Many people are faced with such a disease as spurs on their legs. Some people mistakenly believe that the discomfort is caused by a pointed bony growth, but this is not entirely true. The spur itself does not hurt, and even healthy people can have such growths. Pain occurs due to plantar fasciitis.
Fascia is a structure of the foot made of connective tissue that is attached to the heel bone and phalanges of the toes. It is she who participates in the formation of the longitudinal arch. When micro-tears in the fascia appear, it becomes inflamed and painful.
During sleep, the cracks grow together again, but the fascia shortens. In the morning, when taking the first steps, a person again feels pain in his leg. When walking, the fascia stretches a little and the discomfort becomes less. But after rest it increases again.
Regular tears lead to inflammation of nearby tissues. The bone tissue actively grows and forms spines. The appearance of spurs can be caused by injury, heavy physical exertion, or an inflammatory process.
Doctors name the factors that provoke this disease:
The symptoms are pronounced, so recognizing the disease is easy.
The pain intensifies if a person
steps on the heel, especially after being in a sitting or lying position for a long time. Pressure on the heel causes the urge to limp or step on the outside of the foot.
Very strong discomfort appears in the evening. If you are overweight, the pain is much more noticeable. The skin on the heel becomes rough and red as the pressure from the build-up provokes inflammation. Sometimes infection and suppuration are added to it.
A person's gait becomes abnormal. He begins to fall to one side and limp.
If the situation is advanced, then walking without a cane is problematic. Unpleasant sensations appear when palpating the heel and the area nearby; there may be a callus near the spur.
Symptoms indicating the appearance of spurs on the legs may also indicate other problems, for example, injuries, fractures, sprains. Only a doctor can make an accurate diagnosis based on the patient’s complaints and an examination.
Ultrasound not only shows the growth, but also visualizes the source of inflammation. Therefore, you should not put off going to a specialist. The sooner adequate therapy is carried out, the faster you can forget about the problem and get rid of discomfort.
Treatment for a spur on the leg should be prescribed by a doctor; you should not self-medicate at home without consulting a specialist.
But there are rules that every patient with this disease must follow:
Surgical intervention is effective, but it is used only in extreme cases. In order for the treatment to be effective, it is imperative to unload the sore leg.
If possible, the patient should remain in bed and use a cane when walking.
Treatment for spurs on the leg can be done at home. Proven methods will alleviate the patient’s condition, but consultation with a doctor is still necessary. Thoroughly knead a small piece of yellow clay and apply it to the previously steamed heel. Cover with a cabbage leaf, secure and leave overnight.
Combine sea salt and honey in equal quantities. Steam the heel and apply the composition. Cover with double folded gauze, wrap in plastic, put on warm socks and apply a heating pad. Hold until the water in the heating pad cools down. The course of such therapy is 10 days.
An unusual method has proven itself well among the people. Feet need to be steamed until the skin turns red and wiped dry. Wait until they become slightly damp again, wipe them off and only then lubricate them with Pomorin paste. It absorbs quickly, so there is no need to apply bandages. It is better to do the procedure before bed. Course – 2 weeks.
It will be easier for you to walk if you put a piece of foil under your heel.
Another effective remedy is a propolis compress. Soften the piece with your hand so that it takes the shape of a bone and secure it with a bandage.
Many people are interested in how to treat heel spurs on the feet with red pepper. The growth will resolve faster if you put a little ground pepper in a sock and walk throughout the day. Relief should occur after the first session.
Many people know how to treat foot spurs with folk remedies using potatoes. Chop the green surface of a raw potato or grate it on a fine grater, put it in plastic and bandage it to the sore spot. It is advisable to wear this compress all day.
Baths are very effective. You can soak your feet in a steep infusion of green walnut shells.
You can’t rinse or dry them afterwards. The procedure must be done within 10 days. Prepare a strong salt infusion: take three tablespoons of salt per liter of water, preferably sea salt. You need to steam until the water cools down.
Pat your feet dry and put on warm socks. Internal cleansing of the body is no less important. Practice colon therapy, massage, rubbing and dousing, use magnetized water. Your doctor will give you recommendations.
