Heel pain is most often caused by plantar fasciitis, a condition that is sometimes also called heel spur syndrome when a heel spur is present. Heel pain may also be due to other causes, such as a stress fracture, tendonitis, arthritis, a nerve irritation, or, rarely a cyst. Heel pain can also be due to degenerative arthritis in the lower back that refers pain into the heel area.

Because there are several potential causes of heel pain, it is important to have heel pain properly diagnosed and treated. As well the longer the condition persists generally the harder it becomes to treat.

Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the band of tissue ( the plantar fascia ) that extends from the heel to the toes. In this condition, the fascia first becomes irritated then inflamed resulting in heel pain.

The symptoms of plantar fasciitis are:

• pain on the bottom of the heel.
• pain that is usually worse upon arising.
• pain usually increases over a period of months.

People with plantar fasciitis often describe pain as worse when they get up in the morning or after they’ve been sitting for long periods of time.

After a few minutes of walking the pain decreases, because walking stretches the fascia. For some people the pain subsides but returns after spending long periods of time their feet.

Bunions are a common problem that most people experience as a bony protuberance at the base of the big toe. A bunion, however, is more complicated than simply a bump on the foot.

When a patient has a bunion, the big toe angles in towards the other toes, a condition called hallux valgus. Bunions are most common in women. The skin over your big toe may be red and tender. Wearing any type of shoe may be painful. This joint flexes with every step you take. Your big toe may angle toward your second toe, or even move all the way under it. The skin on the bottom of your foot may become thicker and painful. Pressure from your big toe may force your second toe out of alignment, sometimes overlapping your third toe. If this condition gets severe, it may be difficult to walk. Your pain may become chronic and you may develop arthritis. Bunions tend to get progressively worse over time without treatment

When you first have an ingrown toenail, it may be hard, swollen and tender. Later, it may get red and infected, and feel very sore. Ingrown toenails are a common, painful condition—particularly among teenagers. Any of your toenails can become ingrown, but the problem more often affects the big toe. An ingrown nail occurs when the skin on one or both sides of a nail grows over the edges of the nail, or when the nail itself grows into the skin. Redness, pain and swelling at the corner of the nail may result and infection may soon follow. Sometimes a small amount of pus can be seen draining from the area.

Ingrown nails may develop for many reasons. Some cases are congenital—the nail is just too large for the toe. Trauma, such as stubbing the toe or having the toe stepped on, may also cause an ingrown nail. However, the most common cause is tight shoe wear or improper grooming and trimming of the nail.

Hammertoes are a contracture of the toes as a result of a muscle imbalance between the tendons on the top and the tendons on the bottom of the toe. They can be flexible or rigid in nature. When they are rigid, it is not possible to straighten the toe out by manipulating it. Frequently, they develop corns on the top of the toe as a result of rubbing on the shoe. They may also cause a bothersome callous on the ball of the foot. This occurs as a result of the toe pressing downward on the bone behind the toe. This area then becomes prominent and the pressure of the bone against the ground causes a callous to form.

Morton’s neuroma (also known as Morton’s metatarsalgia, Morton’s neuralgia, plantar neuromaand intermetatarsal neuroma ) is a benign neuroma of the interdigital plantar nerve.

This problem is characterized by numbness and pain, relieved by removing footwear.

Although it is labeled a “neuroma”, many sources do not consider it a true tumor, but rather a thickening of existing tissue.

Hallux rigidus is a disorder of the joint located at the base of the big toe. It causes pain and stiffness in the big toe, and with time it gets increasingly harder to bend the toe. “Hallux” refers to the big toe, while “rigidus” indicates that the toe is rigid and cannot move. Hallux rigidus is actually a form of degenerative arthritis (a wearing out of the cartilage within the joint that occurs in the foot and other parts of the body).

Because hallux rigidus is a progressive condition, the toe’s motion decreases as time goes on. In its earlier stage, motion of the big toe is only somewhat limited—at that point, the condition is called “hallux limitus.” But as the problem advances, the toe’s range of motion gradually decreases until it potentially reaches the end stage of “rigidus”— where the big toe becomes stiff, or what is sometimes called a “frozen joint.” Other problems are also likely to occur as the disorder progresses.