Nerve · Ankle

Lateral calcaneal branches

Rami calcanei laterales

Short twigs the sural nerve gives off as it rounds the outer ankle bone, turning downwards to supply the skin over the outside and back of the heel. They are the outer half of the heel's double sensory supply: these arrive from behind and outside, while the medial calcaneal branches of the tibial nerve arrive from behind and inside. Between them they cover the heel pad, which is why the sensation of standing on a stone is delivered by two different nerves depending on which side of the heel it lands.