Place an egg in a jar with the same capacity as a glass and fill it with table vinegar until it is completely covered. Leave it until the shells are completely dissolved. This process can take from 3 to 10 days. Then melt the butter and pour it into the container with the egg. Remove the inner film and mix everything well. Apply the ointment to gauze and apply to the damaged area. Secure with a bandage or wear a thick sock. To prevent the product from seeping through, you can wrap the compress with polyethylene. When the skin peels off, the procedures can be stopped. After healing, several more treatments may be required.
Doctors give general recommendations on how you can get rid of spurs on your legs:
Treatment for heel spurs must be comprehensive. It is problematic to treat heel spurs only with folk remedies; you cannot do without drug therapy.
Treatment of heel spurs at home is carried out using compresses, ointments, self-massage and warm baths. Heel spur is the formation of a bone growth in the heel area, often accompanied by inflammation of the plantar fascia and the patient is bothered by severe pain in the heel, the spur takes a long time to treat, all folk remedies should be used from 2 weeks to one and a half months.
Official medicine uses ultrasound or shock wave therapy, electrophoresis with painkillers, and the administration of medications by injection into the heel area for treatment. However, heel injections are quite painful and can cause complications, and some procedures are paid and not available to everyone. In this case, you can try treating heel spurs with folk remedies.
Spurs are formed due to increased load on the tendons of the heels, deformation of the normal position of the bone occurs. We wrote about everything in detail in the article spurs on the heels, where we also discussed the main causes, symptoms, treatment and prevention of this disease.
Take about 40 grams of chicken bile, add 20 grams of vodka and shampoo (a teaspoon). The feet must first be steamed in a basin for a quarter of an hour, after which a compress from the prepared mixture must be applied to the sore heel. Wrap the top in cellophane and put on insulated socks. Keep the product for at least 8 hours, preferably leaving it overnight.
Onion peel tincture
Take onion peels, mix them with vinegar in equal proportions, keep the jar for 2 weeks (under the lid) without access to light. Apply the resulting mass to the heel in a 1 cm layer. Cover the foot with oilcloth or cellophane film and keep the compress for about 8 hours. Procedures should be performed every day, but no more than 6 procedures in a row. After removing the compress, do not forget to take care of the skin of your feet, lubricate them with cream or special oil.
Make a paste of walnuts by simply grinding them in a blender. Apply the resulting product to your leg, cover the top with parchment paper and secure the compress with an adhesive plaster. It is better to do this before going to bed, and rinse the paste with water in the morning.
Garden iris tincture
Pass the plant root through a meat grinder, mix with medical alcohol in a 1:1 ratio, put the mixture in a glass jar, and cover with a lid. The product should sit for 2 weeks. Moisten a gauze or cotton napkin with the tincture, wrap your foot in waterproof film, and put on woolen socks. It is recommended to do wraps every other day, the number is 10 procedures. On free days, lubricate the heel with Vaseline.
Ointment for the treatment of plantar fasciitis
Many patients have been helped by this recipe for heel spurs; treatment at home allowed them to forget about the disease for a long time. To prepare the medicine you will need one egg, vinegar essence, natural unsalted butter (200 grams). Break the egg into a glass, after removing the shell, pour the essence on top in such an amount that it just covers the egg on top. At this time, melt the butter over the fire, but do not bring it to a boil. Pour the oil into a glass without stirring the ingredients. Cover with a lid and wrap in a towel, place the ointment in a dark place. You can tear off the container and mix only after 3 days.
We apply a soft cloth soaked in this product to the sore spot, tie a bandage on top or put on a sock. It is recommended to use the entire jar of prepared ointment, but in practice this rarely works. The spur stops bothering a person before the remedy runs out!
The skin on your legs may peel off, you should not be afraid of this. If such a problem occurs, take a break between procedures. Pain relief occurs after several such wraps.
Pour white acacia flowers with vodka or diluted alcohol in a ratio of 1:3, leave, and wipe the sore leg.
Honey compresses for the treatment of spurs
Mix a tablespoon of honey, a teaspoon of table salt and iodine tincture (50 ml). Apply the home remedy to the leg at night, wrapping it on top with plastic wrap and warm material. In the morning, do not rush to immediately remove the compress; walk around the apartment with it for a while, about 15 minutes.
