‘50 year-old female patient Mrs Vandana  presented to our clinic with a history of heel pain that had started 6 months ago and making her difficulty to get and walk early morning and do her routine activity. The pain was intermittent and increased with sport activities such as walking, or long standing. She felt the pain as stabbing pain at  bottom of her feet that can be felt when she first stands up in the morning or during the initial steps of walking after sitting for a prolonged period. ‘

PLANTAR HEEL PAIN is the most prevalent complaint in adults with foot related pains. Patients present with severe pain at the plantar region of the heel on raising from the bed and placing the foot on the ground. Pain is severe with first steps on rising in the morning and even after the prolonged time of inactivity worsens when they walk barefoot or climb stairs or walk for a long time.

Factors that contribute to the risk of developing heel pain

  • Excess weight/obesity
  • Ill-fitting shoes
  • Increasing age
  • Patients with flat foot / high arch foot
  • High heeled and hard sole footwear.

How calcaneal spur is formed and what we need to look?

A calcaneal spur, is an abnormal bone outgrowth at the inferior part of the calcaneus, which is the most common site of bony spur occurrence and being common cause of heel pain.

Time of day when pain occurs, current shoe wear, type of activity level both at work and leisure, and history of trauma needs to be looked into.

How to manage Heel pain at home ?

In most cases, mild or moderate heel pain can be treated successfully with shoe padding and strapping of the foot, therapeutic orthotic insoles, stretching and physical therapy. Application of Ayurveda muscle relaxant pain oils, hot fomentation helps to reduce the intensity of the pain.

How to manage heel pain through Ayurveda ?

Vatakantaka (HEEL PAIN) as per Ayurveda is a painful condition of heel due to improper placement of foot on the ground or by walking over an irregular surface. This can be correlated to a calcaneal spur which is a calcium deposit causing a bony protrusion on the underside of the heel bone often frequently associated with plantar fasciitis, a painful inflammation of the fibrous band of connective tissue.

  • Initial treatment options may include padding  and using therapeutic orthotic insoles
  • Avoidance of flat shoes and barefoot walking, limitation of high-impact physical activities.
  • Patients usually have a clinical response within 6 weeks of initiation of treatment,with eliminate the inflammatory process, and to reduce tension and pain on the plantar fascia
  • During the acute inflammatory phase, local anti-inflammatory herbal pack is applied as lepa.
  • For chronic conditions combination of internal medications with guggulu kalpas and along with anti-inflammatory medications, Istika sweda special kind of steam for this condition is beneficial.

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