If you have heel pain, you might have a bone spur. Bone spurs aren't always painful, and there are other conditions that cause heel pain, so see a foot doctor for a diagnosis to confirm the presence of a bone spur. The spur can be seen on an X-ray as a small bony fragment made of calcium deposits that grows away from your heel bone. Here are things that cause bone spurs on your heel and treatments that might help the pain caused by this bony growth.

Things That Can Cause A Heel Spur

A heel spur usually forms gradually due to repetitive irritation to your heel. This might happen due to obesity and the excess pressure put on your heel. Spurs are also common in people who play sports that require a lot of jumping. Even wearing shoes that are too tight around the heel or that rub the heel constantly can cause this problem.

Heel spurs are also associated with medical conditions, such as diabetes and plantar fasciitis. Spurs tend to get more common with age, and your risk may be higher if you have a foot condition such as flat feet or a gait abnormality that puts excess pressure on your heel when you walk.

If you have a heel spur, you may have chronic heel pain. The pain is caused by the spur pressing against tissues in your feet. Your pain might even come and go, and be worse when the irritation causes the tissues in your heel to become inflamed.

Treatments That Might Help A Heel Spur

Your foot doctor treats the conditions that combine with your spur to cause pain. While inflammation is associated with pain from a heel spur, resting and ice don't always help, especially if the pain is from plantar fasciitis. Instead, your foot doctor may need to treat the plantar fasciitis so you get relief from the heel spur pain.

Still, resting and using ice or anti-inflammatory medications are often useful for reducing heel pain caused by standing for long hours or running. In addition to reducing inflammation, your foot doctor might recommend using orthotics in your shoes to help with heel spur pain.

The orthotics can support your arch or pad your heel so your spur doesn't cause irritation with each step you take. The foot doctor might also advise you on the best type of shoes to wear for work and playing sports. The doctor might also suggest losing weight and controlling medical problems such as diabetes that contribute to your heel pain.

Heel spur surgery isn't always needed, but in some cases, your foot doctor might recommend removing the spur, especially if other treatments haven't helped or you're having other surgery done on your heel at the same time.

For more information, contact a local company, or check out a website like https://www.familyfootcenter.net/.