Thirty patients presenting with the heel pain syndrome, commonly referred to as "plantar fasciitis", were studied prospectively over a two year period. The pain was associated with a calcaneal spur in 21 patients (70%). In a control series of 25 patients without heel symptoms, calcaneal spurs were present in only 4 out of 50 heels (8%). This difference is highly significant (p 0.001). Seven patients (22%) in the plantar fasciitis group complained of ipsilateral sciatica.