Re: heel spurs?

In my earnest effort to ensure an enjoyable experience for my upcoming arrival in Yosemite I may have pushed a bit too hard. I have been on line and been doing the ice, elevate, rest but i figure with all the ingenius folks on here somebody (or somebird) may have heard an old wives tale for a remedy or relief of heel spurs. thanks

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Patsfans
In my earnest effort to ensure an enjoyable experience for my upcoming arrival in Yosemite I may have pushed a bit too hard. I have been on line and been doing the ice, elevate, rest but i figure with all the ingenius folks on here somebody (or somebird) may have heard an old wives tale for a remedy or relief of heel spurs. thanks

Bone spurs do not require treatment unless they are causing pain or damaging other tissues. When needed, treatment may be directed at the causes, the symptoms, or the bone spurs themselves.

Treatment directed at the cause of bone spurs may include weight loss to take some pressure off the joints (especially when osteoarthritis or plantar fasciitis is the cause) and stretching the affected area, such as the heel cord and bottom of the foot. Seeing a physical therapist for ultrasound or deep tissue massage may be helpful for plantar fasciitis or shoulder pain.

Treatment directed at symptoms could include rest, ice, stretching the Achilles tendon, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen. Education in how to protect your joints is helpful if you have osteoarthritis. If a bone spur is in your foot, changing footwear or adding padding or a shoe insert such as a heel cup or orthotic may help. If the bone spur is causing corns or calluses, padding the area or wearing different shoes can help. A podiatrist (foot doctor) may be consulted if corns and calluses become a bigger problem. If the bone spur continues to cause symptoms, your doctor may suggest a corticosteroid injection at the painful area to reduce pain and inflammation of the soft tissues next to the bone spur.

Sometimes the bone spurs themselves are treated. Bone spurs can be surgically removed or treated as part of a surgery to repair or replace a joint when osteoarthritis has caused considerable damage and deformity. Examples might include repair of a bunion or heel spur in the foot or removal of small spurs underneath the point of the shoulder.

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Old Dude



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2013 06:15AM by mrcondron.

So you're telling him to take it easy on the Twinkies?

Or to maybe give the rocking horse a few too less kicks?

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I have had plantar fascia in my right foot because I have a really bad left knee and I am always standing on my right leg. Keep doing what you are doing and also take the suggestions that Old Dude posted. Personally, I have used a heel cup ( I used the gel kind) to give me relief and also taped my foot using the following directions.

Using 1 1/2 inch wide athletic tape. On the inside of your foot put one strip of tape from just below your big toe to the back of your heel. Tape from just below the little toe to the back of the heel. Add a strip from just below the big toe and cross it over to the back of the heel on the outside of your foot. Don't run the tape all the way up the heel but stop at the base.

When the pain had been extreme, I have taped my foot and ankle like a football player does. I hope you can follow this explanation. Run a strip of athletic tape along both sides of your foot. Starting at the front of your arch run a series of strips of tapes that go around the bottom of your foot and criss cross the ends so that the end of the tape on the outside is attached to your ankle on the inside and the end of the tape on the inside goes to the outside. Continue this pattern all the way up your foot. Just make sure that you don't stretch the tape too tight. If you don't understand the directions, there should be some on the internet or you can go find a kid in the neighborhood that plays football or soccer and I am sure they could show you. In either method do not leave the tape on over night.

The best thing to do is rest and wear some soft shoes that do not put pressure on your heel or wear some slides. Personally, I have found that walking barefoot on soft surfaces when I am not having issues with the plantar fascia, helps stretch out the muscles, tendons and ligaments in my feet and that has helped prevent the plantar fascia from returning as much as it did.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2013 09:12AM by parklover.

Thanks to all! As usual, right on the money by all of you. I had not been stretching too much and have started a daily routine. Many years of football have led to a few maladies but left me with some knowledge of how to tape myself up. I was kinda hoping to avoid it on the trail though...tape = trash = weight etc etc etc. Last but not least would be less twinkies ( ice cream ) in my case. Thanks again!
25 days and counting!!

If your skin does not get irritated wearing tape, then you could leave the tape on for more than one day so you would not have to take as much. I have left tape on for two days but it was "interesting" trying to get it off.

"Interesting trying to get it off"? Are we talking about something besides Kinesio Tape? That comes off very easily.

I was talking about the old fashioned white athletic tape not Kinesio Tape. Kinesio tape is more flexible, in fact it is elastic and not as sticky as the white tape. I use the white athletic tape purposely because it is not elastic so I can't flex my foot as much.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2013 10:42AM by parklover.

You can use foam pre-tape. Wrap footie with that... then white althetic tape over that.
Good to go. I've done this quite a bit when I wore boots. That's the big thing I hate
about the boots. It can take quite a while to break them in. Shoes... good to go right out of the box.
With the foam pre-rap on.. I've had that on my feets for a week. No problemo.
Easy to remove when done.

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For some reason, my skin gets irritated by the foam pre-tape.

RICE seems to be helping but i may buy some Kinesio tape and give it a whirl. I also bought some smart feet (inserts) and a Rubz ball at REI and both are helping. Plantars seems to be what i have but the pain was mostly in my heel so i was thinking heel spurs.

You can get heel spurs anywhere on your heel including the bottom and they are not always painful. Heel pain is a symptom of plantar fascitis which I know from personal experience. One interesting bit of info is that plantar fascitis can cause heel spurs but heel spurs do not cause plantar fascitis.