Question

I have heel pain - is it calcaneal bursitis?

Calcaneal Bursitis in the Heel?

I am a 55-year-old male weighing 175 to 180 pounds, and I have chronic pain at the back of my right heel. I do not recall a specific injury but have been aware of discomfort for at least the past six months. A podiatrist I spoke with advised heel lifts, but they did not help. She then made orthotics for me and I believe my pain is worse; it is now starting in the left heel, in fact.

I began running two to three years ago, and have since dropped about 30 pounds. At that time I had shin splints, and I was told that I overpronate. I’ve completed two marathons and four half-marathons, with a regimen of about four miles after work two days a week, then running long on the weekends. I run at 10:00 pace, perhaps slower, when I train. I do a lot of running on local streets and cement biking trails. I do try to run on crushed limestone when I can.

The physical therapist (and fellow runner) whom I recently saw thought I had calcaneal bursitis and has been doing friction massage, stretching my gastroc muscles and iontophoresis. I try to ice massage when I have time.

In June of last year I had arthroscopic left knee surgery for a torn medial meniscus, and then open removal of a Baker’s cyst on the left knee.

Steven Creska
Ward, ME