For newly developed heel spurs, compresses made from honey and unleavened dough improve the condition and relieve pain. To do this, smear the sore spot with honey, cover it with a simple flat cake, and wrap it up. You can walk with honey for several days, after which wash your foot with water and repeat the procedure again. The course is at least one month.
It must be grated, the resulting shavings should be melted over a fire. You will get a creamy mass, which is applied to the heel and left on the foot until the morning, with socks put on top. The soap mixture can be used every day until improvement occurs.
They can be done with sea salt (a couple of tablespoons per liter of water), the procedure takes half an hour. Baths with soda and iodine: dissolve soda in 3 liters of warm water - 2-3 teaspoons, add 10 drops of iodine tincture. Keep your feet in the soda solution for 10 minutes, then lubricate the heel with iodine.
Patients can be recommended to self-massage their feet, but it must be done in an unconventional way. Take an old felt boot and rub your feet with the felt for a long time.
Heat table salt, walk on a flat surface with your bare feet for about 15 minutes. The salt should be quite hot, but try not to get burned.
To prevent exacerbation, it is necessary to wear comfortable shoes, preferably with orthopedic insoles inserted into them. There are sets of therapeutic exercises; take 15 minutes in the evening for a massage, which should be done after a foot bath.
What is a heel spur? If you look at it from a medical point of view, then by heel spur we mean plantar fasciitis, that is, inflammation of the fascia of the sole, which is located from the heel to the toes. As a result of advanced, untreated fasciitis, calcium salts can enter the inflamed areas, where, in turn, small spur-like bone growths are formed or calcium salts are deposited, which are not easy to get rid of. Clearly in the photo.
Inflamed plantar fascia and heel spur
Unfortunately, this question is quite relevant in our time. After all, many people lead a sedentary lifestyle, which has a negative effect on their legs and the body as a whole. If we consider the causes of fasciitis, there are several of them.
When walking, human feet experience a large load, which falls on the heel tubercle and the area of fascia that is attached to it. Because of this, small cracks can form here, which heal on their own. But if there are many cracks, then the fascia becomes inflamed and hurts. The main causes of heel spurs include:
First of all, this is the pain that a person feels in the heel area of the foot. The pain generally begins in the morning, when a person gets up after sleep, then subsides a little, and in the evening it can intensify again. If the inflammation is very severe, then patients complain of pain as if a nail had been driven into the heel. In such cases, people often limp, and if the inflammation is on both legs, then it is even difficult for a person to walk. The skin on the heels becomes red and rough.
Of course, at the first signs of the disease, it is better to consult an orthopedist. He will prescribe x-rays and the necessary tests to determine the exact cause of the disease. If the cause of fasciitis is some kind of internal disease, then it is imperative to treat the underlying disease. There are several treatment methods:
To speed up the treatment of heel spurs, it is better to combine several methods.
To get rid of pain at home, you first need to remove the load from the sore foot. For these purposes, you can use a rubber roller that is placed in the shoe so that the painful part does not come into contact with anything. Or you can cut a piece from soft rubber and glue it to house slippers so that there is a gap between the insole and the sore spot. In addition, it is good to lubricate the inflamed areas with special ointments such as dolobene, indomethacin ointment and others. It is better to carry out therapeutic baths in later stages of the disease, since at the beginning of the disease they can increase pain. At home, in order to remove the spur, they use heating, compresses and massage.
Therapeutic baths for warming the feet
Warming in combination with other methods helps fight the disease well. For this procedure, a kilogram of regular or sea salt must be mixed with 5 liters of boiled hot water. You need to soak your feet in the resulting solution for about 15-20 minutes. The course of treatment is 10 days. The pain will decrease after the 4th procedure, but you cannot stop, it is important to complete the course to the end. This solution can be used throughout the course, you just need to warm it up before each procedure.
To treat spurs, you can use the following compresses:
In complex treatment, therapeutic massage is a very effective addition. Massage can be done in several ways. The most popular methods are presented to your attention.
Baths with medicinal herbs (May nettle, wormwood, burdock, etc.) are very effective for accelerating the healing process. They reduce pain and have a good effect on the skin of the feet.
