[Pain in the sole of the foot. Differential diagnosis and therapy].

Plantar foot pain can be caused by a wide variety of diseases. To facilitate diagnosis and treatment differentiation of two entities is useful. The first group contains those painful disturbances that are due to mechanical overload, the second group has no relation to biomechanical problems. Tightness of the gastrocnemius muscles and hamstrings are the main factors leading to mechanical overload. Therefore, thorough evaluation of these muscles and treatment of shortening by stretching exercises is of paramount importance.