84 patients with heel pain or a possible diagnosis of acute plantar fasciitis were randomized to receive either extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) or corticosteroid injection. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to compare the effectiveness of these treatments in reducing pain up to 12 weeks after treatment. The results indicated that both corticosteroid injection and ESWT lead to significant decreases in pain at 3-weeks, which persisted up to the 12-week follow-up. However, patients receiving corticosteroid injection had significantly greater reductions in pain compared to the ESWT patients at 3, 6, and 12 weeks and significantly more ESWT patients experienced treatment failure.