By assessing your foot structure/lower limb biomechanics, your activity level and type, your footwear, and your gait, we'll be able to establish the underlying causes of your heel pain.
We'll then be able to recommend the treatment options that will best counteract those underlying causes, and give you the best chance to heal your heel and keep it permanently pain-free. YOUR treatment preferences and budget will also help to determine a comprehensive and tailored treatment plan.
Once this treatment plan is devised, our unique Treatment & Rehabilitation Program will help you to implement it as effectively as possible, by providing a ready reference with all the essential information you'll need.
Providing essential information and firm guidelines on the best ways to heal your heel, our comprehensive and tailored Treatment & Rehabilitation Programs contain:
A Rehab program and an informative consultation with Steve (together with perhaps some tension-reducing strapping for your foot and a tutorial on how to apply it yourself) is sometimes all that is required to set you on the path to a pain-free heel.
If, however, your pain is more longstanding, and/or if inefficient foot and lower limb biomechanics are the main cause of your heel pain, (as is often the case) you may need a little extra help to heal your heel and keep it permanently pain-free. If the inefficient structure and function of your foot is causing a repetitive strain on the Plantar Fascia/Achilles Tendon (which leads to the micro-tearing of the fibres), it may be necessary to reduce this strain in order to facilitate the healing process/repair the damaged tissue, (and prevent recurrences in the future). Our purpose-made ARC Custom Orthotics are designed by us to do just that.
Research and studies conclusively show that the vast majority of chronic heel pain sufferers have poor foot function, caused by inefficient foot and lower limb mechanics. If we find after conducting a biomechanical assessment (including a treadmill gait analysis using our advanced software) that this is the case for you, we will generally recommend Orthotic Therapy as your best treatment option for complete healing and permanent pain relief. (In the case of Childhood Sever’s it can alternatively provide optimum pain relief and management while still allowing the wearer to play sports).
Heal My Heel Custom Orthotics are made using our own ARC (Advanced Rearfoot Control) technology. We feel this type of orthotic can counteract hard, flat, modern-day surfaces more effectively by aligning and correcting foot and lower limb mechanics more efficiently, and therefore, we feel, reduce more strain from the Plantar Fascia/Achilles Tendon (whilst weight-bearing). It is a different type of orthotic to the standard arch-based model used primarily for custom orthotics manufacture in Australia. This style of orthotic is utilised much more in the United States and in many other countries, and we have observed far greater success rates using this type of orthotic to treat heel pain pathologies such as Plantar Fasciitis.
The aim of this orthotic is to optimise stability and control excessive motion at the rearfoot, in order to reduce the strain on the Plantar Fascia/Achilles Tendon more effectively. (Research and studies also show that significantly reducing this tension is the single most important factor in achieving long-term relief for most types of heel pain). In addition our ARC Orthotics generally place less pressure on the arch, and thus can also be more comfortable, especially when worn for long periods, when running, etc. They can also be designed to fit any style of shoes - from work boots to lady’s heels, from running shoes to sandals.
Our customised ARC Orthotics are the most effective way of reducing the strain on the Plantar Fascia/Achilles Tendon, however, if cost is a consideration, we can often carry out an "in-house, on-the-spot" modification/adjustment of your existing custom orthotics, and even some types of "off-the-shelf" orthotics (using this same technique of rearfoot control), without significantly compromising on the outcome.
Orthotic Therapy may not even be indicated or necessary for you, and we may be able to resolve your heel pain without using it at all. We will simply provide you with our treatment recommendations based on our findings from the assessment, and what we feel will give you the best outcome. Together with YOUR input and preferences, we can formulate a treatment plan that best suits your needs.
One of the main reasons that heel pain pathologies can take so long to heal is that when they cross over from being acute to chronic (this generally happens when the symptoms have been endured for approximately 3 months), the process that occurs in the damaged tissue becomes less and less about inflammation and more to do with degeneration. This degeneration (of the affected fibres) involves among other things a loss and disorganisation of collagen in the damaged fibres.
Most importantly, however, this degenerative process can also severely impair or even completely stall the body's healing response in the damaged tissue. This means that even if all the factors that have caused the pathology (eg Plantar Fasciitis) have been effectively countered (by good corrective orthotics, calf stretching, footwear changes, etc, etc), it may still take an excessively long time for the healing and pain relief to occur, if at all.
To stimulate/accelerate this impaired healing response in the affected part of the heel, our method of choice is a state-of-the-art, home use Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) device. Unlike shockwave therapy, LLLT causes no pain or micro-trauma when applied to the targeted tissues. Numerous studies have also concluded that LLLT is more effective than shockwave therapy at stimulating/accelerating the healing response and reducing pain for heel pain pathologies such as Plantar Fasciitis, and Achilles related issues.
LLLT has been widely used (to stimulate/accelerate the healing response, pain relief, and reducing inflammation) for more than 30 years, and its effectiveness in treating various heel pain pathologies is heavily researched, proven and well documented. It is completely safe, painless, and has absolutely zero side effects. Its use is far more advanced in Europe and the USA, although it is now becoming more widely known, used, and acknowledged in Australia.
Our handheld, home-use LLLT devices are used and operated by you from the comfort of your own home, and can be rented from us for a low weekly cost (with an option to purchase). With no need for expensive clinic visits and the added convenience of not having to take time out of your busy schedule to go to appointments, our home use LLLT device has proven to be an extremely effective tool in the fight against heel pain.
Simple and effortless to operate, we can set you up and give you a user demonstration at the time of your Initial Consultation. Additional information with regard to your particular heel pain pathology (eg Plantar Fasciitis) will be provided to you, with everything you'll require to heal your heel at home, using this amazing little piece of technology.
By improving circulation, reducing pain and inflammation, and increasing cellular repair functions, whether you have suffered for 3 months or 3 years, our home-use LLLT device can help you to heal your heel and be permanently pain-free...and it can all be done from the comfort of your own home. Our patients achieve exceptional results with this device; we have a 98% continuation rate with it (after the initial week's rental), with approximately 80% ultimately opting to purchase the device.
Strapping, heel lifts, footwear modifications, immobilisation moon-boot, foot strengthening exercises...these are all available as treatment options should your particular symptoms require it, or should you have a particular preference for it.
