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Pain
When the first step is the hardest
- By Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch
Research is homing in on new treatment approaches for heel pain from plantar fasciitis.
If you’ve ever stepped barefoot onto a child’s Lego or a jagged shell on the beach, you’ve experienced the searing pain it produces on the sole of your foot. Now imagine that pain is the first thing you feel when your foot hits the ground in the morning.
That’s the hallmark symptom of plantar fasciitis, the most common cause of chronic heel pain. About two million people in the United States are treated each year for the condition, which is reported twice as often among women than men.
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About the Author

Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch
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Healthy Feet: Preventing and treating common foot problems
Do your arches ache or your heels hurt? Got gout or battling bursitis? If so, you are among the three out of four Americans who will suffer some kind of foot ailment in their lifetime. This Special Health Report, Healthy Feet: Preventing and treating common foot problems, covers the most common foot problems and helps you prevent and treat them.
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