Heel Spur | Heel Pain Treatment | Heel Pain Relief

Heel Spur diagnosis? Do you suffer from heel pain? Difficulty walking in the morning? Read about heel spurs and how Physiotherapy treatment can help you.

What is a heel spur?

A heel spur is an extra bone in the shape of a hook on your heel bone (calcaneus). Heel spurs develop via a build-up of calcium on the bottom of your heel bone. This process of extra bony growth occurs over a very long period of time. The formation of your heel spur may be triggered by many factors such as a ligament or muscle strain in your foot or by overstretching your plantar fascia.

Symptoms of a heel spur

Being diagnosed with a heel spur itself does not mean that you will have heel pain. We see many patients who have another condition called Plantar Fasciitis, which presents as pain at the heel or underneath the surface of your foot. Plantar fasciitis is a painful irritation and subsequent inflammation of the plantar fascia. This the primary cause of heel pain and not the heel spur itself.

A heel spur can form in about 70% of patients who have had plantar fasciitis for a prolonged period of time. However, only about half the patients who have a heel spur identified on x-ray have no plantar fasciitis or heel pain symptoms at all.

Heel pain is mostly noticed when first getting out of bed and standing on your heel in the morning. Over the course of the day, your heel pain reduces and gets worse again after periods of rest such as prolonged sitting or when walking or jogging.

Risk Factors for Heel Spurs

You have an increased chance of developing plantar fasciitis and/or heel spurs if you have any of these factors.

1. Lead an active lifestyle – Especially if you have tight calves or a stiff ankle or foot joints. This can be a result of previous ankle sprain which limits your ankle movement when you run, play sport, dance or go to the gym.
2.  Any excess weight you carry will increase the load, strain, and stress on your plantar fascia.
3. Pregnancy-related increases in body weight and ligament laxity due to pregnancy hormones can lead to spreading of the foot joints and stress on the plantar fascia.
4. Working on your feet all day may increase the chance of your plantar fascia becoming painful and developing a heel spur
5. If your feet are flat or you have a high foot arch – Changes in the arch of your foot changes the shock absorption ability and can stretch and strain the plantar fascia, which then has to absorb the additional force.
6. You approach middle age onwards the arch of your foot may begin to lose it’s strength and sag. This then places additional stress on your plantar fascia and heel.
7. Shoes that are old and worn or don’t have good support in the first place can create heel pain issues.
8. Many people have weak foot arch muscles without realizing. Muscle fatigue in your feet allows your plantar fascia to overstress and may predispose you to future foot issues including heel spur and plantar fasciitis.
9. Certain kinds of arthritis can produce inflammation in the tendons in the bottom of your foot which can in turn lead to heel pain or plantar fasciitis.

 Treatment For A Heel Spur

The good news is that good physiotherapy treatment can assist you in pain attributed to heel spurs, plantar fasciitis or any other foot problem. The best time to get treatment is early on when you feel any foot, heel, calf or lower leg pain or other symptoms.  The earlier we can treat you, we may be able to prevent the formation of a heel spur or at least minimise its’ impact on you.  We also see many people who have been suffering from heel pain for 12 months or more and we successfully assist these people too.

To ensure you receive the correct diagnosis of your foot pain issues your City Physiotherapy physiotherapist will perform an objective examination of your foot.

The following physiotherapy treatment for heel pain may be used:

• Soft tissue release
• Dry Needling
• Inflammation reduction including Ice
• Mobilisation
• Taping and Strapping
• Rest
• Exercises

Book online with City Physiotherapy to get treatment of your heel pain started today.

www.cityphysiotherapy.com.au

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