Heel spur (plantar fasciitis) is a disease, the main symptom of which is heel pain. The cause of this pathology, as a rule, is a degenerative inflammatory process in the plantar fascia or, less commonly, a direct trauma by the growth of bone into soft tissues. The plantar fascia is attached to the calcaneal tuber, a place that experiences tremendous stress in the upright position, which is why micro-fractures often arise here, which normally quickly regenerate. Sometimes, due to frequent trauma, chronic aseptic (non-infectious) inflammation occurs and bone proliferation forms popularly referred to as heel spur. The heel spur looks like spikes. This disease is more common in women after the age of 40, although it may occur at any age.
Causes of heel spurs
Factors provoking pathology:
Clinical manifestations
Symptoms of the heel spur appear almost immediately with the development of the pathological process in the foot. The main signs of disease:
Diagnosis
The signs of the disease are specific. For making the correct diagnosis, it is enough to examine the patient and examine his medical history. Additional diagnostic methods include:
Treatment
Treatment methods are selected by the doctor individually, depending on the stage of development of the pathology, the severity of clinical picture and physiological characteristics:
Regardless of which treatment method is chosen, the patient needs to limit the degree of load on the heel. Conservative treatment involves the use of topical medications (Diclofenac, Ibuprofen), physiotherapy, ultrasound, laser, and shock-wave therapy. The disadvantage of conservative therapy is the long duration of treatment, the need to take painkillers throughout it, the lack of a guarantee of a stable good result, discomfort and limitations during therapy (for example, orthoses firmly fix the foot at an angle to the lower leg and are used at night, which affects the quality of rest and sleep).
To alleviate the general condition of the patient, in the absence of a positive effect from conservative therapy, a blockade is made. However, it has only a temporary effect, as it relieves inflammation, but does not affect the cause.
The MedClinic Medical Center uses a relatively new, but well-established non-surgical method for treating this pathology – radiofrequency treatment of the attachment site of the plantar fascia with high-frequency pulses.
The advantages of this method:
If drug treatment did not give the desired result, minimally invasive methods of treating spurs are resorted to. An extreme measure is the excision of the heel spur, open or endoscopic. An operation is performed only when other procedures and medications are not able to reduce the pain syndrome.
For the treatment to have a positive trend, the patient must follow preventive measures – wear comfortable shoes with orthopaedic insoles, limit the load on the heel as much as possible and refuse to do active sports.