Treatment of heel spurs

Treatment of spur on the heel helps relieve symptoms of pain and difficulty walking caused by spraying the spur on the plantar fascia, so it is recommended to wear soft shoes with orthopedic insoles to better hold the foot and prevent the spur from causing excessive pressure, relieving pain.

The spur is the formation of a bony callus that is caused by the stiffness of the foot and the fascia, which is also related to being overweight and having to stand or stand in the same position for a long time. Treatment with exercise, stretching and physical therapy is indicated and provides excellent results with pain relief in most cases.

Find out what you can do to ease back pain

Some plantar fascia stretching exercises, such as pulling your toes for 20 seconds or rolling your foot on a tennis ball, may be used to improve the elasticity of the fascia and prevent it from putting too much pressure on the spur. Relieve pain. You can also climb to the foot of the stairs and force the heel down, keeping the floor of your foot and leg stretched.

When the pain is slow to disappear, it is recommended to see an orthopedic surgeon to prescribe anti-inflammatory remedies, such as acetaminophen or naproxen, which reduce inflammation in the spur, making it easier to walk and providing relief. pain faster. You should not take over-the-counter medications and remember that medications only relieve pain and do not eliminate the cause of the spur, and they do not cure the spur, so it is important to follow other treatments.

For the foot massage, you can use a good moisturizer for the feet or sweet almond oil. You can massage your foot yourself, but it is more relaxing when someone else performs the massage. Another type of massage that may be indicated is the transverse massage performed exactly on the painful site, rubbing the area.

Ointments such as Cataflan, Reumon Gel, Calminex or Voltaren can also be used to massage the foot plant daily after bathing or to soak your foot in cold water, for example. At the handling pharmacy, it is also possible to order an inflammatory anti-ointment that can be heated when applied daily.

Pressing while sliding the thumb across the ball of the foot is also an excellent form of treatment to heal the spur. See more tips you can do at home in this video:

Using a silicone insole is a good strategy to reduce the pressure of your body weight on the painful area, the ideal is to use an insole with a hole exactly where the spur is, because in this way the sole of the foot is well supported. and the sore area is not in contact with the inner sole or shoe, however, this sole should not be used for life, being necessary only for the duration of the treatment.

Another type of insole that can be used is the one that forces the curvature of the foot, which is present in some shoes for walking or running.

Physical therapy for heel spurs includes the use of electrotherapy and the application of ice, to reduce the inflammation of the tissues around the spur, relieving pain when walking. Here are some examples of what can be done in physical therapy:

Physical therapy can be done 3 to 4 times a week, until symptoms go away.

The needles used in acupuncture are also a good form of alternative treatment. Each session can be done once a week and provides pain relief and control.

This equipment can be used to combat spurs, providing pain relief with minimal risk and side effects. Treatment lasts 5 to 10 minutes and treatments are needed for 2 to 4 treatments, performed once a week. Understand how shock wave therapy is performed.

Heel spine surgery is used in the most severe cases to release the plantar fascia and remove the spur, permanently relieving pain. However, being a surgery, there may be some side effects, especially tingling in the heel.

After surgery, to avoid complications, it is recommended to rest for at least 2 weeks and keep the foot elevated with pillows so that it is above the level of the heart, preventing it from swelling and delaying healing. Also, you should start putting weight on your heel only after the doctor’s recommendation and you should start walking with crutches. Learn to use crutches correctly.

Once the spur is formed, no treatment can eliminate it completely and that is why it is common for the pain to appear from time to time, as long as the person is careless and wears very hard shoes or is very barefoot, spending many hours a day. Permanent. The only way to remove this bone formation is surgery, where the surgeon can scrape the bone, however, if the factors that led to the development of the spur are not resolved, it can reappear.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *