Every time you move, your feet take the weight of your body and as you move forward the load can be as great as 18x the weight of your body. Fat and tissue in the heel of your foot help to cushion and take the impact of each and every step you take.

Many people suffering from pain in their feet often view a heel spur as being the same thing as Plantar Fasciitis. This is actually incorrect. Whilst they are very closely related to each other, they are both separate conditions. Even your doctor can miss diagnose these two ailments so it is worth knowing the difference to ensure you get the correct diagnosis and heel spur treatment that you need.

Plantar Fasciitis is simply put an inflammation of the plantar fascia. This is the tissue around the arch are of your foot. A heel spur is very different and is actually a bone, in a hook shape that can form on the heel bone. (The heel bone is also know as the calcaneus). It is not actually the spur that causes pain, that is just a piece of boney tissue, the pain is caused by inflammation in the tissue which comes from an extended period of overload.

The simplest way to get the correct diagnosis and heel spur treatment for many people is with an X-ray. About 75 percent of patients have a distinct enough heel spur that it can be seen clearly on an X-ray. Even today, doctors are not entirely sure of the link between heel spurs and plantar fasciitis.

Heel Spur Symptoms

So what are the main heel spur symptoms?

You are most likely to know you have a problem with a heel spur when you start suffering from the main symptom which is a severe pain in the bottom of your foot. The level of discomfort varies depending on the extent of the heel spur but in many cases, it can become so bad that when weight is initially put onto the bottom of the foot, the discomfort can stop you in your tracks. The pain will predominantly be around the heel of your foot. It is also common for the pain and discomfort to decrease the longer that you are on your feet and moving about.

Many people who work on their feet all day get used to having these heel spur symptoms and often discount it as pain in the bottom of the foot being related to being on their feet all day. For this reason, many patients can suffer from heel spurs for years without knowing and without getting treatment for them.

Most suffers will find that heel spur symptoms are at their  worst after they first start walking about. The reason for this is that when your feet are resting, the tendons and nerves also relax with you. This allows the pain to diminish. If you find that when you stand up, the discomfort is far greater compared to after you have been up and on your feet for a while, this can be a strong indication that you are suffering with a heel spur rather than just tired feet. Nerves are able to get used to pain and often after several minutes, your brain starts to ignore the pain signals. this is why you get the impression that the first few initial steps are far more painful compared to after you have been walking about for a while.

In cases where patients have particularly bad cases of heel spur, you may also notice bruising and redness of the skin. This is caused by the ongoing pressure placed onto the heel and is most common when the patient has had the condition for some time.

Other than suffering from some quite uncomfortable pain and in bad cases some visible redness or bruising, you are unlikely to have any other symptoms. because this is an issue under the skin, an X-ray is the only guaranteed way to diagnose this condition.

Treatment For Heel Spurs

Although a heel spur is a different condition to plantar fasciitis, the treatment for heel spurs is actually the same. This is because the 2 conditions are actually closely related to each other. Because the cause of the pain from a heel spur is inflammation from the bone rubbing against the tissue, the first course of action is to try and rest your foot and keep the weight off to try and allow the inflammation to go down.

1. Rest – This is most important. you cannot get inflammation to reduce if you continue to aggravate it. While not walking at all is not always an option, ensure you are not doing physical exercise or standing on your feet for long periods of time will certainly help.

2. Medication – Depending on the extent of the patients inflammation, your doctor may need to prescribe medication to help reduce the inflammation. there are a number of anti-inflammatory drugs which your doctor may prescribe for this. Doctors will sometimes prescribe steroid injects which can have a very positive effect on diminishing the immediate paid and discomfort but unfortunately, this only last for a short period until the paid returns.

3. Shoe Inserts – A number of companies make shoe inserts which can help suffers of spur heel. this isn’t a cure but can help reduce the discomfort suffers have. They are designed to help reduce impact and shock and increase natural padding.

4. Night Splints – A night split can be brought for around $50 – $70 for a good quality one. Beware of cheap versions, they can do more harm than good! These work by stretching the heel out while you are asleep.

