As always, prevention is better than cure, so once you’ve worked out what’s causing your foot pain, you may need to make some changes to ensure that it doesn’t keep recurring.

“In general, there are three things I recommend to patients struggling with heel pain,” says Dr Fox. “Appropriate rest, appropriate exercise (usually stretching) and appropriate footwear.”

Rest

Sometimes, you just need to put your feet up. If going cold turkey on exercise fills you with horror, we hear you, but it might just be a case of switching up your routine for a while.

“People may need to do exercise that takes them off their feet for a bit,” says Dr Fox. “Activities such as swimming, cycling or pilates can reduce the pressure on the feet and can be helpful while the inflammation settles. You may also want to think about reducing your step count.”

Exercise

Depending on what’s causing your heel pain, some gentle, targeted stretching can be helpful. “Think about loading the stretches in a controlled way,” cautions Dr Fox.

“This can be with exercises on a step such as eccentric lengthening, where the heel drops off the back of the step. These exercises help to lengthen the fascia and tendons and also help generate remodelling of the collagen, promoting healing.”

Struggling with heel pain when walking? Here’s what to do about it – and when to rest up