If your heels and calves hurt

People's complaints of burning heels or burning in the soles of their feet are often not cause for concern. The unpleasant sensations pass within a few minutes and are forgotten like a bad dream. But what if this happens regularly, what causes these sensations and is it worth seeing a doctor? Let's figure out why heels burn, why you need to pay attention to it and how to deal with it.

Causes of discomfort

The causes of a burning sensation can be both trivial and more serious health problems.

The most harmless of them is fatigue. Being on your feet all day, and coming home in the evening, you often experience a burning sensation in your feet, and mostly in the heels of your feet. Uncomfortable shoes, especially those that women are used to wearing, high heels or perhaps of poor quality, impede blood circulation and lead to discomfort. Arriving home and taking off his shoes, a person feels a rush of blood to the soles of his feet and as a result, burning occurs in the heels. This is a normal process and you should not focus on it.

The next reason why your heels burn is an allergic reaction. Today, shoes, tights or socks are made mostly from synthetic materials. They can cause allergies and, as a result, discomfort in the feet.

Serious illnesses can be accompanied by severe burning in the feet and be one of the symptoms of the disease.

Here are some diseases accompanied by this symptom:

Varicose veins, vascular atherosclerosis, thrombophlebitis.

Skin diseases: foot fungus, bacterial infections.

Lack of vitamins, especially group B.

Flat feet.

Gout.

Heavy metal poisoning.

Diabetes.

First aid for sore feet

If you feel a burning sensation, you can take some actions to alleviate the condition. But this is if you have no contraindications to any procedures, and your legs are just tired.

You can make a contrast bath for your feet. For this, use water with different temperatures: cold, room temperature 24-25 degrees and warm - 35-40 degrees. Alternately immerse your feet in a bowl of water, or you can douse your feet. Always start and finish with cold water, then dry your feet thoroughly and lubricate them with a cream containing menthol oil.

If your legs, in addition to burning, also swell, try to raise them a little higher than your head and spend at least 10 minutes in this position. Lie down on the sofa and place a pillow or bolster under your feet. This will help relieve swelling and reduce blood flow to the extremities.

The simplest exercises will help in this case: circular movements of the feet alternately in both directions, movement of the toes up and down.

A foot massage will be an ideal remedy for itching. Rub your feet towards the heel, massage the burning areas or use today's popular foot massagers. For massage, you can also pour peas, buckwheat, perhaps pebbles or fine sand into a bag and walk on it.

It is possible to use herbs for baths that help normalize blood circulation. Brew 2-3 tablespoons of wormwood, chamomile, hops or linden in a liter of boiling water, let it brew for 20-30 minutes and use as directed. The duration of the procedure should not exceed 15 minutes.

Help for serious illnesses

As already written, burning heels can be an indicator of a serious illness. Let's figure out in order what can be done for treatment at home.

Shoes today can be made from synthetic materials that can cause allergic dermatitis, especially if worn on bare feet or if you are already prone to certain types of allergies. Then itching and burning of the feet may also be accompanied by obvious redness or even a rash. A day spent wearing such shoes can result in a very violent reaction from the body. If you have allergies, you will definitely need treatment.

An allergic reaction may occur due to wearing synthetic socks, tights or insoles made from low-quality materials. And the use of cosmetics in the summer can aggravate the reaction to low-quality products.

Treatment in this case will consist of refusing to wear shoes or clothing that caused the allergy. If the body reacts intensely to an irritant, you can use special creams against itching and allergies. If the reaction persists, why not see a doctor.

Phlebeurysm

Varicose veins are a very common disease today. It affects both women and men. Mainly the vessels of the lower extremities are affected, and one of the likely symptoms of beginning varicose veins is a burning sensation in the soles of the feet. By evening, the legs swell, become hot, and the heels, feet and calves burn with fire. Cramps and bulging veins may occur. If you notice any of the symptoms, be sure to consult your doctor. Timely treatment and prevention will only benefit.

Treatment is usually carried out after a thorough medical examination and identification of the cause of the disease: it can be conservative or require surgical intervention.

What does treatment include?

Negative effects on the legs are excluded. Work that requires standing for long periods of time or heavy lifting should be reduced to a minimum.

A balanced diet is prescribed to help strengthen the walls of blood vessels. A large amount of vegetables and fruits is good for health. Avoid spicy, smoked and salty foods that cause thirst. It is not recommended to drink a lot of fluids due to the risk of swelling.

