A heel spur is a common name for a boney growth on the heel bone that grows toward the arch of the foot. It can be pointed, hooked, or shaped like a shelf, and it can be more than 1 cm long. Even though it doesn’t hurt most of the time, it can hurt some people a lot. It happens to one in ten people, and only one in twenty of those people feel pain. Here are some helpful tips and exercises that can help you get rid of heel spurs and their pain and discomfort.
Heel spur, also called calcar calcnei or plantar fasciitis, is when pain suddenly appears in the back of the foot after carrying a heavy load. It is a syndrome caused by overuse, which means that the plantar fascia, which starts at the back of the heel and wraps around a certain muscle, has been stretched.
Stretching causes a so-called inflammatory reaction, which causes a lot of pain along the medial longitudinal arch of the foot and near the medial tubercle of the heel bone. Over time, the fascia on the heel hardens into a heel spur, which can be seen on an X-ray. The calcification that forms at the tendon’s point keeps it from getting hurt, but at the same time it presses on the soft and nerve tissue in the heel, causing inflammation and pain.
In the past, it was thought to be a process of inflammation, but new research shows that it is a process of deterioration. So, plantar fasciopathy would be a better name for this overexertion syndrome.
Most people don’t have any trouble with a heel spur, and those who do don’t even know they have one until they find out by accident. Also, a spur isn’t always the cause of heel pain. 45 percent of people who have heel pain do not have a spur in their heel. Instead, their heel pain is caused by something else. The pain is caused by pressure on the nerves and inflammation of the tissue around the calcifications. The pain depends on the shape, size, and location of the calcifications. Even though the spur is still there, the pain can go away in as many as 97% of cases if the inflammation in the surrounding tissue is taken care of. The following are signs of a heel spur:
- PAIN: Pain on the inside and bottom of the heel, which can be mild or severe, and pain when moving or stretching, along with a feeling of discomfort and stiffness. People say it feels like walking on the tip of a knife, but it turns into a dull ache after a while. Most of the time, it’s stronger in the morning or after a long break. The first few steps hurt a lot, but then the pain gets a little better. Always, there is a dull ache.
- STIFFNESS: A spur in the heel can cause other problems, like heel, ankle, and tibia stiffness, which goes away after the first few steps but comes back every week.
- TINGLING: If the spur presses on a nerve, it can also cause your heel to feel tingly. But a heel spur doesn’t have to hurt. There are calcifications that don’t hurt and very painful conditions that don’t involve calcification.