heel spurs

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wyld4eva
wyld4eva Posts: 58 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
hello, I am in need of advice.....I have heel spurs and I am on my feet all day long at work the next morning I can barely walk when I first get up, due to the pain. I have tried the treadmill and elyptical and it only makes that pain worse also then I get pain if I sit for just 10 mins and when I get up OUCH.

I would like to take advantage of the gym where I live but I also need to be able to walk without pain. Does anyone have any suggestions to get cardio in?

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  • tnfphelan
    tnfphelan Posts: 23
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    I had the same problem, and heel spurs are agony. I had three on one foot. The first year I went to a foot doctor and they game me a shot of cortisone and measured me for orthodics which I have to wear all the time. The second year they did surgery for two of them but they couldn't touch one because where it was located. It took 7 months to heal but I was still able to go to the gym and ride the bycycle and use the eliptical. Now I go to the gym and I am able to do all the classes and use all the machine. I still have a little pain when I wake up for a minute or two but all in all I'm pretty pain free. I don't recommend the surgery unless the shot of cortisone don't work because I have friends who also had heel spurs and the shot helps them but I'm also sure you need orthodics. Good luck, I feel your pain.
  • CarlydogsMom
    CarlydogsMom Posts: 645 Member
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    I have a heel spur, which was "uncovered" due to me developing plantar fasciatus (the tearing of the ligament under your heel). It is totally painful (both the spur and the plantar fasciatus), and what's helped me is getting orthotics, custom-made for your foot. The PF was bad enough and it took me at least 4 years to get over it to where I could finally walk more than a couple miles at a time. Now, I just have a lingering heel pain where I believe my PF has healed but the spur is now more exposed due to the old ligament tear. If it were worse, I'd be looking into having surgery.

    I recommend that you see a podiatrist first to get examined to make sure it's only a heel spur and not PF or some other ailment, and see if orthotics will help. They sure help me, I won't do any significant walking (and that means even a shopping trip) without them, and they've helped tremendously.

    Be prepared to buy GOOD shoes. You'll have to spend money on decent shoes.

    Do not ever walk barefoot, not ever. When I'm hanging around the house and don't want shoes on, I wear crocs. Always wear something that buffers your feet from the floor.

    The only thing about the orthotics is that I wished I spent the extra money to get the full-length ones. Most of them are made just for the heel-half of your foot and stop below the ball of your foot. When you put them into shoes, you'll have to either: 1) buy shoes big enough that your orthotic can slip into them and be comfortable WITH the shoe's existing sole; or 2) remove the inner sole from the shoe--which you often need to do because shoes do come with some level of arch support and with the orthotic, it is too much--and then you'll have to buy a pad for that top part of your foot, or you'll have to cut the shoe's sole in half to use that part of the padding for the ball/top of your foot. When I need to replace my orthotics, I'm going for the full length.

    Can you do water aerobics or ride an exercise bike? I feel for you; it's so hard to exercise with painful feet! Part of the reason I gained weight over the past several years was due to having PF. Please see a foot doctor to get some help. It's worth it.

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