Calcaneus
Also called: heel bone
What it means
The calcaneus is the heel bone, the large bone at the back of your foot that supports your body weight and absorbs shock when you walk or stand.
Heel bone density is often used as a quick screening check, and this bone takes the brunt of impact with every step, so keeping it strong matters for mobility and fall safety.
The calcaneus is the heel bone, the largest bone in the foot. It sits at the back of the foot, below the ankle, and forms the base you land on with every step. It's mostly spongy trabecular bone wrapped in a shell of denser cortical bone, which lets it absorb repeated impact as you walk, run, or jump.
Because it's easy to reach with equipment, the calcaneus has long been a popular spot for simple bone-density screening using ultrasound. These heel scans don't replace a full DEXA scan of the hip and spine, but they can be a useful, low-cost way to flag people who might benefit from more thorough testing.
The heel is also a weight-bearing bone, so activities that load it, like walking, standing calf raises, or other weight-bearing exercise, give it a mechanical signal that bone tends to respond to over time. As with any bone, strength here depends on the same big-picture factors: nutrition, hormones, muscle strength, and consistent loading.
How sure is this?
Graded Established Science: Supported by broad scientific consensus and decades of research. Read each study with its grade in mind. One study is a piece of the picture, not the whole of it.
Your heel bone absorbs shock with every step and is often used for quick bone density screening.
Where this leads
WordYou just read that heel density is used as a screening check, so curious how that quick heel test actually works?
Where the Academy teaches it
This page is the short version. The lessons teach it in full, with the context around it and a quiz to lock it in.
Related words
A heel ultrasound (QUS) is a quick, radiation-free test that uses sound waves through your heel bone to estimate…
A DEXA scan is a low-radiation X-ray test that measures how much mineral is in your hip and spine bones, giving you…
Weight-bearing exercise is any activity, like walking or dancing, where your body supports its own weight against…
Trabecular bone is the spongy, honeycomb-like bone found inside structures like your spine and hip, providing…
Cortical bone is the dense, hard outer layer of bone that forms a protective shell and resists bending and twisting…
The tibia is the shin bone — the larger, weight-bearing bone running from your knee to your ankle.
Education only, not medical advice. Decisions about tests, medications and treatment belong with your own doctor. OsteoStrong does not diagnose, treat or cure any disease.
