You have probably never heard of Calcaneal Fat and the fact we all have it. Now you’re thinking, oh great another kind of fat to worry about. This one however is the kind of fat you not only want but will sorely miss if you don’t have it. The Calcaneal pad is the shock absorber of the foot. If the shocks quit working on your car, you’re in for a rough and bumpy ride, and if the Calcaneal isn’t doing its’ job, your foot will be uncomfortable as well.
The Calcaneal pad is about an inch thick and sits between the bottom of the foot and the heel bone, protecting it from the beating which our feet endure every day. Unlike most of the fat in our body, which has a tendency to spread, the Calcaneal Pad stays densely packed together. This pad (think a fatty Brillo pad) yields but bounces back in order to allow it to perform its’ shock absorber duties.
Now the sad thing is that for thousands of years our ancestors walked around barefoot on the Earth and the Calcaneal was perfectly suitable. However civilized people like to stroll around on much sturdier stuff than dirt. And it really doesn’t help that the average American is over fifteen pounds heavier than in the 1960’s. Because the average size of the Calcaneal hasn’t increase and the added poundage will begin to take its’ toll on the heel eventually.
And it really doesn’t help that as we have become more of an urban society this means spending more time on harder surfaces. Even though we put on shoes, those floors, sidewalks, and streets, are still tougher on our feet than grass. And boy do your feet get tired if you have to stand all day on concrete. Also if you have ever been on old style Astroturf you know that it bares the same resemblance to a grass field as a parking lot does to a meadow.
All of this is a reason that runners may have heard about the Calcaneal Pad a long time before the average Joe does. Running on a road or even a track can cause the heel to be bruised. The up and down constant rhythmic slap on your heel can, over an extended period of time, start to soften the pad. This can happen even when you are wearing fancy running shoes. They may attempt to replicate the properties of the Calcaneal but are inadequate when compared to the real thing. And a bruise of the Calcaneal (often misdiagnosed as Plantar Fasciitis) hurts like a big bear but it can be healed. Rest and lots of it is the best recipe to fix the bruise. Did I mention lots of rest? In the long run, nothing else will do.
And it really, really doesn’t help that car bombs in the Middle East blow up through the floor and can take out the Calcaneal completely. Because once its’ gone we’ve got nothing to replace it. Durable as the Calcaneal is (and it’s one tough cookie) once it’s broken, it’s impossible to fix. The pain can be so severe that many will choose amputation of their leg over the intense pain. Let me repeat that, amputation of your leg, yikes.
And this is not a new problem as the Navy faces basically the same dilemma when a ship hits a mine. Sailors are thrown in the air, plummeting back down to the deck feet first. The Navy calls it deck slap (for lack of a better term the Army does too) and the results are the same as when a landmine goes off. They have had awhile to find an answer but the only one seems to be, pray you don’t hit a mine. So be happy if all you have is a bruise and listen to your Doctor and stay off your Calcaneal pad if he tells you to.