Heel Fat Pad Atrophy

  Staff        November 19, 2015

The heel has a fat pad beneath it to help absorb shock and provide cushioning while walking and running. To achieve that there has to be some good integrity of the tissues. Sometimes there can be an atrophy of that fat pad with a loss of those shock absorbing and cushioning properties which then become painful. The only way to treat this is to replace the fat pad. Injections or surgical implantation of “fat” is not yet a very viable option, but may be one day. The only other way to “replace” the fat is to use soft tissue supplements in the shoe as padding. Material like poron and silicone gels are typically used. Heel Fat Pad Atrophy is a long term problem and the fat pad can not regrow.