About 1 in every ten people suffer from a heel spur experiencing significant heel pain. Therefore, if you have this condition, you are not alone. The good thing is it doesn’t have to prevent you from carrying on with your routine task. Tamarac heel spurs specialists at Advanced Foot, Ankle, & Wound Specialists can help you.
What is a Spur
It refers to a condition that occurs on foot caused by hardened calcium deposits between your heel bone and arch.
Indications for heel spur
Pain, inflammation, and swollen heel are the main noticeable symptoms of a heel spur. Red or warmth on touch to the affected area might be another sign. Everyone experiences pain differently. Some result in persistent painful heels, while others may not see any side effects.
Causes of heel spurs
Direct causes of a heel spur include long term wear and tear of muscles and excessive ligaments strain stress on your feet. This bony-like growth does not occur immediately after you have a workout but tends to appear out of ignorance of the early signs like a painful heel.
Other than repetitive stress termed as the leading cause of heel spur that is from walking, running, or jumping on hard surfaces, there are additional culprits as follows:
- Arthritis
- Excessive body weight
- Ill-fitting shoes
- Wearing worn-out shoes
- Wearing flip-flops often
- Heel bruising
- Plantar fasciitis
Heel spur diagnosis
Medical assistance tends to be of help since it’s difficult to carry out a heel diagnosis because it has similar symptoms noticeable to foot problems and other heel pain forms. Thus, it would be best to have an orthopedic surgeon as a specialist for proper diagnosis as they assist you in heel spur detection through x-ray.
Tools for image diagnosis are essential for customer care development plans and to also pinpoint sources of foot discomfort. The reason being, bone spurs can’t be visualized using naked eyes. Thus, before you order for image tests, your specialist will carry out a physical examination on your foot to check for any noticeable signs of foot tenderness, inflammation, or redness as indicators for heel spur. Other physical tests may include a brief walk as well as standing at a time with one foot.
How heel spurs can be treated
Rest. It’s a recommended measure for treatment for both heel spurs and plantar fasciitis. It helps ease acute pain and prevents foot conditions from worsening. You need to rest your foot until symptoms subside and also lengthen your time for recovery.
Use orthotic inserts in your shoe. Inserts such as heel pads give support to your arch and heel to reduce pain. They should be used as a preventive for further wear & tear and footwear protection all around.
Physical therapy and stretching exercises. Physical therapy helps in long-term pain prevention because anti-inflammatory medications can only be taken for a short time, and you can perform any time during the day. Exercising on a heel spur involves heel and plantar fascia muscles stretching and are more helpful when carried out before bedtime. This is according to the guideline from a physical therapist.
Injections. Anti-inflammatory medications tend to be injections, which help alleviate inflammation and pain throughout the foot, arch, and heel.
Over-the-counter (OTC) pain medications. They include ibuprofen, aspirin, or acetaminophen, which help in reducing short term pain.
Heel spurs require a lot of attention. Thus, it’s advisable to be mindful every day of the stress you place on your feet. It’s, therefore, necessary to ice the affected area immediately after experiencing heel pain. Have some rest till your foot gets better.