Wearing elastic bandages or compression garments is recommended. This helps reduce the load on the veins and prevents them from stretching. It must be remembered that the use of bandages or special underwear should be only after the recommendation of a doctor.

Drug treatment or surgical intervention can only be prescribed by an experienced specialist.

Fungal infection is also very common today and its first manifestation is a burning sensation in the legs. Infection most often occurs when visiting swimming pools, saunas or baths. The infection can spread to the entire foot and even under the nail plate. In addition to burning, peeling, itching, cracked heels and yellowing of the nail may appear. Only a doctor can determine the type of fungus and then prescribe the necessary treatment.

What needs to be done at home?

Disinfect all things that may be contaminated with fungus: shoes, insoles and foot care accessories. Disinfection is carried out with a 25% formaldehyde solution. Wash everything from the nail file to the bathroom.

Lubricate the affected feet with special antifungal creams, such as Lamisil cream, Nizoral, or whatever your doctor prescribes.

To prevent fungal infections, practice good personal hygiene. When going to public swimming areas, why not take care of a change of shoes that you can disinfect at home. Remember that treatment is more expensive than prevention.

Let us remind you that if burning legs are caused by fatigue, then the simplest remedies that can be used at home will help you. But, if you notice, in addition to everything else, signs of a developing disease, do not hesitate and go for a consultation with a doctor.

Why do heels hurt and what to do about it?

Hello, dear friends! When health problems appear, we lose our zest for life. Particularly unpleasant sensations are caused by aching and sharp pain in the heels. Why do such problems occur in the legs, why do the heels hurt, what could it be? I suggest we talk about this.

Our heels are our natural shock absorbers and they are very vulnerable. The reasons for the occurrence of unpleasant sensations in them are different, ranging from the simplest, most banal and easily removable, to serious diseases up to the need for surgical intervention.

Reasons why heels and feet hurt

First of all, you should pay close attention to your shoes. If you spend a lot of time in high-heeled shoes, your feet will experience excessive stress, which may well cause severe shooting pain in your heels.

Heel pain can also be caused by a leg injury that damages the ankle ligaments. Of course, when walking in this case, a burning pain in the heels may occur, as if a nail is piercing the heel more and more.

If you have not had an injury, but your heel hurts constantly and for a long time, this may indicate a serious illness.

The most common problem is plantar fasciitis (it also has another name - plantar). If a person wore poor-quality, tight shoes for a long time, or stood on their feet for a long time, this could cause thickening of the tissues on the surface of the foot and cause inflammation. Heel pain with fasciitis is most painful in the morning; when getting out of bed, a sharp pain pierces the heel. During the day, the pain becomes weaker, but when the load is placed on the feet, it intensifies. Heel pain also occurs after sitting for a long time. A complication in this case is the deposition of salts, which over time leads to a more serious problem - the formation of a bone growth, popularly called a heel spur, which often requires surgical intervention.

As I already wrote, if inflammation of the fascia of the sole is not treated for a long time, this can cause the development of a heel spur - a growth that was caused by the deposition of salts in the heel area (behind or under it). As a rule, heel spurs appear in older people who are overweight and have rheumatism. The pain is especially noticeable in the morning, when after a long rest the foot again receives stress when walking. After prolonged sitting, the pain also increases, increasing its intensity. Although for different people the pain can be severe, downright unbearable, preventing you from stepping on your heels (spurs can appear not only on one foot, but also on both), or it may not manifest itself at all. Many people with heel spurs are forced to walk on crutches due to pain, since the pain makes it simply impossible to step on the heel.

I recommend that you watch this video, which describes in detail the features of plantar fasciitis and heel spurs, as well as treatment methods:

With arthritis, it is not the heel itself that hurts, but the tissue between the heel bone and the toes. This occurs because the tissue connecting the toes to the heel bone and running along the foot becomes inflamed. The pain is increasing, making itself felt in the morning. If you give a massage, the pain will subside, but not for long: if you climb the stairs, or forget yourself and stand on tiptoes, the heel begins to hurt again.

