Heel Spurs

A heel spurs is a bony growth that pokes out below your back heel bone inside your foot. Heel spurs happen when there’s stress on your foot ligaments. Most people don’t realize they have a heel spur until they seek help for heel pain. Heel spurs can’t be cured. Healthcare providers recommend non-surgical treatments to ease symptoms associated with heel spurs.

A heel spur or bone spur is a bony growth that pokes out from the bottom of your heel, where your heel bone connects to the ligament running between your heel and the ball of your foot (the plantar fascia).

Heel spurs develop over time. Most people don’t realize they have a heel spur until they seek help for heel pain. While heel spurs can be removed with surgery, healthcare providers recommend non-surgical treatments to ease symptoms associated with heel spurs.

Heel spurs can happen as a reaction to stress and inflammation caused by plantar fasciitis. Over time your body responds to the stress by building extra bone tissue. This extra tissue becomes a heel spur. Most people don’t feel pain from their heel spur, but when they do, the pain is like plantar fasciitis pain.

Causes

Heel spurs are your body’s response to stress and strain placed on your foot ligaments and tendons. For example, when you develop plantar fasciitis, your body responds to the stress by creating a heel spur.

You can also develop heel spurs by repeatedly tearing the covering that lines your heel bone or if you have a gait disorder. (A gait disorder is when an illness or condition affects your balance and coordination so you can’t walk as you usually do.)

Diagnosis

Orthopedic Specialist at Shreya Hospital in Ghaziabad typically examine your foot and ask about physical activity that might have caused your heel pain. Ultimately, X-rays are one of the most common tests that healthcare providers use to diagnose heel spurs.

Treatment of Heel Spurs

Orthopedic Specialists treat heel spurs the same way they treat plantar fasciitis. That’s because heel pain blamed on heel spurs is actually caused by plantar fasciitis. Treating the symptoms of plantar fasciitis can ease pain associated with heel spurs. Typical treatment includes:

• Resting your heel. If you run or jog, taking a break will help your heel pain.
• Using cold packs or ice. “Icing” the bottom of your foot can help ease heel pain.
• Taking oral anti-inflammatory medicine.
• Wearing footwear or shoe inserts that support your arches and protect your plantar fascia by cushioning the bottom of your foot.

Your heel spur might be removed as part of plantar fasciitis surgery, but healthcare providers rarely perform surgery to remove heel spurs.