5. Ice Pack – As will all injuries that involve swelling or inflammation, apply a cold ice pack can help to reduce the symptoms. Top tip – get a small plastic water bottle and freeze it. This is perfect to then roll back and fourth under your heel. best of all you can keep freezing and reusing.

6. Elevation – it is important to keep the foot elevated when you are sitting down as this helps the muscles and tendons to relax which in turn helps to reduce the discomfort in the heel.

Just following these 6 simple steps should really help suffers with treatment for heel spurs and you should see a reduction in discomfort very quickly. Also have a look at this great video that provides some great excercise tips to help with Heel Spur pain

Heel Spur Surgery

What kinds of surgery are available for Heel spur treatment?

For suffers with sever heel spur pain, heel spur surgery is a last resort. There are several surgical procedures that can be performed by an orthopaedic surgeon. The most common is for two small cuts to be made in the heel. A camera is used for guidance and the surgeon will cut through the plantar fascia ligament. Once cut, this allows the space for the tissue to grow back and in turn. The outcome of this procedure is that the tension that causes the severe pain is eliminated.

Another second procedure for heel spur surgery involves only part of the ligament being detached. Some surgeons feel that this method is not as successful as the above procedure as it does not totally relieve the problem.

In addition to these two procedures, it is also possible to have the entire heel spur bone removed. This is done using very small implements and a camera placed inside the heel to guide the surgeon. By removing the heel spur totally, it prevents any further damage to the heel area which is what leads to the pain and discomfort.

A newly emerging surgical technique know as endoscopic plantar fasciotomy is still being developed. it does need special equipment and skills that not all doctors possess. Several medical journals have suggested it could be more successful than traditional methods and only takes between 20 and 60 minutes to perform. It also has the added bonus of not needing the patient to stay in hospital overnight

Custom Orthotics

Using custom Orthotics to help relieve heel spur pain

Orthotics is a medical speciality that relates to a device that helps to support the body in getting a limb to function in the correct fashion. Often correcting an error in its natural movement.

Many companies specialise in making custom orthotics that can help sufferers of heel spur. Put simply, these are foot supports. They can be brought in a number of formats, the main ones being heel, metatarsal, arch, insole and foot support. These custom orthotics help to support the way in which your foot functions and can balance out anomalies and give essential extra support and assistance to help reduce pain in your foot.

In recent years, improvements in the science and technology of custom orthotics have helped to make the products on the market even better. Materials have improved and become lighter and stronger in the process. As with all things, the better the quality, the more you will have to pay but it is often worth investing a little more into a better quality custom orthotics as these can have improved results over cheaper products.

It is also worth noting that in the UK, orthotists need to be licensed. In the UK, it is under the Health Professional Council and a qualification to Bsc.(Hons) in Prosthetics is required. In the USA a qualification to degree level is required under the ABC, the American Board of Certification.

Heel Pain Running

It is very common for people who do a lot of running to suffer from heel spur or plantar fascitis. Especially vulnerable are professional sports people who train for many hours a week. Both Jason Kidd and John Starks, both stars of the American NBA have suffered with these feet problems. If you run or play a lot of sports and are suffering from pain in your heel or around the bottom of your feet, it is worth making sure you have a good quality and well fitted pair of trainers / sneakers.

Many people just see a pair of trainers and all the same, just different designs and colours. While that is the case for many standard shoes stocked in sports shops, specialist running shoes come in many different types and all offer differing kinds of support for the feet. If you are suffering from any kind of foot pain, make sure you visit a specialist running store to get fitted for a suitable pair of trainers / sneaker.

Footballers can also suffering from heel spur, a common reason for this is playing on very hard surfaces where the pitch has often gone very hard during warm summer months. This combined with the metal studs on football boots results in very hard impacts as the player runs. It is always worth making sure you use additional cushioned inserts inside football boots while playing on hard surfaces. These can often be easily brought in a local chemist or pharmacy and really do help to reduce the risk of heel spur.

Conclusion to heel spur pain & treaments:

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