A photo showed that I have heel spurs. I have tried gel insoles and can get medication for the pain, but not for the problem itself. What can I do to get rid of heel spurs?
Marian
Sepp Mortelmans, podiatrist:
How annoying that you suffer so much from your heel and the heel spur complaints.
What exactly is heel spurs?
First of all, it is important to know what a heel spur is. On the underside of your foot there is a foot tendon that attaches to your heel bone over the entire arch. A heel spur is a calcification that forms on your heel bone near the attachment of the tendon plate.
However, the heel spur itself is not what hurts. Many people have a heel spur without experiencing any pain. The pain is always on the tendon itself. There is often an overload on this tendon, which can cause it to thicken or show small tears at the attachment to the heel. This overload is often caused by an abnormal foot position or dynamics, which puts too much tension on the tendon. Very occasionally the heel spur is the cause of the pain, namely when it is pushing into the tendon, but this rarely occurs.
Find cause
Medication can help to improve the inflammation that occurs on the tendon in the acute phase, but does not remove the cause of the complaints – namely the overvoltage.
I recommend that you make an appointment with a podiatrist in your area to find out what is causing the overvoltage so that it can be addressed and the tendon can start to recover. Gel insoles often provide relief but also do not remove the cause.
Do you also have a question? Then ask one of our experts. Always go to your doctor with urgent questions, the experts are not the right person for that. They also do not diagnose.
Sepp Mortelmans is a podiatrist. He is a specialist in the field of ultrasound and foot complaints as a result of rheumatism. You can ask him questions about foot problems in general and his field in particular.
