Heel Injuries and Disorders—Bone Diseases

Your bones help you move, give you shape and support your body. They are living tissues that rebuild constantly throughout your life. During childhood and your teens, your body adds new bone faster than it removes old bone. After about age 20, you can lose bone faster than you make bone. To have strong bones when you are young, and to prevent bone loss when you are older, you need to get enough calcium, vitamin D, and exercise. You should also avoid smoking and drinking too much alcohol.

Bone diseases can make bones easy to break. Different kinds of bone problems include

• Low bone density and osteoporosis, which make your bones weak and more likely to break
• Osteogenesis imperfecta makes your bones brittle
• Paget’s disease of bone makes them weak
• Bones can also develop cancer and infections
• Other bone diseases, which are caused by poor nutrition, genetics, or problems with the rate of bone growth or rebuilding

NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases

• ALP – blood test (Medical Encyclopedia)
• ALP isoenzyme test (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Blount disease (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Bone lesion biopsy (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Bone pain or tenderness (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Bone tumor (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Bowlegs (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Fibrous dysplasia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Osteomalacia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Osteopenia – premature infants (Medical Encyclopedia)

Heel problems are common and can be painful. Often, they result from too much stress on your heel bone and the tissues that surround it. That stress can come from

• Injuries
• Bruises that you get walking, running or jumping
• Wearing shoes that don’t fit or aren’t made well
• Being overweight

These can lead to tendinitis, bursitis, and fasciitis, which are all types of inflammation of the tissues that surround your heel. Over time the stress can cause bone spurs and deformities. Certain diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and gout, can also lead to heel problems. Treatments for heel problems might include rest, medicines, exercises, taping, and special shoes. Surgery is rarely needed.

• Achilles tendinitis (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Achilles tendon repair (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Achilles tendon rupture – aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Bursitis of the heel (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Heel pain (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Heel pain and Achilles tendonitis — aftercare (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Plantar fasciitis (Medical Encyclopedia)