Bone spur in heel

Introduction to bone spur in heal

When an abnormal projection of the heel bone occurs it is commonly referred to as a bone spur in heel and it can cause a significant amount of pain.

The pain is evident because the heal is very important for balance and standing generally, because the whole weight of the body is resting on that bottom part of the foot.

The heel bone is not only the most important bone of the foot, but it is also the largest bone in the foot. When a heel spur occurs, there is an abnormal bony projection around the tendons that are attached to the heel bone.

This grows out of the flesh of the foot and causes very severe pain.

Weak calf muscles can often lead to this condition, it can also be caused by being extremely overweight or by wearing uncomfortable footwear.

Symptoms

There are many different symptoms and they depend on the severity of the condition. The pain is usually felt more in the morning and then decreases as the day goes by and the foot is more active.

This happens because capillaries and nerves tend to adapt to the movements after resting for the night.

However, in most cases, standing and walking will still be very painful. If the condition is left untreated, then it can result in limited mobility, therefore, this condition needs to be taken very seriously and treated as soon as possible. Treatment

A doctor will usually recommend an X-ray in order to determine and diagnose the problem.

There are essentially three ways to treat a heel spur, through medication, surgery and self-treatment.

The medications will need to be taken in order to relieve the pain and discomfort being caused by the condition.

The doctor will usually give he patient anti-inflammatory medicine in order to decrease the pain and swelling being caused by the bone spur.

In the most sever cases, the doctor will also prescribe steroids and anesthetic injections.

Surgery will have to be used in the most severe cases.

There are both invasive and non-invasive procedures. One procedure is endoscopic plantar fasciotomy, which is when a small camera is inserted in the heel and then the doctor either cuts of detaches the ligaments that joins the plantar fascia to the heel bone, depending on the severity of the condition. The doctor can also remove the heel spur in some severe cases.

Self treatment includes doing exercises that will strengthen the calf muscles, losing weight in order to relieve pressure on the heels and wearing comfortable and proper shoes that will keep the heel healthy and pain-free.