Heel Spurs Treatment in Missouri

What Is a Heel Spur?

A heel spur is, simply, a bone spur that forms on the heel bone—usually extending forward toward the toes along the bottom of the foot. It is made from bone that builds from repetitive pulling stresses from the muscles on ligaments that attach at this site.

Although they start small, heel spurs can grow to half an inch or longer in length!

Why Do Heel Spurs Form?

Spurs are a byproduct of your body’s attempts to defend and repair itself. Most of the time, heel spurs are preceded by a chronic case of plantar fasciitis, which is the most common heel pain condition among American adults.

If you have plantar fasciitis, the long and tough band of tissue running along the bottom of your foot (the plantar fascia) becomes stretched, torn, or thickened—usually right in front of the underside of the heel. The membrane that covers the heel bone itself may be torn repeatedly.

This pulling away of soft tissue from bone and long-term inflammation of the surrounding soft tissue acts as a signal to your body to begin laying down new bone.

What Are the Symptoms of Heel Spurs?

Surprisingly, most heel spurs are painless. Usually, the surrounding soft tissue remains the central problem, and once it is reversed, you often no longer experience any pain.

However, spurs that are particularly large or inconveniently placed may themselves trigger inflammation or pain if they are pressing on sensitive nerves or tissues. Symptoms tend to be worse during activity—running, sports, a long workday, etc.

Do Heel Spurs Need Treatment?

If the heel spur itself is not causing you any discomfort or limiting your activities, there is no need to treat or remove it. In fact, it’s not uncommon for us to discover heel spurs that our patients didn’t even know they had after taking an X-ray for an unrelated problem.

Of course, if the spur is a primary cause of pain, then it absolutely should be treated. Heel pain is never normal, and we can help.

Whenever possible, our preference is to use non-surgical means. Although this will not remove or reduce the size of the spur, it may keep it from growing worse, as well as provide symptom relief.

The first step is to treat the underlying plantar fasciitis, if it is still causing problems. In addition to traditional remedies like rest, stretching exercises, shoe changes, or night splints, we can also offer accelerated soft tissue healing therapies such as laser treatment and regenerative injections.

Custom orthotics may also be appropriate in many cases. The right pair can add extra cushioning for the heels, divert pressure and impact forces away from sensitive areas, or even functionally correct biomechanical flaws that contribute to heel pain.

More than 9 out of 10 people with heel spurs find conservative treatments sufficient to relieve their pain—whether the discomfort was caused by plantar fasciitis or due to the heel spur itself.

However, heel spur pain that persists despite non-surgical treatments may require surgery to fix. This may include releasing the plantar fascia tissue to relieve the pressure, or removing the bony spur itself. If surgery is required in your case, we’ll be sure to carefully review all your options and instructions for pre-and post-surgical care.