Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with heel

What happened to my heel? It's tingling

0xFCAF — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:57:33 -0800

I overtrained. A week later, my heel is still tingly and uncomfortable. What's going on? My left heel has felt tingly and kind of weird for about a week now. It's not really painful, just uncomfortable and annoying. If I'm focusing on something else it's generally ignorable, but when walking I'm leading with my toes to avoid putting pressure on it as it's uncomfortable to land on the heel regardless of the shoes I'm wearing.

Me: Mid-20s, moderately high blood pressure, low body weight, been running for about a year, slight pronator.

Timeline: Two weeks ago on Wednesday I went for a 15-mile run. I'd previously run a few half-marathons and I generally run at least 10 miles / week. I felt pretty much fine afterwards.

I was thinking I was pretty hot shit at that point, so the following Monday I went for a 10-mile run. I don't exactly remember when it started, but sometime after that is when the tingling began. Nothing remarkable happened on this run, but I did feel a bit dehydrated at the end (it was much warmer than the previous run).

Friday night I felt like I had had enough of this and went for my usual ~6 K run at a personal-best pace. Nothing changed for better or worse after it.

Speculative diagnoses I've looked at:
* Plantar fasciitis: It's not really painful, just uncomfortable. No change in symptoms in the morning. Walking or running makes it feel slightly worse.
* Sciatica: The sensation is very localized and there's no numbness.

How can I save my sole?

There's No I In Meme — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:45:04 -0800

Why do I wear down the heel of my shoes so quickly?
I ground the rubber on the very rear-most part of the sole (slightly to the outside) down to nothing within 4 months on every pair of dress shoes I buy.
Is there anything I can do other than take them for repairs? I'm an average-sized male with no foot / leg problems and tend to walk relatively little in the nice dress shoes I am wearing down. I don't think there's anything remarkable about my stride or the terrain.

Debilitating pain in both heels.

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:00:33 -0800

Unusual, debilitating pain in both heels. Ouch. Advice? Woke up Monday morning with pain in both heels but was able to function OK. By the end of the workday I was limited to about 50 percent mobility, and walking was not particularly unpleasant. It's now a couple of hours before dawn on Tuesday and I was awakened because the pain has turned debilitating, even the pressure of a single sheet hurts. I'm pretty much unable to walk, got down the hall slowly on the balls of my feet and supporting myself on the wall.

My best guess is that I injured it Sunday afternoon when I climbed up a sort of metal grate. On the way down I hopped the last couple of feet, landing more solidly on my left foot, which is the more painful of the two. I performed this act of gymnastics while wearing shoes that, admittedly, are very very worn down in the heels and probably don't have good support. I'm thinking I have a bad sprain most likely. But are there any other things that could cause these symptoms? Something more serious that I should be concerned about?

Note that I did not experience any pain at the time of the incident. The onset was about 12 hours later when I woke up.

A couple of things:
* No visible bruising. Don't particularly notice any swelling, although it's possible since I don't examine this part of my body closely or with enough interest to really remember what's it's supposed to look like.
* There's also pain/soreness in the joint of the knee of the left leg, the one that took the harder hit on Sunday.
* I will go to the doctor if necessary. I will go to the doctor if necessary. I will go to the doctor if necessary. But insurance and phobias and other issues make it something I'd prefer to avoid if possible. Just like many others who'd post an anonymous health AskMe, of course.

Help me get rid of the squeak in my shoe

c:\awesome — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 07:24:08 -0800

There is a squeak in my shoe and it won't go away. Help! The heel of my right shoe squeaks nearly every time I step on pavement in my normal walking style. This is not an "air-escaping" type squeak; it's rather a "rubber-rubbing" squeak that is quite annoying. I can't, for the life of me, determine where exactly it is coming from--whether it's a crack in the rubber (nothing visible shows that) or just pieces of the tread rubbing together. The left shoe is completely silent.

I can cause it to stop if I under or over-pronate, but that's uncomfortable and could lead to problems later. Walking on grass, or surfaces softer than concrete also cures the problem temporarily. Any other time it sounds like a pig is following me.

The shoes are Columbia in brand, Prima in style. [Zappos link] - and here's an image I've created detailing the offending area.

I've tried WD40 which--aside from causing me to almost fall on my ass--only fixed the problem temporarily.

Anyone have any ideas as to how I can fix this so I don't have to buy new shoes?

is this a bone bruise or plantar fascitis?

sdn — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 16:22:17 -0800

my right heel hurts all the time when i put pressure on it, even when i'm sitting down with crossed legs (and the right is the bottom leg). it's a burning awfulness. i suspect it is a bone bruise (last week i put all of my weight on a small pebble, ow), but could it be plantar fascitis? (i don't exercise.)

Little ankles, bigger feet - please help my shoes fit

ataraxian — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 09:52:17 -0800

I have narrow ankles and fairly "large" feet (I have to wear size 10 shoes in order to have a comfortable fit). But because of my narrow ankles, I am having a hard time finding shoes that fit. I have tried thicker socks, a couple of different lacing techniques etc but nothing seems to help. My heels always move inside the shoes! Please help me!!!