When you start feeling unusual pain, you can start to worry. What could it be? What is the treatment? Is it long-term? However, it’s important to go see a professional first before making any assumptions about a condition. It’s also helpful to understand what to look for to ensure your feet are healthy.

The most common causes of heel pain are heel spur. A Heel Spur is a bone growth on the heel bone resulting from chronic overstretching of the plantar fascia, the ligament on the bottom of the foot which supports the arch. When you have heel pain it is due to swelling of the tissue around the spur, not the presence of the spur. The spur will not go away, but with proper treatment, the pain will go away once the swelling is resolved.

How do you treat a heel spur?

At American Foot & Leg Specialists, the starting point for any heel pain treatment is reducing the swelling with anti-inflammatory medication and ice therapy. The next step is learning how and when to stretch and ice down the tissue. Finally, providing support for the plantar fascia ligament allows it to rest and not become chronically over fatigued or overstretched. In some resistant cases, cortisone injections are used when the swelling and pain does not improve. Good results are achieved 95-98% of the time by following these treatment plans.

Learn more about Heel Spurs on our blog!