(Continued…)

Reason 4. Calcaneal disease

The oblique bone on the fiber fat pad is our calcaneus, which is a very strong and very fragile bone in our body. Why do you say that? The calcaneus is the main weight-bearing bone when we stand upright. About half of our body weight is transferred to the calcaneus. When we were young, this bone was very hard. Even if you jump from a high place, the calcaneus will allow you to land safely most of the time. However, gradually, as I got older, the problem came.

The calcaneus is such a bone with a hard outer shell, but the shell is full of trabecular bones, which are cancellous. These cancellous bones become looser and weaker with age. This is osteoporosis. This kind of osteoporosis makes our calcaneus no longer able to withstand the huge pressure and impact as when we were young. Sometimes even just walking more or moving more vigorously will also cause internal trabecular bone. Of course, these broken trabeculae can only be seen with a microscope, so we call them microfractures. Although you can’t see these microfractures, they are real, and they will also cause you pain, especially when you are bearing weight on your heel. Sometimes, due to a sudden impact, there will be obvious compression fractures of the calcaneus, which are often overlooked. When this kind of osteoporosis or microfracture occurs, the pain they cause is often broader than a fixed point, it is a small area, or it is painful to squeeze the calcaneus hard. Most of the time this pain is not intermittent but will last for some time.

In addition to osteoporosis and microfractures, calcaneal spurs can sometimes cause heel pain.

This type of calcaneal spur is very common in middle-aged and elderly people, but you should not think that your heel pain is caused by this bone spur. These kinds of bone spurs are called traction bone spurs.

This common site for calcaneal spurs is often the starting point of the plantar fascia. It is precise because the plantar fascia repeatedly pulls the bones here during exercise. The brain commands the calcium deposits in the body to strengthen this point ( It’s like preventing this fascia from pulling out of the bone), over time, there will be this bone spur. Therefore, the bone spurs are also very innocent and passive. But when we see this bone spur, we know that the plantar fascia of this person is a fascia with repeated strain, the heel is a heel with repeated strain, and the fat pad is also a fat pad with repetitive strain. Therefore, this bone spur reminds us, This person is very likely to suffer from pain. Even if symptoms do not appear now, they are likely to appear shortly.

In addition to calcaneal osteoporosis, microfractures, and bone spurs, another factor that may cause calcaneal lesions is calcaneal hypertension. What? I have only heard of high blood pressure, but bones can also be high pressure. In some cases of high blood pressure, the diameter, patency, and elasticity of blood vessels are not as good as before due to various reasons. The resistance of the heart to pump blood to the whole body has increased, and high blood pressure has appeared. Since the calcaneus grows at the lowest part of the human body, the blood in the veins inside the calcaneus wants to overcome gravity to flow upwards, which is very “tired”. Yes, blood vessels are not made of iron, and they will degenerate and age under day-to-day work. Slow venous blood return is not so “clang and powerful” anymore. Many blood flow is very slow and accumulates inside the calcaneus. As mentioned before, the calcaneus is a bone with a harder shell and a tighter encasement. The pressure inside can’t be released, so pain occurs. There is a saying in Chinese medicine, but if it doesn’t work, it hurts.

Reason 5. Achilles tendon and surrounding lesions

As I said earlier, the horizontal line of the sole is the plantar fascia, and the vertical line on the back of the foot is the Achilles tendon. It is the “hamstring” of self-abolition of martial arts in martial arts novels.

This Achilles tendon can be seen and ends on the calcaneus, and it will also have the same small tears, strains, inflammations, etc., which are similar to the plantar fascia, so I won’t repeat it. Furthermore, strictly speaking, the pain around the Achilles tendon is not in the category of what we call heel pain. The medial heel pain is mainly focused on the pain near the bottom of the heel, while the Achilles tendon pain is in the back of the foot. The backside or even the backside of the ankle joint, the position is higher. But one thing must be noted. There are some rheumatology diseases, such as ankylosing spondylitis, which is a disease that invades the start and endpoints of tendons and ligaments, so some patients with ankylosing spondylitis will have Achilles tendon pain, The patient himself said it was heel pain, and this is sometimes the only early symptom of some patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Therefore, in the outpatient clinic, as long as they are in their teens or twenties, especially slender boys who say that their heels hurt, I usually ask them to check for ankylosing spondylitis. After all, the early detection of this disease is of great therapeutic significance.