Heel Spurs?! How do you deal with yours?

scrach
scrach Posts: 19 Member
edited November 12 in Fitness and Exercise
I have a heel spur and plantar fasciitis so all I can really do exercise-wise is spinning, cycling and swimming. It is such a hinderance, really would love to get back into running - but can hardly walk! Just wondered if anyone else is dealing with the same thing and if you have any suggestions?

Thanks

Replies

  • bkweibel
    bkweibel Posts: 77
    About a month and a half ago, I was diagnosed with Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome (essentially Carpal Tunnel in both fee/ankles). I am in the same boat...no running, treadmills...only slow walking or a bike (which I don't have). I have started more situp type workouts and am more closely watching my calories. I have managed to loose during this, but MAN it is annoying! I am looking at the possibility of double walking casts next week and if that doesn't work, surgery...EEWWWW!!!!! Good luck and try to keep your spirits up.
  • jskalla
    jskalla Posts: 1 Member
    Major Plantar Faciitis here. I am looking at probable surgery to relieve it. I have tried everything from PT to Orthodics to Cortisone shot! It bites big time! I hate stationary bikes and swimming. I am going to try and do body pump and see a trainer for some other exercises. Ugg…..I need to get in cardio shape so I can ride outside and I play tennis 3-5 times a week and now I can't do that! Good Luck! I wish there was a good answer!
  • scrach
    scrach Posts: 19 Member
    That sounds awful!! I thought I had it bad... Poor you! This stupid thing in my foot started last October. I keep thinking that if I lose weight, it should get better. Seems to be getting worse tho. Never mind, chin up :) Hope you don't need casts, good luck!
  • PreacherRam
    PreacherRam Posts: 33
    A daily Aleve in the morning. My podiatrist also prescribed orthotics which I wear everyday. Losing weight will help ease the pain. Sorry I cannot be more help.
  • messiejessy
    messiejessy Posts: 4
    I went to a podiatrist.. she make me insoles for my sneakers that I use when I exercise. They can run expensive but if you happen to have diabetes I guess you can get them for free depending on your insurance. A podiatrist would be the first place to start. they have pads for both planter facitis and heal spurs and they aren't all that expensive...(12 dollars) and they stick into your sneakers
  • PoeRaven
    PoeRaven Posts: 433 Member
    After I started running I suffered from Plantar Faciitis. I was told to do this:

    Roll my affected foot back and forth over a glass bottle like a Coke bottle. Sounds weird but it worked.

    Coke: not just for drinking. :drinker:
  • caitlinsmom07
    caitlinsmom07 Posts: 37 Member
    I have the same thing and it can be so painful at times. I have had several cortisone shots but they only lasted a week for me. For some people it lasts longer. I also have custom insoles which help a bit. But the biggest thing that is helping me right now is icing it and streching my foot especially after a workout. And I take two Aleve a couple of nights a week, and when I wake up the next day I am pain free for several hours. I don't do high impact workouts because it really kills my foot. I wear good sneakers almost all of the time. I try not to wear flip flops or walk barefoot. Everyone is different though. There are several runners out there who suffer with it but are still able to run. I'm not a runner, but I hope this helps.
  • epoeraven
    epoeraven Posts: 458 Member
    A daily Aleve in the morning. My podiatrist also prescribed orthotics which I wear everyday. Losing weight will help ease the pain. Sorry I cannot be more help.

    orthotics and losing weight made a world a difference for me too....
  • chelbel89
    chelbel89 Posts: 161 Member
    I have the same issue. I just bought some shoes from Brooks that a friend recommended. I have not gotten them yet, but they are supposed to be great running shoes for Plantar. A few others are from Adidas, Rebok, and I think Kuru. From what I understand, if it has just started and you keep losing weight it will ease. Several of my friends have gone through it. I also take a pain reliever in the morning, and every morning when I wake up, before I get out of bed I roll a tennis ball under my foot while sitting upright. This tends to help a great deal. Good luck girl! All I can tell you is to keep pushin through the pain, thats what I do.
  • Helenatrandom
    Helenatrandom Posts: 1,166 Member
    A daily Aleve in the morning. My podiatrist also prescribed orthotics which I wear everyday. Losing weight will help ease the pain. Sorry I cannot be more help.

    orthotics and losing weight made a world a difference for me too....


