What Is Calcaneal Spur?
It is suffering a pain from the heel area/ spur or if the impact of the heel on the ground feels like stepping on a needle. That is painwhich can bother a person while walking or doing sports, sometimes even while at rest or asleep.
A heel spur is a condition where calcium deposit grows between the heel and arch of the foot. This may happen independently or may be related to an underlying health condition. It is often assumed that any pain in the heel is caused by heel spurs. However, that assumption is wrong as other factors can also cause heel pain.
Heel spurs, also known ascalcaneal spurs or osteophytes is a bony outgrowth that can occur on the underside of a person’s foot. The outgrowth of a heel spur would normally extend from the underneath of the heel towards the arch of the foot.
Causes of Calcaneal Spur
Heel spurs occur when
- Muscle and ligament strain wears out the soft tissues in the heel over a period.
- The membrane that covers the heel bone is torn.
- The heel can also become more vulnerable with age. As a person ages, the pads in the heel wear down and fail to provide shock absorption.
- Calcium deposits build up under the heel. This forms the bony protrusions, which is called heel spurs.
Symptoms of Calcaneal Spur
Symptoms can include:
- A sharp pain like a knife in the heel when standing up in the morning
- A dull ache in the heel throughout the rest of the day
- An inflammation and swelling at the front of the heel
- Heat radiating from the affected area
- Small, visible bone-like protrusion under the heel
- Point of tenderness at the bottom of the heel that makes it hard to walk barefoot
An X-ray is the only way to be sure a person has heel spursif a person experiences these symptoms.
Interestingly, not everyone with a heel spur will experience all of these symptoms. Some people with the condition may experience no symptoms at all. These people may only find out if they have an X-ray for another reason.
Risk factors
Things that increase the risk of developing this condition may include:
- The heel and arch of the foot can be worn down by Athletic activities such as Running and jumping.
- Ageing - Heel spurs is found to be common in older people.
- Being overweight - heel spurs has been related to obesity.
- Improper footwear - Wearing shoes that do not fit properly or that are not supportive e.g. some slippers can lead to heel spurs.
- Walking, running, or jumping on hard surfaces on hard surfacesfrequently can also wear down the heel.
- Heel Trauma - Bruising the heel and tearing the membrane that covers it can lead to heel spurs.
- Being female -Heel spurs have been found to be more common in women than men.
Some underlying medical conditions may also cause heel spurs these include:
- Reactive arthritis
- Plantar fasciitis
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis
Heel Spurs and Plantar Fasciitis
Heel spurs is often confused with another condition called plantar fasciitis. Whereas having plantar fasciitis increases a person’s risk of developing heel spurs, Heel spurs often occur in people who already have plantar fasciitis.
It is important to make distinctions between heels spurs and plantar fasciitis. A heel spur is occasioned by thedeposit of calcium which forms a bony protrusion along the plantar fascia.
On the other hand, plantar fasciitis is when the plantar fascia gets irritated and swollen, that causes pain in the heel.
The plantar fascia has beendescribed as a tissue that looks like a bowstring. This goes all the way underneath the sole and is attached to the heel. Plantar fasciitis results from an unusual amount of force on this part of the foot.
Possible causes of significant force to theplantar fascia include:
- Being obese,
- Walking or exercising the foot for lengthy periods
- Wearing shoes that does not support the foot-arch
- Being diabetic is also a major risk factor for plantar fasciitis.
NOTE: Whilst plantar fasciitis usually goes away without treatment, Heel spurs is permanent unless it is medically treated at our facility.
Diagnosis for Calcaneal Spur
Our healthcare professionals may ask about your history of heel pain and examine your foot for tenderness at the bottom of the foot, near the heel. She may ask you to flex your foot to assess pain and range of motion. She will also visually examine the heel looking for a protrusion, which may or may not be present.
A heel spur diagnosis is formally made when an X-ray shows the bony protrusion from the bottom of the foot at the point where the plantar fascia is attached to the heel bone.
Treatment for Calcaneal Spur at Diamed
Includes physiotherapy machine procedure with our herbal medicine course of therapy which dissolve spur formation during short period of time.
Treatments in other centers for heel spurs may include:
- Rest - Getting plenty of rest and taking pressure off the feet can help to reduce pain and swelling in the affected area.
- Wearing appropriate sports shoes - These may also help to relieve the pressure and reduce pain.
- Use of Anti-inflammatory medications - This helps to reduce swelling.
- Cortisone injections - They reduce swelling and pain in the affected area. They are an option if anti-inflammatory medication procured over-the-counter proves ineffective.
- Applying ice - This will help reduce both the pain and swelling.
- Using shoe inserts (orthotics) –These areinsertedinside the shoe in order to take the pressure off the heel.
- Surgery- In very rare cases, this may be recommended to remove the heel spur.
However, the above treatments are usually effective.
Prevention for Calcaneal Spur
Prevention of heel pain involves reducing the stress on that part of the body.
Tips include:
- wearing shoes when on hard ground, and not going barefoot.
- maintaining a healthy body weight to reduce stress on the heels.
- choosing footwear with heels made of material that can absorb some stress, or using inserted heel pads.
- ensure shoes fit properly and do not have worn down heels or soles.
- avoid shoes that seem to trigger pain.
- rest your feet rather than standing if you are susceptible to heel pain.
- warm up properly before engaging in sports and activities that may place lots of stress on the heels.
- wear suitable sports shoes for each task.
