Managing Chronic Heel Pain: Podiatry Approaches to Heel Spurs

Are you struggling with heel pain? Most heel pain is caused by heel spurs, which are bone growth from the back or bottom of the heel. This can happen for many reasons. And in some cases, it is very painful and inflamed. However, some ways can help you manage this pain and improve mobility. Learn how to manage chronic heel pain in this article. Log on to www.doralhw.org for a consultation.

 

 

Managing Chronic Heel Pain

Home remedies

Some home remedies can help you manage your chronic heel pain at home and improve your mobility, including:

  1. Rest: Give rest to your heel by reducing your activities which involve foot movements or using crutches and not putting weight on the foot for at least 1 to 3 weeks, allowing your foot to heal itself. Avoid walking barefoot and wearing shoes that don’t provide sufficient arch support.
  2. Cold compress: This is one of the most common home remedies to manage heel pain. To do that, take the cold pack, cover it with a towel, and apply it on the heel for at least 15 to 20 minutes several times a day. You can find gel packs or cold food wraps from drugstores. They should be kept in the freezer and then wrapped around the foot and ankle when needed. You can leave the wrap for 10 minutes, then unwrap. Repeat this process on an hourly basis when you’re You can also roll your foot over a cold or frozen water bottle.
  3. Stretching exercises: Stretching exercises for the calf and surrounding muscles can help you recover quickly and reduce the strain and pressure on the heel spur, which increases the risk of re-injury. You should do some stationary stretching exercises in the morning and evening with the right form to help you relieve heel pain.
  4. Over the counter (OTC) medications: These anti-inflammatory medications can be found at your nearby drugstores, and you don’t need a prescription to buy them. These medications can help you relieve heel pain and discomfort. The most common ones are – aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen sodium/naproxen. These medicines also reduce tissue inflammation, which prevents further damage.

However, you should avoid these medications if you have kidney problems or a history of stomach bleeding and ulcers. OTC acetaminophen may relieve pain, but it doesn’t have any anti-inflammatory properties as the other medications.

  1. Change shoes: You should wear comfortable and well-fitting shoes that help you reduce the amount of pressure on the heel spur, which causes pain and discomfort. To buy the right shoes for heel spur, you should look for:
  • Firm heel support: When the back/heel portion of the shoe is firm, it supports the heel and prevents your foot from rolling inward or outward.
  • Moderate flexibility: If the shoe is easy to flex then it’s collapsible, however, you need a shoe that provides a gradual bend with some resistance when your foot is flexed or bent.
  • Slightly elevated heel: A heel insert and shoe that provides a slightly elevated heel can help you take pressure off your heel.

 

Podiatry Approaches

Chronic heel pain treatment mainly focuses on improving chronic heel pain and protecting it from re-injury. In most cases, heel spur cases get better with nonsurgical treatments. It includes:

  1. Prescribed medications: In case your heel pain doesn’t get better with OTC medications, your doctor may prescribe stronger anti-inflammatory medications to reduce your pain and discomfort. It can be in the form of oral and topical creams.
  2. Injection: An anti-inflammatory injection agent mixed with a numbing agent is given to the affected area to improve your heel pain. The most common are corticosteroid injections used to alleviate severe pain of the heel spur. To maintain its effects you may need to take it regularly, however, there’s a limit to how often and how many you can receive because it can increase the risk of tendon rupture.
  3. Cryoultrasound: This therapy involves the application of electromagnetic energy with cold therapy to relieve pain. This machine looks like a large wand that moves over the foot and ankle. Research suggests that this is an efficient treatment option for people with plantar fasciitis who also have heel spurs. This therapy is mostly recommended by podiatrists and physical therapists.
  4. Tapping and strapping: Different types of tapping and strapping can be used to relieve strained muscles and tendons to relieve your heel spur pain. You can remove the tape before sleep. If it irritates your skin, you should use adhesive pre-wrap tape before zinc oxide tape.
  5. Shoe inserts and orthotics: Shoe inserts or orthotic devices can help you provide cushioning to support your arches and help with pain relief. You can also get custom orthotics that fit into your shoes. These can protect your foot from rolling and provide extra heel support.
  6. Physical therapy: Your doctor may recommend you to a physical therapist to get a customized exercise program that helps to relieve your heel pain, improve overall mobility, and strengthen your surrounding muscles and tendons. Usually, exercises include – stretching exercises, massage, arch strengthening, electric stimulation, contrast baths, etc.
  7. Surgery: If all nonsurgical treatments fail to improve pain, then the doctor recommends surgery to improve pain and restore mobility. Several surgical approaches are available to treat heel spur. The most common surgical approach is to remove the plantar fascia ligament from the heel bone or remove the heel spur with special tools, which lower the pressure on the plantar fascia and remove the heel spur. However, it involves a significant risk of nerve damage. It’s also possible that your heel spur returns after surgery. After the surgery, it may take several weeks until you can walk again normally with less heel pain.

 

Prevention

You can prevent heel spurs by taking good foot care, however, you can prevent some factors right away or change them over time. Others cannot be changed.

 

 Right now.

  • If you jog or run daily, choose soft surfaces like grass and tracks instead of hard surfaces like sidewalks and pavement.
  • Wear proper-fitting shoes that support your arches.
  • Wear slippers or shoes if you walk on hardwood or tile floors.
  • Change the way you walk which allows you to put less pressure on your heels.

Over time.

  • Lose weight to reduce the pressure on your foot.
  • Make changes in your routine that allow you to not stand on your feet as much as possible.

Things you can’t change.

  • Aging can make your plantar fascia less flexible, more prone to damage, and more likely to cause plantar fasciitis.
  • Over time, the natural fat pad cushions start decreasing from the bottom of your feet.
  • You have either fat feet or high arches.

 

Chronic heel pain can happen due to many reasons. However, you can manage chronic heel pain with the combination of home remedies and the medical treatment mentioned above. You can prevent several risk factors to prevent heel pain and maintain good foot health.

 

Need help with heel pain, visit our podiatry clinic in Brooklyn to get professional medical help. Call us to book your appointment now.

Doral Health & Wellness employs Podiatrists with extensive education and expertise. Trauma to the tendons, muscles, and bones of the foot is quite common, as are infections secondary to systemic diseases. It’s not a promising idea to put off seeing Foot Doctor Brooklyn until you’re in a lot of pain. Our address is 1797 Pitkin Avenue, New York, NY 11212. To make an appointment, please call +1-347-384-5690 or send an email to info@doralhw.org.