Heel pain can often be debilitating and painful, interfering with our daily activities and ability to get our regular daily tasks done.
Most types of heel pain can be avoided by wearing good shoes with a stiff sole that does not weaken when trying to bend the shoe from heel to toe like a taco and does not allow us to wring the shoe out like a towel when twisted. Stiff soled shoes are important to ease the strain on a ligament that goes across the bottom of your foot, like a truss to a house, providing proper support.
Over time this stressed ligament becomes inflamed and is known as plantar fasciitis. This injury is repetitive and when overlooked over time it become progressively worse until the foot pain becomes intolerable.
The continued stress of the ligament pulling on the heel bone leads to an increased deposition of bone on the heel. This is when and how the bone spur forms.
It is common for a patient to visit one of our podiatrists at Valley Foot Care, Inc. with x-ray films or reports remarking of bone spurs. Oftentimes the patient thinks the spurs have to be removed and they are worried about the need for surgery. The bone only builds up in response to stress being applied by the ligament pulling on the bone. Wolf’s Law is the theory of how bone building occurs when stress is applied.
The good news is that over 90% of all of our patients at Valley Foot Care, Inc. are successfully treated for their heel pain and bone spurs conservatively without the risks of surgery. Our Board Certified Podiatrists believe that conservative foot care treatment should always be provided and assessed prior to any surgery.
The underlying disease process of plantar fasciitis is more about inflammation of soft tissue (plantar fascia ligament) that needs rest, supports, meds and good shoes.
If your foot pain persists and does not resolve with simple measures such as shoe changes, consult with one of our podiatrists to make sure your foot pain is not due to something else, so that you can recover faster and get back to the things you enjoy.
For more information on foot-related topics, visit our website https://www.onyourfeetaz.com