Not all heel pain is plantar fasciitis #shorts

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]If your heel hurts in the morning when you get out of bed, you think it's plantar fasciitis, but there is a chance that it may be something else. Here are the reasons why your heel is not getting better because the diagnosis is wrong.

[00:00:15]There's a good chance you're treating the wrong thing, and that's why it's not getting better. So, here's what's actually going on. Plantar fasciitis is a very specific diagnosis and only affects the plantar fascia.

[00:00:29]The plantar fascia is on the bottom of the foot, not on the back of the foot.

[00:00:36]The Achilles tendon is on the back.

[00:00:38]The Achilles tendon is the strongest and thickest tendon in the body. It attaches to the heel bone. The diagnosis is completely different, and the treatment algorithm for Achilles tendinitis is also different from plantar fasciitis, although there can be some similarities.

[00:00:56]So, the first step in treatment is actually to offload the tendon. So, this involves looking at what activities you're involved with and potentially reducing or restricting the activities.

[00:01:08]All patients need to get into formal physical therapy. Uh the appropriate unloading, but also loading of the tendon is pivotal to get to a successful outcome. On top of that, what can be done locally within the tendon itself to see repair the tissue?

[00:01:30]At our clinic, we offer a few approaches. We employ something regenerative, whether that's shockwave therapy versus a platelet-rich plasma injection versus a combined approach. So, what is shockwave therapy? Shockwave is a regenerative non-invasive technique where high-energy sound waves get pummeled into the tissue. What is PRP?

[00:01:55]PRP stands for platelet-rich plasma.

[00:01:58]This is a technique where your own platelets are injected into the diseased tissue.

[00:02:04]And when that happens, the platelets go through a process known as degranulation, so they spew out their growth factors. The growth factors are used to repair your tissue. So, if you've been treating your heel pain as plantar fasciitis and it's not getting better, it's probably time for a more accurate diagnosis because it might actually be Achilles tendinitis. Time to go see a doctor to have a full evaluation, get the imaging done, and see what is actually going on because the diagnosis is what drives the treatment.

[00:02:39]The good news is that when we figure out what is specifically going on, there can actually be a path forward.

[00:02:47]You don't have to live in pain.