    I don't know where I'd be without my orthotics. I don't even where slippers during the day. Shoes with orthotics, ALL DAY LONG. But, my feet feel better with them, so that is what counts.
  • kaetra
    kaetra Posts: 442 Member
    I had really bad Plantar Faciitis for about 5 years. A podiatrist gave me temporary orthodics to try and they did not help. He said if the temps did nothing than shelling out $500 for the custom orthodics had only a small chance of helping. Then he gave me a shot (he said most people call it cortisone, but it really isn't) and that worked great for about 3 days.

    My mother in law had the same issue and she told me the only thing that helped her was when she stopped wearing cheap shoes. I had been wearing $30 tennis shoes from Target most of the time. I didn't believe changing shoes would help at all because even though my shoes were "cheap" they didn't seem terrible to me.

    A couple years later I was so tired of the pain I finally took my MIL's adivce and bought Teva shoes, which to me were very expensive. After a couple months wearing the Teva's my heel pain started to get better and better. After about 6 months it was completely gone, and this was before I started losing weight.

    Different things work for different people. Switching to very high quality footwear with excellent shock absorbtion in the heel is the only thing that helped me.
  • lisaisso
    lisaisso Posts: 337 Member
    ***DISCLAIMER, NOT A MEDICAL DOCTOR***
    i'm not even kidding, but get a hammer out- it will only hurt for a sec.
    few years back i had a heel spur, for months, and friend of my father's said when he had one himself, he hit the bottom of his heel with it, and it never came back. i thought he was an idiot. he said since basically it's calcium buildup of sorts, that could be remedied by a surgeon- and that's basically what they would do, break up the deposit that formed, and there is no guarantee that it wouldn't come back, in fact, eventually, they usually do..
    fast forward to my story: me and my gf in the bathroom, i was brushing my teeth and leaning over the sink, she was behind me and poked my side or pinched me, and with my bone-spurred foot drew back intending the kick the *kitten* out of her (it was a reflex!) and i missed her leg, BUT my heel landed perfectly centered on the protruding tiled-wall corner.
    split second, it hurt like h-e-double-hockey-sticks. then it was instant relief. it's been about 5 years and has yet to come back. in some weird way i want another one, just so i can grab my hammer.. oh and btw, i thanked that man who told me about it, even tho what i had done was by accident.. he then proceeded to tell me how he performed surgery on himself getting out a piece of wood a couple inches deep.. but i digress.
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    I was just recently diagnosed with them too but mine are mild. The plantar fasciitis however isn't and if it's not treated it will make the spurs worse. :( I can walk but running isn't going to happen, maybe never. Oh well, at least I have legs! Mine is being treated with custom orthotic shoe inserts. I was told that surgery is an option if they get worse but it's not very effective.

    To ease the pain of both I use a larger freezer gel pad and put it under my heels when I go to bed. To reduce pain before I get out of bed, I was told to lie on my back ( or sit up), straighten my legs and point my toes towards me and hold for a count of 5 then repeat for a total of 10 reps. If you have bad pain when you stand up after sleeping, that may help you some. It helps me a LOT, especially the gnawing, stabbing pain in my heels.

    A few other people on here told me that they roll their foot over a frozen water bottle and it helps a bit. If I get to where I can't walk for exercise I think I'll try swimming. I also don't know what else to do for exercise.