Not everyone experiences pain in the foot joints with rheumatoid arthritis With such a serious joint disease, in addition to pain, there is swelling that impairs joint mobility; the person complains of problems with appetite, weakness and severe fatigue. At the initial stage of the disease, pain occurs only when you move, but if the inflammation is severe, the heels hurt even at rest, and may prevent you from falling asleep at night or wake up the sleeping person.

Also, some infections can cause pain in the feet ( reactive arthritis ). At the same time, the heels hurt constantly, the pain occurs both when walking and at rest, and is most painful at night. In addition to the heels, joints and the lower abdomen can hurt, and conjunctivitis often appears.

This disease is associated with metabolic disorders and often becomes another reason why heels hurt. The disease can be hereditary, or it can develop in those who abuse coffee, alcohol, proteins in their diet, and also eat a lot of processed foods. Uric acid salts are deposited in tendons and joints. Severe, sharp pain can pierce not only the heels, but also the fingers, joints of the hands and feet. The affected joints become reddish-brown and hot to the touch, and even minor touches can cause discomfort. The pain most often occurs at night during sleep.

It is an autoimmune inflammatory disease in a chronic form. With this disease, ossification of the spine occurs, gradually it acquires complete immobility and becomes absolutely inflexible. This occurs due to the “fusion” of the vertebrae. In the initial stage of the disease, in many cases the heels are the first to begin to hurt, and severe discomfort occurs when standing on a hard surface.

Inflammation of the Achilles tendon

The cause of pain can be injury or metabolic problems. There is a constant nagging pain in the heel that gets stronger with movement. There is swelling and redness. If there is excessive force, the tendon will rupture.

The following diseases are also called reasons why heels hurt: bone tuberculosis, osteomyelitis of the calcaneus, bursitis, diabetes mellitus and malignant tumors. Bruises, sprains or ruptures of tendons, fractures of the heel bone - all this can also cause pain in the heels.

In any case, to make an accurate diagnosis, it is not enough to focus only on the characteristics of pain in the feet, especially since such manifestations are individual for each person. You can’t do this without visiting a rheumatologist or traumatologist. However, there are several methods and ways to alleviate your condition with a similar problem.

What to do if your heels hurt?

First of all, of course, following the doctor’s recommendations, you need to treat the disease that caused this problem. You can also do something at home, because it is known that homeopathic medicine has a lot of recipes in stock for almost any ailment. And the most effective is a tincture of marsh cinquefoil in alcohol:

• tincture (1 tbsp) is diluted with water (80 ml) and drunk before meals three times a day. The course lasts twenty days. The break is ten days, then you can repeat the treatment. You can also make night compresses from cinquefoil tincture.

There are other ways to get rid of heel pain:

