Occasionally, a physician may decide imaging studies (such as X-rays, diagnostic ultrasound, or MRI) are warranted to rule out serious causes of foot pain. Other diagnoses that are typically considered include fractures, tumors, or systemic disease if plantar fasciitis pain fails to respond appropriately to conservative medical treatments. Bilateral heel pain or heel pain in the context of a systemic illness may indicate a need for a more in-depth diagnostic investigation. Under these circumstances, diagnostic tests such as a CBC or serological markers of inflammation, infection, or autoimmune disease such as C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anti-nuclear antibodies, rheumatoid factor, HLA-B27, uric acid, or Lyme disease antibodies may also be obtained. Neurological deficits may prompt an investigation with electromyography to check for damage to the nerves or muscles.An incidental finding associated with this condition is a heel spur, a small bony calcification on the calcaneus (heel bone), which can be found in up to 50% of those with plantar fasciitis. In such cases, it is the underlying plantar fasciitis that produces the heel pain, and not the spur itself. The condition is responsible for the creation of the spur though the clinical significance of heel spurs in plantar fasciitis remains unclear. Imaging
Medical imaging is not routinely needed. It is expensive and does not typically change how plantar fasciitis is managed.
Tumid lupus erythematosus  is a rare, but distinctive entity in which patients present with edematous erythematous plaques, usually on the trunk.Lupus erythematosus tumidus (LET) was reported by Henri Gougerot and Burnier R. in 1930. It is a photosensitive skin disorder, a different subtype of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) from discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) or subacute CLE (SCLE). LET is usually found on sun-exposed areas of the body. Skin lesions are edematous, urticarialike annular papules and plaques. Topical corticosteroids are not effective as treatment for LET, but many will respond to chloroquine. LET  resolves with normal skin, no residual scarring, no hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation. Cigarette smokers who have LET may not respond very well to chloroquine.It has been suggested that it is equivalent to Jessner lymphocytic infiltrate of the skin. See also
Lupus erythematosus
List of cutaneous conditions


== References ==