Bruised Heel Health Video

Bruised heels can look serious and remain a nuisance. Learn about treating bruised heels from a doctor in this medical video.

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Pierce with a hot needle
Pierce with a hot paper clip
Seek medical attention immediately

About this Author

Dr. Loretta Ciraldo, the author of the book Six Weeks to Sensational Skin, is a board certified dermatologist who has made numerous appearances on television shows such as Good Morning America. She holds a degree from Hunter College in New York, an M.D. from Downstate University at SUNY, and did her residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Ciraldo has been a board-certified dermatologist since 1982, and is currently a voluntary professor at the University of Miami, where she runs a clinic in cosmetic dermatology.

DR. LORETTA CIRALDO: Hi. I'm Dr. Loretta Ciraldo, voluntary professor of Dermatology at University of Miami School of Medicine and a practicing dermatologist for nearly 30 years. Now, the expression "bruised heel" is probably most common to athletes but we dermatologists do see it plenty of times and in fact we call it "black heel" and what this is, is most typically a new spot that you are going to see anywhere on your sole, more commonly on your heel, but it could also be on the below of your feet or anywhere on the sole of your foot. And this is going to be something that's new in onset and typically it's pretty distressing to take a look because suddenly you're in the shower or you cross your legs and you see that you have this brand new pretty blackish looking spot. And many patients will run into the doctor and say, "Gee, do I have a skin cancer here? What's going on? How did this happen?" And if you are concerned because you have this kind of spot, if you have easy access to a dermatologist, please do make the appointment for the dermatologist. But, if you don't always have easy access, as many of us don't, and sometimes there's a long waiting list for dermatologist in our community, another thing that you can do is what the dermatologist might do if you visit, and that's to take a needle and make the needle red hot and that would be to sterilize the needle, and then try to make a puncture into the black spot. When you do this, what should happen, if it's a true bruised heel or black heel, is some blood should come out. And then you'll realize that bruised or black color represents bleeding under the surface of the skin. If the pin does not work, take a paperclip and make it red hot. If you do not get blood seeping out then you must go immediately to the dermatologist because we do want to be sure that this represents only a bruise and not a new growth that may need a biopsy and further treatment.