Brief Answer: It could be PLANTAR FASCITIS. Detailed Answer: Hi, thanks for writing to XXXXXXX Though there are a few conditions that produce pain in the heel, the most commonest cause is PLANTAR FASCITIS, which implies pain and inflammation of a thick band of tissue, called the plantar fascia, that runs across the bottom of your foot and connects your heel bone to your toes. Under normal circumstances, your plantar fascia acts like a shock-absorbing bowstring, supporting the arch in your foot. If tension on that bowstring becomes too great, it can create small tears in the fascia. Repetitive stretching and tearing can cause the fascia to become irritated or inflamed. An xray of the ankle joint & an MRI scan are needed to rule out the other possible causes for heel pain. The conservative management of PLANTAR FASCITIS is as follows - * Relative rest and simple massage of the foot along with stretching exercises. Regular, gentle stretching of your Achilles tendon and plantar fascia may help to ease your symptoms. * Use of analgesic antiinflammatory medicines like Advil or Aleve as needed * Night splints may be useful to keep the foot in plantigrade position * Shoe inserts - Use of MCR (micronised rubber) or silicon heels (orthoses) in the foot wear so as to produce a cushioning effect and taking off the pain * Maintaining appropriate body weight so as to reduce the load bearing on the heels If your symptoms are not improving with the above measures, consult an orthopedic surgeon for further evaluation and management. Hope I have addressed your query. Happy to help further Regards

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Brief Answer: MRI is different from Xray in many ways. Detailed Answer: Hi, Nice to hear from you. While xrays are basically meant for bones, MRI is useful to detect any sort of problem/pathology in the SOFT TISSUES like muscles, tendons, ligaments, joint capsule, articular cartilage, subcutaneous fat, blood vessels, nerves etc. So, an MRI scan will pickup any sort of abnormality in the above mentioned structures that is producing pain in you and clinches the diagnosis of your condition. Plantar fascitis is curable in majority of cases without any surgical intervention. Patients who are not responding to medical management are considered to be candidates for surgery (though surgery is successful in only upto 70% of cases) but is rarely indicated. Hope I have justified your query. Good day

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