    Good luck to you and I hope you get some relief soon!
  • scrach
    scrach Posts: 19 Member
    Thanks everybody, lots of good ideas! Will definitely go to podiatrist again and be trying the old bottle of coke method :) Won't let it put me off - have had it since October last year and have lost 23 pounds since starting on here. Here's to happy feet!
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    I had really bad Plantar Faciitis for about 5 years. A podiatrist gave me temporary orthodics to try and they did not help. He said if the temps did nothing than shelling out $500 for the custom orthodics had only a small chance of helping. Then he gave me a shot (he said most people call it cortisone, but it really isn't) and that worked great for about 3 days.

    My mother in law had the same issue and she told me the only thing that helped her was when she stopped wearing cheap shoes. I had been wearing $30 tennis shoes from Target most of the time. I didn't believe changing shoes would help at all because even though my shoes were "cheap" they didn't seem terrible to me.

    A couple years later I was so tired of the pain I finally took my MIL's adivce and bought Teva shoes, which to me were very expensive. After a couple months wearing the Teva's my heel pain started to get better and better. After about 6 months it was completely gone, and this was before I started losing weight.

    Different things work for different people. Switching to very high quality footwear with excellent shock absorbtion in the heel is the only thing that helped me.
    I had the temps and they didn't work for me at all and seemed to just aggravate things. I have good ins. though so my Podiatrist said to try the customs since I had nothing to lose. I was a bit skeptical but they are awesome and don't even compare to the temp. orthotics. I just wanted to put that out there because if you do get good orthotics that help, it can prevent spurs from getting worse.
    I'm glad things worked out for you. :)
  • love2cycle
    love2cycle Posts: 448 Member
    My husband has that and a friend who is a nurse practitioner suggested that when sleeping at night, my husband pull his foot forward. I'm not sure if there's anything you can buy, but my husband uses an ace bandage and pulls it that way. It might be helping a little, he has only just started.
  • barkfitness
    barkfitness Posts: 14
    About 8 years ago, I was diagnosed with Plantar Faciitis and was about to schedule surgery after consulting with 2 separate podiatrists. I also, at the same time, started working for a Chiropractor. The doc I worked for wanted a chance to work on me before having surgery. He fixed it in 3 visits! My legs are very muscular, but not very flexible. He adjusted my legs and hips and used ultrasound on my foot and I haven't had issues since. If I ever do feel discomfort in that area, I stretch and stretch and stretch! I suggest going to see a chiropractor before doing anything. Also, try yoga or pilates, because you are probably really tight in the hips and don't even realize it. Good luck!
  • cuatromommy
    cuatromommy Posts: 120 Member
    I have the same problem too. It's a lot of trial and error. Some things may work some times, then others they may not. I've dealt with it for years and just realized that sometimes I have to keep going even when they hurt....which I won't always do, but will when I can.

    Honestlly, i'm curious about hammering it out like someone mentioned above. I may actually try that.
  • barkfitness
    barkfitness Posts: 14
    ***DISCLAIMER, NOT A MEDICAL DOCTOR***
    i'm not even kidding, but get a hammer out- it will only hurt for a sec.
    few years back i had a heel spur, for months, and friend of my father's said when he had one himself, he hit the bottom of his heel with it, and it never came back. i thought he was an idiot. he said since basically it's calcium buildup of sorts, that could be remedied by a surgeon- and that's basically what they would do, break up the deposit that formed, and there is no guarantee that it wouldn't come back, in fact, eventually, they usually do..
    fast forward to my story: me and my gf in the bathroom, i was brushing my teeth and leaning over the sink, she was behind me and poked my side or pinched me, and with my bone-spurred foot drew back intending the kick the *kitten* out of her (it was a reflex!) and i missed her leg, BUT my heel landed perfectly centered on the protruding tiled-wall corner.
    split second, it hurt like h-e-double-hockey-sticks. then it was instant relief. it's been about 5 years and has yet to come back. in some weird way i want another one, just so i can grab my hammer.. oh and btw, i thanked that man who told me about it, even tho what i had done was by accident.. he then proceeded to tell me how he performed surgery on himself getting out a piece of wood a couple inches deep.. but i digress.

