Unfortunately, because of the large prevalence of heel pain among people today – well, definitely in those that visit a Podiatrist – it’s easy to diagnose heel pain as plantar fasciitis based on a few key symptoms.

This typically involves:

• Pain on the bottom or inside of your heel
• Pain that radiates up into the arch
• Pain that is worse first thing in the morning and on standing after rest
• Heel pain in those with flat (pronated) feet

What you may not know is that these are also symptoms of a condition called Abductor Hallucis Tendinopathy. Don’t be deterred by the name – it’s just a fancy way of saying that the muscle that connects the inner heel to the big toe (hallux) and moves your big toe outwards (abducts) is damaged (tendinopathy). Simple!

What’s the difference between the two?

The biggest and most significant difference is that the plantar fascia is a tissue (think of the white fascia you see when preparing a leg of lamb) whereas the abductor hallucis is a muscle (the meaty part itself!). These two have very different properties and treatment needs to be specific to the right condition. Additionally, the plantar fascia spans out like a fan from the heel to insert into all the toes, whereas the abductor hallucis is only concerned with the big toe itself, from the heel.

What does this mean for my treatment?

It means that your treatment plan won’t have focused on intrinsically strengthening a potentially weakened and damaged muscle – a feature that may be the cause of your ongoing pain to no avail. No matter how much you reduce the tension from the arch and support it, if you have an intrinsically weak muscle that runs through the inner arch, it is much harder to relieve the pain and keep it gone without working on the damaged or weakened muscle itself. Admittedly though the issue can resolve this way for some people, the overall process is much longer (and much more frustrating) than it should be, and ain’t nobody got time for that.

What should I do now?

If your heel pain isn’t going away, come see our expert team here at Sole Motion Podiatry for a comprehensive biomechanical analysis. Intrinsic muscle strengthening is one of our key focuses because there’s no point in getting you better just for your pain to come back because your muscles are weakened and can’t handle your activity levels. You should be able to do the things you love, train how you like and smash all your goals without even thinking about foot or leg pain, let alone have it slow you down or stop you in your tracks.

We’ll construct a treatment plan that is tailored to not only the right condition but to your life and your goals. At Sole Motion, you come first, which is why we focus on not just getting you better now but keeping you better in the long run.

If you’re worried about your foot pain give us a call on 1300-FX-FEET and come join our awesome team of happy patients!