Heel Spurs
Heel Spurs occur in 20-40% of people
A lot of heel pain is attributed to heel spurs.
Don’t let painful Heel Spurs hinder your performance. Talk to the team at Waikato Podiatry – we can help.
A heel spur is a bony growth that grows from the underside of the heel. While this can result in heel pain, it does not cause all of the pain, as there is a large number of people in the general population who have heel spurs who will never have any pain associated with them. It is also important to remember that there is quite a difference in the angle, length and shape of the heel spur, and this may also impact on whether or not they become painful.
Treatment
- Specific Stretches.
- Acupuncture.
- Foot Orthoses – reduce pain and increase function.
- Extra-corporeal shock wave therapy – one of the strongest levels of evidence around hard to treat heel pain with 75% success rates.
The good news is, in the right hands, nearly all (88%) of this condition can be successfully treated. The longer it goes on, the harder it can be to treat. GET ONTO IT NOW!!
Achilles Tendon Attachment Pain
The achilles tendon attaches to the back of the heel and can sometimes cause heel pain. We like to approach heel pain treatment at Waikato Podiatry from a number of perspectives:
- Primarily focussing on reducing the pain and increasing function in daily activities of the patient. This can sometimes be focussed around stretching, strapping, footwear modifications and orthotics.
- Addressing the underlying cause of the problem. This can also be addressed by looking at underlying contributing factors, modifying activity, varying training and footwear. It is important to combine these factors to get an optimum treatment. Often we hear that there is nothing that can be done for this condition, which is incorrect. There is good evidence that both pain and function can be improved.
