PIEZOGENIC PAPULES. GENERAL CONCEPTS.

Piezogenic papules are small protuberances of fatty tissue located in the medial and external zone of the heel. They usually appear from 40 years old and, more frequently, to women.

They are small lumps with a spherical shape and mainly painless.

It has approximately a diameter of half a centimeter and it is possible that in those cases in which the piezogenic papules have a bigger size, they may cause some pain.

This pain is caused by the ischemia of blood vessels and also by the nervous compression on the dermis. The piezogenic papules have the main feature of appearing in charge or when standing and they disappear when raising the heel.

The causes can be mechanical, like a constant pressure or a physical activity of high impact, overweight, as well as collagen disorders, like for example, the Ehlers-Danlos disease.

There are no oral or for external use only effective treatments, so therapeutic measures are directed to reduce pain in case it appears.

These are the following measures:

• Heelpieces or plantar supports in order to absorb mechanical impacts on the affected zone.
• Infiltrations with anesthetics or corticoids (particularly in the Ehlers-Danlos disease).
• Surgical, when pain appears with frequency and intensity.