Of course, for treatment of spurs to be as effective as possible, it is important to follow a diet. After all, proper nutrition can greatly reduce inflammation and remove accumulated salts. The basic principles of the diet are avoidance of salty, smoked foods and sweets. In general, you should try to salt foods as little as possible. It is also better to give up coffee, tea and store-bought juices. You need to drink about two liters of water per day. You can eat watermelons and fresh cucumbers for greater benefits.
In order not to suffer from this disease, it is important to carry out prevention. Such preventive methods include:
Special insoles help relieve foot tension
On the Internet you can find many video materials devoted to this topic. Qualified doctors talk in detail about the disease and treatment methods. Therefore, if this trouble has befallen you and you don’t know how to get rid of it, look at some materials and you will learn a lot of new and interesting things for yourself.
Plantar fasciitis - heel spur - is not a separate disease, but a consequence of other diseases. It is believed that plantar fasciitis has nothing to do with the bone, but is exclusively inflammatory in nature of the foot muscles, without a bacterial picture. Spurs on the heels and toes are most often caused by flat feet or narrow, uncomfortable shoes that deform the joints of the feet. Also, bone growth is caused by excessive physical activity, walking long distances. Heel spurs have been noticed in athletes and young people. Older patients are more likely to notice spurs on their toes, caused by age-related changes in the joints.
When a heel spur occurs, acute pain occurs when moving; pressure on the affected heel causes unbearable pain. The bony spine-like process injures the soft tissues of the heel, the gait changes radically, and the person suffering from pain dreams of getting rid of the heel spur.
Toe spurs form on the big toe, representing a deformed, inflamed joint.
At the initial stage of the disease, elementary gymnastics helps. Rotation of the feet, flexion/extension of the toes, rolling from heel to toe and back. Treatment of spurs is carried out in a comprehensive manner - the effect is achieved faster, and there is a higher guarantee of being cured of the disease forever.
Surgery is a slow treatment method that does not guarantee permanent relief from heel spurs. Physiotherapy is considered a more effective and reliable method.
Metal plates wrapped in a material soaked in a medicinal solution (potassium iodide or novocaine is used) are attached to the diseased area of the leg. After turning on the device, the electrical particles penetrate deeply, ensuring access of the medicine to the site of inflammation. The procedure has a powerful anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect. The method has virtually no contraindications.
The most effective method of treating spurs. Pulses of sound waves gently affect the affected area, breaking up salt deposits, removing swelling, accelerating the process of tissue regeneration, and reducing bone inflammation. The method has contraindications:
Low frequency laser therapy is gaining popularity in the treatment of spurs. The laser promotes active regeneration processes and has a powerful anti-inflammatory, anesthetic, and warming effect. The laser enhances the effect of medications - remember this to avoid overdose of medications. The procedure is painless, the result is noticeable quickly. There is an impressive number of contraindications:
Laser therapy does not directly affect the leg bone, affecting the soft tissue, but there is also a procedure for crushing the bone process with a laser.
Magnetic therapy has an anti-edematous effect, helps to quickly eliminate pain in the legs, and accelerates the healing process. Magnetic therapy sessions are carried out even at home - there are options for portable devices. The therapy is absolutely painless, non-addictive, and successfully treats spurs at an early stage of the disease. Contraindications:
The most important thing with a heel spur is to see a doctor as early as possible to get a diagnosis. If you have the slightest pain in your legs, consult a doctor to prescribe competent and effective treatment. Dealing with heel spurs is a long and laborious task; doctors do not guarantee a cure for foot pain forever, but the sooner you contact a professional, the faster you will get rid of the unpleasant sensation.
Surgery is not recommended and rarely practiced. Surgical treatment of the legs is prescribed when other options for complex therapy do not bring positive results. If within several months, subject to the recommendations and prescriptions of the doctor, the pain intensifies and inflammation progresses, surgical treatment of leg spurs may be prescribed.
To prevent pain in the legs and deformation of bones, it is recommended to choose comfortable orthopedic shoes, preferably made from natural materials, so that blood circulation is not disrupted, air passes freely, and the natural position of the foot is maintained.
It is recommended to wear special orthopedic insoles that prevent the occurrence of flat feet - the causes of the appearance of foot spurs, correctly distributing weight along the foot, preventing it from deforming, preserving normal gait and the health of the spine. Orthopedic insoles are made to order; this is quite an expensive pleasure, but your health is worth it.
