Silicone heel pads (also known as silicone heel cups) are made up of silicon material. These are very soft and very supple which comes in the shape of the heel. When a person walks wearing good-quality heel silicone pad, the soft material acts like a soft cushion and prevents the impingement of soft tissues and muscles around the painful heel.
How to use a silicone heel cup?
Silicone heel cover is of two types, one is silicon heel cup and another is silicone gel heel socks. Both serve the same purpose but their usage is different.
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Silicon heel cup
Silicon heel cup is a cup-shaped pad made of soft silicone material that is designed to be used inside the shoes. It is placed on the rear inner side of shoes and the user can walk and run with it.
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Silicone gel socks
The figure above is the silicone gel socks, it is also called a silicone gel protector. The drawback of the silicone heel cup that we discussed above is that we can only use it inside shoes. So, what if we want to use it inside the home or with sandals?
Silicone gel socks solve this problem, just wear them like a sock inside your home, office anywhere you like. It is mainly designed for females, who can use it with sandals.
But remember, that this is just as a precaution that helps not to aggravate the already developed plantar fasciitis. Please keep in mind that it is not the replacement of heel pain exercises and physiotherapy.
In severe cases, you may have to go for a hydrocortisone injection. If conservative treatment doesn’t respond the only option left is the surgical removal of the extra bone growth.