Is ice or heat better for heel pain?

Ice for the most part is better.  Heel pain can be acute or chronic.  The acute stage is at the beginning of the problem.  The area gets inflamed and ice is used to decrease the swelling.  When the pain persists for some time, the condition becomes chronic.  Chronic inflammation leads to scar tissue.  When this occurs, traditional treatments such as cortisone injections and orthotics do not help by themselves.  This is when ESWT, cryotherapy or any of the other newer procedures need to be performed  Heat is used after ESWT because you need to increase blood flow to the area to promote healing.