Remember - treatment must be carried out as a complex. When visiting a doctor, analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs are additionally prescribed; in severe cases, hormonal drugs are added. Do not attempt hormone treatment on your own!
Folk remedies include various lotions, compresses and ointments prepared from natural products at home. Before using compresses, it is recommended to steam your feet, then apply the product, covering it with plastic wrap, and put on warm socks.
There are options using all kinds of solutions and tinctures. It is recommended to drink the infusion of lingonberry leaves as often and for a long time as possible.
All kinds of recipes with garlic, eggs, honey, and lard are popular. For example:
A device similar to an orthopedic insole is actively used, which facilitates the location of the bone spike, with a recess and soft lining in the heel area. Such devices are sold in orthopedic stores.
Treatment with mud applications and local administration of corticosteroids and hormonal drugs that regulate water-salt metabolism is used.
Heel spurs are treated with the Vitafon device. This is a unique physiotherapeutic device that creates microvibration of soft tissues and skin, improving blood flow, and is used even in cosmetology clinics. An additional advantage of Vitafon is that vibroacoustic procedures have a beneficial effect on the body at any age, allowing treatment with the device to be used by both elderly patients and children. The sooner you start using the device, the faster and easier the result will be achieved.
Choose the most appropriate treatment methods. Before starting treatment, consult your surgeon or orthopedist. Carefully study all contraindications before the procedure and follow the prescribed recommendations. Be sure to follow your doctor’s instructions during the rehabilitation period, do not forget about disease prevention and be healthy!
Grishkova Marina | Updated: 2017-02-04
Growths on the feet are a fairly common problem for modern girls. Many people forget that feet also need daily care, just like hair or nails. We propose to consider how medicinal and traditional treatment of spurs on the heels is carried out, what medications are needed to get rid of the disease, as well as the prevention of this unpleasant phenomenon.
A spur is a growth on the bones of the legs, the treatment of which must be carried out under the strict supervision of medical personnel. According to stereotypes, the protrusion appears in those who love high heels or obese girls. In fact, those who walk low (flip-flops, flip-flops, etc.) and people over 30 years of age suffer more often from the disease.
Before starting treatment for the disease at home, it is imperative to consult a specialized surgeon. The fact is that a heel spur is often confused with a wart: rod growths on the legs have approximately the same symptoms as bone growths:
Initially, you begin to notice pain in the heel, followed by swelling and difficulty in moving, after the foot begins to show you - it’s time to start treating the spurs.
There are a lot of modern techniques that you can use at home to get rid of spurs. They can be divided into the following groups:
Professional medicine mainly uses a variety of local remedies: painkillers and disinfectant ointments and creams. Although some doctors also recommend taking special tablets. The undoubted leaders in self-medication for heel spurs are hydrocartisone, Diclofenac and indomethacin ointments. These products are quite affordable and have an excellent effect.
To get rid of the problem once and for all, you need to rub the chosen medicine into the affected area three times a day, and be sure to thoroughly steam the skin beforehand. We heat the water to the temperature at which you usually steam your feet when you have a cold; it is advisable to use a herbal decoction (chamomile, oak bark, mint, sage, etc.). Afterwards, depending on the instructions, you wipe your feet or not, and apply cream or ointment with active movements to the heels in the spur area. Do not press too hard, it is better to pass over the painful area several times, and at the end of the procedure, wrap your legs in plastic and a towel. It is advisable to withstand such a compress for at least a couple of hours, during which time the epidermis will become softer and stop hurting. Continue exposure for two weeks, after this time the spur will become less noticeable or disappear altogether. You will see the first results within seven days.
A very interesting and effective way to cure a spur is to give an injection into the heel joint. You can’t handle this on your own (if you don’t have experience or medical education). A strong antibiotic is injected into this area, which anesthetizes and softens the tissue, subsequently the spur becomes small and is not felt at all.
Medicines for the treatment of spurs on the heels must be prescribed by professionals, because each case requires an individual approach. For example, if you do not have an old form of the disease, you can even try a patch. This method works on the principle of Chinese medicine - it activates certain points on the heel, which help reduce pain, relieve swelling and heal the buildup. On average, treatment will require 15 to 20 patches.
