WHAT’S A PUMP BUMP?

[Massage & Aromatherapy Margate | www.massagemargate.com.au | massagemargate@yahoo.com.au]

This article was written recently by Whitney on March 23, 2017 in Clinical Massage, Orthopedic Massage and it explains quite a lot about issues surrounding heel and factors that affect it.

Whilst some of terms used are technical, it's still a great article about a part of the body we don't often pay attention to.

What’s this bump on the back of my heel and why does it hurt so much? This is sometimes called a pump bump and is caused by several key mechanical factors. Let’s take a look…

The Achilles tendon is the largest and strongest tendon in the body. It has to be this strong because of the powerful contraction forces of the gastrocnemius and soleus (triceps surae) muscles. The triceps surae group is active in forward propulsion of

the body during normal gait as well as being a primary decelerator of the body’s momentum when stepping down or landing from an elevated position. As a result there are strong tensile forces on the insertion of the Achilles tendon at the calcaneus.

The tendon is not the only tissue that may be adversely affected by the high tensile loads of the triceps surae, however. The retrocalcaneal bursa and the attachment site of the tendon into the calcaneus are other regions where high stress loads may be problematic, causing pain on the posterior aspect of the heel.

Read the rest of the article here