Some people walk around with heel spurs everyday and have no idea there’s an extra bony protrusion on the bottom of their heel. Unfortunately, others aren’t so lucky. For people who have larger heel spurs or wear shoes that promote the growth of heel spurs, the condition can be painful. So can shoes cause heel spurs?
Symptoms of Heel Spurs
You might notice a sharp, localized pain and visible inflammation, especially towards the front of the heel. Heel spurs don’t always occur alongside plantar fasciitis. Still it proves very common to see both. After all, plantar fasciitis often contributes to the creation of a heel spur. If this is the case for you, you may notice that your pain is more severe first thing in the morning. It generally fades from there only to flare up every time you stand after sitting for a prolonged period of time.
Are these symptoms sounding familiar? Then the good news is that your condition should be relatively easy to diagnose and treat. With the help of the Heel Pain Institute of California, you will be able to address the underlying causes of your heel pain directly, offering long-lasting relief. In some cases, this may require minimally invasive heel surgery, but many patients get relief simply by changing up their footwear and using a few short-term medical interventions.
Can Shoes Cause Heel Spurs?
There are a number of possible causes for heel spurs, including arthritis, excess body weight, and gait issues. With that said, the quality of your shoes is one of the most likely candidates. Unfortunately, the relationship between poor quality or poorly fitting shoes and heel spurs isn’t necessarily an easy one to explain. So, it helps to break it down into separate parts.
- The Plantar Fascia: The plantar fascia is the ligament that runs from the ball of your foot to the back of your heel. Its primary function is shock absorption, while supporting the middle of your foot.
- The Wrong Shoes: Unfortunately, wearing shoes that lack arch support or fit poorly can put the plantar fascia under additional strain. Stilettos and flip-flops are some of the worst offenders. In addition to specific shoe types, repetitive, pounding activities like running or jumping rope may aggravate the plantar fascia further. Over time this excess strain makes little tears in the plantar fascia, causing plantar fasciitis.
- Plantar Fasciitis: Unless you take the time to treat plantar fasciitis by resting and switching up your footwear, it doesn’t generally get better on its own. If you just keep going like there’s nothing wrong, then the tears and inflammation will worsen.
- Heel Spurs: A heel spur can occur without an existing case of plantar fasciitis, but that’s an uncommon scenario. For many patients a heel spur results from the plantar fascia. Specifically, from pulling on the area where the ligament meets the bone of the heel. This strain and the inflammation of the plantar fascia encourage your body to build the calcium deposit known as a heel spur.
Essentially, the formation of a heel spur is the last domino in a chain of unfortunate events, but your heel pain doesn’t have to be permanent.
Treating Heel Pain
The truth is that heel spurs aren’t generally painful, but an untreated case of plantar fasciitis usually is painful. You’re likely to feel that pain along the arch and into your heel. This may make you dread getting up in the morning. The good news is that your doctor will be able to give you almost immediate relief. They can prescribe special insoles and offering short-term pain management. In the unlikely event that your heel pain doesn’t respond to initial treatments, your doctor in Los Angeles offers minimally invasive heel surgery.