Photo - View of a heel spur
Deep spurs on the heels are often treated with medical bile and iodine. This is a pretty tough option, so be careful. You need to combine a few drops of iodine, a spoonful of bile and a spoonful of any soap or shampoo. Apply the mixture to the spur, wrap the foot and wait 1-2 hours.
Video: a simple method for treating plantar fasciitis
Treatment of spurs on the heels with medications is not always justified: it is expensive, time-consuming and sometimes dangerous (allergic reactions, inflammation). For hundreds of years, our ancestors used various available means to get rid of this disease.
Many experts recommend using different techniques in combination, this way you speed up recovery and significantly save time. Of course, do not combine ointments and poultices at the same time, try to act gently.
Popular folk recipes for treating heel spurs:
Photo - Treatment of heel spurs
Hardware options are not very suitable for home use, but still laser treatment of spurs is the undoubted leader among the proposed methods. Some surgeons' offices may also offer you an ultrasound device to get rid of the problem, but this technique has not yet been proven. If you can afford it, then look at such devices in online stores, for example, in Krasnoyarsk such a device costs from 12,000 rubles, and in Kyiv from 20,000.
As you can see in the photo, home treatment for heel spurs is effective; reviews claim that such options are even more effective than injections or surgeries. If you have encountered similar problems, share your recommendations in the comments.
Probably many people in their lives have encountered the problem of spurs forming on their feet. This is the name for abnormal growths on the bones of the foot, which are usually formed as a result of metabolic disorders in the body. If you look at an X-ray of a heel spur, then, as in a kind of photograph, you can see a thin and relatively long needle, reminiscent of a cavalry spur. But if a horse experiences pain from an ordinary spur, then the patient himself suffers from a heel spur, especially when he has to step on the heel while walking.
The causes of spurs on the legs can be different. Some diseases contribute to the appearance of spurs on the legs, for example, diabetes mellitus, as well as diseases of the kidneys, gastrointestinal tract and thyroid gland. This disease is increasingly spreading in the modern world, also due to the common problem of excess weight and flat feet. It can be noted that this disease is more common among women, which is greatly facilitated by walking in high heels and pregnancy.
The main symptom of a spur on the leg is pain that occurs in the patient’s foot when walking. It is caused by the fact that the bone growth puts pressure on nearby soft tissues, causing an inflammatory process in them. In addition to pain when walking, a sign of a spur is redness of the part of the foot where it appeared (most often a spur appears on the toe and heel), and pain that occurs when pressing on this place even with a finger. If there are doubts about the correct diagnosis of the disease (this disease cannot always be determined independently), then it is best to consult a doctor who can make an accurate diagnosis.
If we talk about methods of treating spurs on the legs, it can be carried out using medications or folk remedies, as well as laser therapy or surgery.
Treatment of spurs on the legs with traditional methods often gives good results, especially when used in the early stages of this disease. Here are some fairly simple and at the same time effective methods on how to treat spurs on the legs at home:
Cabbage leaf and honey Put 1 tsp on the cabbage leaf. honey and tie it to the heel (or to the toe, if the spur is on the toe). It is better to do this “bandage” at night and remove it in the morning. It is enough to do the procedure several (at least 2) times for the pain to subside.
Nettle Collect fresh nettle leaves every day, and in the evening, after steaming your feet, trample on these leaves for half an hour. After 5 sessions of this therapy, the spur on the legs recedes.
Red pepper This recipe will help get rid of spurs on your feet in just 2 weeks. Pour ground red pepper into socks, put them on your feet and walk all day. After the first day of wearing the pain will subside a little, and after 2 weeks it will completely recede.
If the doctor has made an accurate diagnosis and prescribed medication, then you can buy various gels and ointments in pharmacies with a prescription and use them at home. Applied to a sore spot, they fight the inflammatory process. With this treatment, 2 weeks are usually enough to relieve foot inflammation.
If the disease is advanced and the pain does not go away with pharmaceutical medications, treatment by doctors is necessary. In medical practice, treatment methods such as magnetic therapy and shock wave therapy are used. These methods, as well as electrophoresis and laser treatment, help even in complex cases of the disease.
