According to a recent survey from the American Podiatric Medical Association, heel pain is the foot ailment that affects Americans most—16 percent of the population regularly experiences it.

A person can develop heel pain when pounding feet on hard surfaces while playing sports or wearing shoes that irritate sensitive tissues.

Many people try to ignore the early signs of heel pain and keep performing the activities that are causing the problem. When continuing to use a sore heel, it can quickly get worse and become a chronic condition.

While it is a common misconception that heel spurs are to blame, the most frequent cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis. With this condition, too much running or jumping can lead to inflammation of the tissue band (fascia) connecting the heel bone to the base of the toes.

The pain is generally centered under the heel and may be mild at first but tends to flare up when taking the first steps in the morning or resting for a period of time. Plantar fasciitis is often successfully treated with custom orthotics, injections, prescription medications, physical therapy and immobilization. However, the longer one has untreated pain the more difficult it is to find relief.

Other causes of heel pain include Achilles tendonitis and fat pad thinning.

Achilles tendonitis is caused by tight calf muscles, bone spurs, age, injury and primary tendonitis. If left untreated, this can also develop into tendon rupturing and a more chronic problem called tendonosis, which involves adhesions and scar tissue formation.

Age, obesity and walking on hard surfaces can all cause fat pad thinning, which occurs on the fleshing ball of the heel. Treatments may include soft insoles and soft-soled shoes prescribed by a podiatrist.

This article is provided by the California Podiatric Medical Association.