5 Signs Your Heel Pain Won't Go Away on Its Own

You step out of bed in the morning and the bottom of your heel screams at you. You limp through the first few steps, it loosens up a bit, and you tell yourself it's fine. Maybe you rolled a tennis ball under your foot or bought new insoles from the drugstore. And yet — weeks later — it's still there.

Heel pain is the single most common reason people visit a podiatrist, and in the vast majority of cases it stems from plantar fasciitis: inflammation of the thick band of tissue that runs along the bottom of your foot from heel to toes. The good news is that it's treatable. The bad news is that waiting too long can turn a simple problem into a stubborn one.

Here are five signs that your heel pain isn't going to resolve without professional help.

1. It's Been More Than Two Weeks

Minor heel soreness from a long hike or a new pair of shoes typically fades within a few days. If your pain has persisted beyond two weeks despite rest and basic home care, the plantar fascia is likely dealing with more than just temporary irritation. At this point, the tissue has entered a cycle of micro-tearing and incomplete healing that rest alone rarely breaks.

This doesn't mean you need surgery — far from it. But it does mean that targeted treatment will resolve it faster and prevent it from becoming chronic.

2. The First Steps in the Morning Are the Worst

This is the hallmark of plantar fasciitis. While you sleep, the fascia contracts and shortens. When you put weight on it first thing in the morning, those contracted fibers get pulled apart all at once. That sharp, stabbing sensation under the heel is the tissue protesting.

If this pattern has been repeating for more than a couple of weeks, stretching alone is unlikely to resolve it. The underlying inflammation needs to be addressed directly.

3. It Hurts More After Activity, Not During

A counterintuitive pattern that confuses many patients: the heel feels tolerable while you're walking or exercising, then flares up intensely when you stop and sit down. This happens because movement increases blood flow and warms the tissue temporarily, but once you rest, the inflammation reasserts itself.

If you're noticing this "delayed" pain after walks, standing shifts at work, or exercise, the fascia is inflamed enough that it can't recover between loading cycles.

4. You've Changed Your Walking Pattern

Pay attention to this one — it has consequences beyond your heel. When your heel hurts, your body instinctively shifts weight to the outside of your foot, or you start favoring the other leg. This compensation can create a cascade of new problems: ankle strain, knee pain, hip imbalance, even lower back pain.

If someone has pointed out that you're limping, or you've noticed yourself walking differently, the heel pain has progressed past the "wait it out" stage. The longer you compensate, the more secondary issues you risk creating.

5. Over-the-Counter Solutions Have Plateaued

Drugstore insoles, ice, ibuprofen, YouTube stretches — these are all reasonable first steps, and they genuinely help in mild cases. But if you've been diligent about these measures for several weeks and the pain hasn't meaningfully improved (or it improved partially and stalled), you've likely reached the ceiling of what self-treatment can do.

This is especially true for heel spurs. Many patients assume a heel spur is the cause of their pain, but in most cases the spur is incidental — the inflamed fascia is the actual problem. No amount of cushioning will address fascial inflammation.

What a Podiatrist Actually Does Differently

A podiatric evaluation goes beyond confirming what you already suspect. We examine your gait, foot structure, and biomechanics to understand why the fascia is breaking down in the first place. Treatment is layered based on severity:

• Custom orthotics address the structural cause — flat feet, high arches, overpronation — so the fascia isn't overloaded with every step. These are very different from store-bought insoles. Learn more about custom orthotics.
• Focused shockwave therapy stimulates healing in chronically inflamed tissue without medication or downtime. This is particularly effective for cases that haven't responded to conservative care. Learn more about shockwave therapy.
• Laser and H-Wave therapy reduce pain and accelerate tissue repair at the cellular level. Learn more about laser treatment.
• Minimally invasive plantar fasciotomy is reserved for severe, chronic cases that don't respond to any conservative treatment — and recovery is far easier than most patients expect. Learn more about plantar fasciotomy.

The Bottom Line

Heel pain is your body's signal that something structural or inflammatory is happening in your foot. It's not a character flaw and it's not "just getting older." The sooner it's evaluated, the simpler the fix tends to be. Patients who come in within the first month of symptoms typically need only conservative treatment. Patients who wait six months or longer often need more intensive intervention.

If any of these five signs sound familiar, it's worth a conversation. We see patients within 24–48 hours and we'll tell you honestly what's going on and what your options are. Read more about our approach to heel pain and plantar fasciitis.