• Steam your feet in a decoction with mustard: boil 500 ml of water, stir 3 tbsp in it well. dry mustard, then the solution is poured into a basin filled with hot water. Immerse your feet in the water and steam until the water cools completely.
1. Beat off a cabbage leaf with a hammer and wrap your sore heel in it; you will need to pull a sock over it and go to bed. The procedure is done until the heel stops hurting.
2. Use ice therapy: Use an ice cube to massage your heel until it becomes numb (about 15-20 minutes). Do this two to three times a day.
3. If your heel hurts, you can knead it simply with your fingers: your thumbs first knead your foot, then move to the sore heel and concentrate on it. The intensity of the pain determines the pace and force with which you will apply pressure to your foot. Try to do this massage as often as possible.
4. It is also good to use honey with plantain to eliminate heel pain: spread honey on a plantain leaf and place it on the sore heel, putting a thick sock on top. The procedure is done at night.
5. Honey can also be used in a mixture with mumiyo: 100g of honey and 5g of mumiyo are placed in a water bath, the mixture is heated until the mumiyo dissolves in honey. The ointment is applied to sore heels before bedtime.
6. If your heel hurts due to gout, try these recipes:
• During an exacerbation of the disease, completely remove sweets and foods containing proteins. For a month, drink the following mixture through a straw in the morning on an empty stomach: 100 ml of lemon juice, quenched with soda (0.5 tsp), mix with 100 ml of plain water. This “cocktail” will help remove uric acid.
• if there is no exacerbation, every day for a month at night, lubricate the gouty area with 10 percent iodine, which usually becomes inflamed during an exacerbation. You need to wear a cotton sock over it. According to reviews, this procedure leads to severe exfoliation of the skin for many, but it is worth continuing. After a month, it will be good to apply an emollient cream to this area. This procedure is best done in spring and autumn with a break of four months. This way you can get rid of gout forever.
• For arthritis, prepare a medicinal ointment: in a bowl, mix 100 mg of pure alcohol, 50 g of dry mustard and camphor and 100 g of chicken egg white. Rub the resulting liquid ointment into the problem area before going to bed. Remove any remaining unabsorbed ointment with a paper towel or, better yet, a dry cloth. Pull the sock over your foot.
• If you have heel spurs, this area will need to be specially treated: first clean it and scrape it, then take softened propolis and bandage it to the location of the spur. It is good to keep this bandage around the clock. This procedure will need to be done at least four times.
1. For heel pain due to spurs, you can use plantain. It is advised to apply it unwashed with the “wrong” side to the heel. Immediately replace a dried leaf with a fresh one. They say that at first there is severe pain, but after enduring the procedure, you can completely get rid of the spurs.
2. You can eliminate pain in the heels with the help of green walnut peel: prepare a very strong infusion of the peel and steam your feet in it. After the procedure, the feet are not rinsed or dried with anything, they dry naturally.
3. Potatoes are a good remedy for heel pain:
4. Cut off the green parts from the green potatoes, grind them into a pulp, which you put in a bandage or gauze. Steam the sore heel well and apply a bandage to it. If you drink tea from brewed lilac flowers at night, this will enhance the effect;
5. Another recipe is this: grate raw potatoes into a puree and put it on your foot. Wrap the top with cling film or a simple plastic bag. It’s good if you can walk around with this design for several hours, so it’s better to do the procedure on the weekend.
7. Black radish can also be used: grate the unpeeled black radish on a fine grater and apply the resulting puree to the sore spot overnight. Wrap with cling film or polyethylene. Wash off the puree in the morning with warm water. You need to do this procedure at home three to four times.
8. Garlic also helps with heel pain: cloves of garlic (5 pieces) are crushed, the pulp is folded into a gauze bag and fixed on the problem area. Calculate so that the compress remains on the heel for at least 3 hours.

It is worth considering, however, that according to reviews, the beginning of treatment for heel pain with herbs is often marked by increased pain, which is why it is so important to carry out treatment under the supervision of a doctor and in parallel with the treatment prescribed by him.

Some more useful tips for heel pain

When playing sports, avoid jogging and race walking. Discover equally healthy and at the same time more gentle swimming and cycling.

If the reason why your heels hurt is due to excess weight, start bringing it back to normal - this way you will eliminate the additional stress on your feet and improve the condition of the whole body.

Wear comfortable shoes with heels no larger than 5cm. Do not wear boots or shoes with solid soles. If the heel is small, it will remove excess load from the heels. And don’t even go barefoot at home.

But it will be good to walk barefoot on sand, grass or sea pebbles.

Place special orthopedic insoles (orthoses) in your shoes - they will strengthen the heel muscles and also relax them. With constant wearing of such insoles, the pain will disappear after a few days.

Start doing special gymnastic exercises that will strengthen your heel muscles and prevent foot problems.

Gymnastics for heels

At first, you should not overload the muscles; the load should increase gradually:

9. roll the ball: alternately roll a tennis ball with your feet for a few minutes twice a day;
10. rolling a rolling pin: sitting in a chair, place your bare feet on the rolling pin lying on the floor. Like a ball, the rolling pin is rolled in different directions with each foot alternately for several minutes twice a day;
11. working on the stairs: with your feet slightly apart, stand on the step of the stairs so that your heels hang down. Holding the railing, lower your heels down without bending your knees. Within 20-60sec. you should feel the calf muscles stretch. Then you can relax. Six such approaches are made. The exercise should be performed twice a day;
12. stretching the leg: sitting on the floor and stretching your legs forward, pull your toes towards you, hold the position for 30 seconds, relax a little and then repeat two more times. In total, the exercise is done once a day, three approaches with each leg. Make sure your knees are straight;
13. We do a massage: before going to bed, thoroughly massage each toe four to five times a week, knead and stretch your feet and calves.

I recommend you a few more exercises from this video collection, choose any of them:

And from this video you will learn what you need to do in the morning to prevent your heels from hurting, and also what to do in the evening after a busy day to get rid of the problem forever:

Take care of yourself and be healthy!

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