    What causes PF is a constant pulling of the tendon/muscle in that area, usually due to a really tight Achilles tendon. The chiropractor that treated me used ultrasound to remove the calcified tissue and I suspect that is the slow and less painful version of what happened to you. He showed it to me on an xray. It looked like a little hard hook and after years of the tissue pulling from my heel from walking, it eventually calcified. That is what causes the pain. I STRONGLY recommend the chiropractor. It is WAY cheaper than surgery and the orthodics aren't really fixing the problem, just relieving the cause. Good shoes are key and stretching! Before having the chiropractor work on me, I had the cortizone shots, multiple podiatrists and the suggestion of surgery. It makes me sad that something so easy gets overlooked all of the time by the "real" foot doctors while a simple procedure that was totally painless cured it in 3 visits! :-)
  • lisaisso
    lisaisso Posts: 337 Member
    ***DISCLAIMER, NOT A MEDICAL DOCTOR***
    i'm not even kidding, but get a hammer out- it will only hurt for a sec.
    few years back i had a heel spur, for months, and friend of my father's said when he had one himself, he hit the bottom of his heel with it, and it never came back. i thought he was an idiot. he said since basically it's calcium buildup of sorts, that could be remedied by a surgeon- and that's basically what they would do, break up the deposit that formed, and there is no guarantee that it wouldn't come back, in fact, eventually, they usually do..
    fast forward to my story: me and my gf in the bathroom, i was brushing my teeth and leaning over the sink, she was behind me and poked my side or pinched me, and with my bone-spurred foot drew back intending the kick the *kitten* out of her (it was a reflex!) and i missed her leg, BUT my heel landed perfectly centered on the protruding tiled-wall corner.
    split second, it hurt like h-e-double-hockey-sticks. then it was instant relief. it's been about 5 years and has yet to come back. in some weird way i want another one, just so i can grab my hammer.. oh and btw, i thanked that man who told me about it, even tho what i had done was by accident.. he then proceeded to tell me how he performed surgery on himself getting out a piece of wood a couple inches deep.. but i digress.

    What causes PF is a constant pulling of the tendon/muscle in that area, usually due to a really tight Achilles tendon. The chiropractor that treated me used ultrasound to remove the calcified tissue and I suspect that is the slow and less painful version of what happened to you. He showed it to me on an xray. It looked like a little hard hook and after years of the tissue pulling from my heel from walking, it eventually calcified. That is what causes the pain. I STRONGLY recommend the chiropractor. It is WAY cheaper than surgery and the orthodics aren't really fixing the problem, just relieving the cause. Good shoes are key and stretching! Before having the chiropractor work on me, I had the cortizone shots, multiple podiatrists and the suggestion of surgery. It makes me sad that something so easy gets overlooked all of the time by the "real" foot doctors while a simple procedure that was totally painless cured it in 3 visits! :-)


    oh wow, that does sounds painless!
    wishiwouldhaveknownyou5yearsago :glasses:
  • scrach
    scrach Posts: 19 Member
    Mwahahaha... Bring on the hammer! That is quite mental, but I'm just a wee bit curious now!

    Might give the yoga a shot first though. You might be on to something with my hips being tight? I had a few problems with them as a kid (nothing serious) and I had my wee boy just over 2 years ago and now I remember having painful hips towards the end of my pregnancy. Possibly coincidence, maybe not..
  • unhinge
    unhinge Posts: 318 Member
    Mine is a bone spur but I did not use a hammer :)

    I did however use a rolling pin, coke bottle, frozen water bottle and I never, ever go without shoes. I use to live barefoot but not anymore. I have arch supporting shoes and even arch supporting slippers! I also have had my running shoes custom fit at a running shoe store. I use them for all my exercising.

    They make a boot to hold your foot forward while you sleep but I did not try one. There are also stretching exercises you can do. Just google plantar fasciitis exercises.

    It has been a couple of years now and the pain has not returned.

    Hope you find relief it is VERY painful!
  • Tis27
    Tis27 Posts: 16
    I never thought to go to a Chiropractor!
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