Your heels are one of the most heavily used sections of your feet. Each heel contains numerous muscle tissues and nerve endings that respond to straining (or other forms of damage). During daily walking, you may pull, tear or stress specific ligaments that connect your muscle tissue. For example, stepping on uneven surfaces, spraining your ankle or wearing the wrong types of shoes may all result in heel pain. When specific tissues in this area become inflamed, they cause irritation and difficulty walking.

Many runners suffer from foot pain at some point during their training. When this occurs, runners face a choice: do they run through the pain, which risks making it worse, or do they take a break and miss out on the benefits of training? Knowing what foot condition you have can make it easier to decide what to do. Here are three common causes of foot pain in runners, along with advice on how to treat them.