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Last year I broke my patella on my left leg - twice. My brace finally came off after seven months, and suddenly I noticed pain in my right heel. Perhaps my gait was off since it took me awhile to walk properly. The pain became excruciating and I finally went to a podiatrist after a couple of months. He said that it wasn't PF because the pain was in the wrong place -- the pain is confined to the horseshoe of my heel, slightly to the right side. When I press the area, it hurts. Yet I have all the symptoms of PF --pain after resting, unable to step on that foot in the morning. The podiatrist took x-rays and said there were no heel spurs, thengave me two cortisone shots but they didn't help. The only thing that feels comfortable are my flip-flops, especially the ones with an egg-crate sole. My heel aches, sometimes burns, when I'm doing nothing, just sitting with my legs up. There is never a day without pain. Does anyone have any suggestions?. I've read the other posts and I'm willing to try the Yoga Toes or splint, but the reviews seem mixed. Oy.

dear bmehlman,
You have my sympathies! I am curious, did the podiatrist say what he thought it might be if not PF? Is the pain to the inside of your heel or the outside? With my PF/TTS I have pain right at the beginning of my arch in front of my heel but my trapped nerve causes pain more to the inside of my heel, at about the same place in front of the heel bone. When it's really bad, my whole heel hurts, front and back, side to side. Sometimes it aches like a toothache and sometimes it burns like it's on fire. Sometimes my ankle and my arch hurts too.
If it is PF, you need good, supportive shoes with some cushion for the heel. I am just starting out with the Yoga-toes (just got'em yesterday) and am going to try a new soft night splint and heel cups from amazingfootcare.com that I just received today. I wish you luck! Look forward to hearing from you!

Dear nursepain: Thanks so much for your reply. My heel pain is very specific -- right on the horseshoe in two spots on either side of my Achilles tendon which I can locate with my finger. When I press those spots hard enough, they hurts as though they've been bruised by, say, a hammer. Sometimes my heel burns when I'm doing nothing and sitting with my feet up. And then some days, I'm fine. I'm using gel pads in my good supporting shoes but they don't seem to make much of a difference. I should add that as a librarian, I'm on my feet all day. As for my podiatrist, I don't think he's very bright; he was at a loss. My orthopedist, the one who operated on my broken patella, said I should treat it as if it were PF: hold my toes and stretch my foot towards my shin, then massage the heel for 5 minutes. I never got to 5 minutes but it actually does help a little. There's a large podiatry school in NYC in Harlem and I'm thinking of going there for a consultation. I want to go hiking this summer in Wyoming and this bleeping heel pain will make a 5-8 mile hike impossible.

When you broke your patella, and had surgery, how did you recover? Did they put you in a cast? Did you do physical therapy? There is a type of nerve entrapment that will cause the type of pain you're describing, the fix is pretty easy, all you have to do is find a Chiropractor who has extremities training. It's a velocity pull, with you sitting down, straight out the leg. I've had it, and it stopped cold. When I stood up it was much less painful, I had 2 more days of decreasing sensitivity, then it was GONE. I later got plantar fasciitis, but it was unrelated. If you're planning a big hike, it will do you good to stretch early and often, and make sure your ankles are in good shape, and moving well.