. In the meantime I will also get a gel pad for my shoes.

This kinda bums me out because I'm in training for adventure racing this summer. But, I want to be pain free for these races as well. I will perhaps try some cardio that doesn't put any stress on my heel such as bicycling or swimming.

Any way the point of this thread is to see if anyone else has experience with this type of injury and what suggestions you might have on how to fix it.

Thanks

Dave

yes often, the only answer is time like most things.

I got them all the time while doing athletics back when i was competing regularly, athletics spikes don't come with nike air padding :p

Try to avoid hard heal landings while running, it can also be a sign that you're running too flat footed, or striking down too hard with your heel instead of quickly transfering the weight to the whole foot.

Or it might just be one of those things, doesn't necessarly indicate a problem.

Using a form of cardio that will not put stress on your heel is a good idea. You will be able to build your endurance and heal at the same time. When you are ready to begin running again, I suggest you spend sometime studying your running form to make sure you are not causing this problem with improper touchdown. Your heel should not be the first part of the foot to touch the ground when running.

Here is a good article on running form: http://www.runningplanet.com/articles/article_detail.asp?article_id=410 .
The touch down should be either flat footed or on the ball of the foot first, with the heel touching down immediately after. If the heel is striking first, some over striding is present.

I have flat feet, so Ive been using these insoles when Ive been running http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=233828 . I have had good results with them. It helps my flat feet by adding some padding to the heel and raising the heel a little. I like em :tucool:

Is the pain on the heal directly or slightly infront of it, right where your arch starts?

It might be Plantar Fasciitis (http://www.arthroscopy.com/sp09001.htm)

I currently have it and thought it was a bruised heal at first too, and it turned out to be a bit more serious. The Dr. tried treating it with cortizone as well as anti-inflamatories but that never really fixed it, so I had to shell out $400 for custom arch supports, to take the pressure off of my arch to allow that part of my foot to heal. It is getting better, so we will see, hopefully I won't have to go in for surgery. The Dr, did give me the go ahead to keep running and playing b-ball so that was good news. But it can turn into bone spurs if not treated, so you might want to have a podiatrist take a look at it.

brad

I used to have that problem when I played basketball. I used a couple rubbery heel cups (not full insoles) from the athletic goods store, and that helped *a lot*.

They have some that are a little more substantial than the regular gel and give a thicker cushion.

You could also start using an Elliptical machine in addition to the bicycling and/or swimming. That helped me with foot trouble as well as shin splints.