Retrocalcaneal bursitis

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Flexibility exercise

Retrocalcaneal bursitis

Insertional heel pain

Symptoms of bursitis include pain in the heel, especially with walking, running, or when the area is touched. The skin over the back of the heel may be red and warm, and the pain may be worse with attempted toe rise (standing on tippee-toes).

Your doctor will take a history to find out if you have the symptoms of retrocalcaneal bursitis. By examining your ankle, he or she can generally tell the location of the pain. The physician will look for tenderness and redness in the back of the heel.

The pain may be worse when the doctor bends the ankle upward (dorsiflex), as this may tighten the Achilles tendon over the inflamed bursa. Alternatively, the pain may be worse with toe rise, as this puts stress on the attachment of the Achilles tendon to the heel bone.

Imaging studies such as x-ray and MRI are not usually necessary at first. If initial treatment fails to improve the symptoms, these studies may be obtained. MRI may show inflammation.

Review Date: 10/23/2006
Reviewed By: Thomas N. Joseph, MD, Private Practice specializing in Orthopaedics, subspecialty Foot and Ankle, Camden Bone & Joint, Camden, SC. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.