heel bone

The heel bone (calcaneus) is a large bone in the heel of the foot. Assisted by a fat cushion underneath (the heel pad), one of the calcaneus' important functions is to hold the body weight during standing and to bear the impact of walking.

Shown in red; the Achilles tendon which is connected to the heel bone.

Apart from carrying the body weight, another function of the heel bone is to transfer the force of the Achilles tendon to the rest of the foot. This is shown in the photo, where the Achilles tendon is shown in red.

Young children

The bone tissue of young children is not fully hardened yet as it is with grownups, so that children's heel bones cannot easily bear the full weight of the body. To protect these fragile bones, children's soles have extra fat tissue.

Older people

In older people's feet on the other hand, the heel pad tends to be less elastic, so that steps are not cushioned as much and the chances of getting irritated heel bones from walking get bigger.