An old principle says that the best treatment is prevention. Since the reasons for the appearance of spurs on the legs are known, rules for the prevention of this disease can be derived from this. First of all, this is the fight against excess weight and the development of flat feet, especially in its early stages. It is important for women and teenagers to pay attention to the correct selection of shoes, one in which the foot does not experience excessive stress. For people who have a predisposition to such a disease, a set of therapeutic exercises for the legs will also not hurt, especially helping to prevent the disease in its early stages.
Everything stated above will help you decide what to treat and how to treat spurs on your legs. But it is better, by adhering to preventive measures, to prevent the development of the disease.
Heel pain can be caused by various reasons, and one of them is the development of a heel spur, or plantar fasciitis. The disease is accompanied by bone proliferation and inflammation.
Pain occurs due to constant trauma to the tissues surrounding the bone. The factors that provoke the formation of heel spurs, symptoms and treatment of fasciitis are described below.
A heel spur is a growth of bone tissue in the form of a spike in the area of the tubercle of the heel bone or near the Achilles tendon. Most often, the pathology is detected in middle-aged and elderly people, and the predisposition is higher in women.
The fascia of the sole (tendon plate - aponeurosis) is attached to the metatarsal bones and calcaneal tubercle, providing support for the arch of the foot. When a person stands, it bears the pressure of half the weight of the entire body, while the tissues in the area of attachment of the aponeurosis experience maximum stress.
Over time, microdamages may appear here, which usually regenerate on their own. But constant load and a number of other factors lead to inflammation and pain in the heel, against the background of which bone marginal outgrowths, or osteophytes, are formed, and a heel spur develops.
The main symptom of a heel spur is severe pain when walking and any pressure on the heel. It is caused by the impact of the bone growth on the adjacent tissues. The severity of pain depends not so much on the size of the growth, but on its location.
The closer the spur is to the nerve endings, the more intense the pain, even if the growth is small.
In the first stages, pain appears when walking and putting pressure on the heel, and later it occurs without any impact on the affected area. This is due to the fact that as the disease progresses, insoluble calcium salts accumulate in the injured tissues, which are partially scarred. They irritate tissues and provoke or intensify the inflammatory process in them.
At the initial stage of heel spurs, pain occurs sharply when supporting the heel, and it is especially severe in the morning after getting up or after any long, immobile rest.
This symptom is called starting pain, which subsides a little when walking during the day, and in the evening, as a result of prolonged exercise and accumulation of fatigue, it intensifies again.
Due to painful sensations, the gait changes - when walking, a person tries to involuntarily lean on the heel so as to reduce the intensity of the pain. In this case, the center of gravity most often shifts to the edge of the foot, which is why transverse flatfoot develops over time. The gait changes especially noticeably if heel spurs are present on both feet.
Heel pain is not always a sign of fasciitis and can occur in the case of Reiter's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Therefore, it is important to visit an orthopedist, surgeon, rheumatologist and undergo a full examination. An accurate diagnosis can be made by laboratory tests of blood and urine, an x-ray of the foot and an ultrasound examination.
The choice of treatment for heel spurs is determined by the stage of the lesion. The following can be used:
Drugs for the treatment of heel spurs:
In addition to therapeutic exercises and massage, the following physiotherapeutic procedures help reduce pain and improve the movement of blood and lymph in the foot:
You should also regularly use special orthopedic insoles. With a heel spur, they fix the foot, and the heel is in a slightly elevated position, which reduces the intensity of pain.
Indications for surgery are the ineffectiveness of drug treatment and severe pain. Surgical treatment gives a 100% result, but spur removal is resorted to in the most extreme cases.
Most heel spurs can be successfully treated without surgery.
Various methods are used to treat heel spurs at home, but they should not replace drug therapy prescribed by a doctor. The following are effective additional means:
In the folk treatment of heel spurs, they often use balm with golden mustache, baths with turpentine (3 tbsp per 5 liters of water) or a decoction of herbs such as wormwood, mallow, nettle and burdock, taken in equal parts (2 tbsp. mixture per 2 liters of water).
With a heel spur, the prognosis is favorable if treatment is started on time and prescribed by a specialist. Long-term development of fasciitis not only brings significant discomfort and pain into everyday life, sometimes with the need to remain in bed for up to 3-4 months or longer, but is also fraught with complications such as damage to nerve fibers, decreased mobility, and osteophyte chipping.
Prevention of heel spurs is as follows: