Heel spur and osteopathy

Do you feel like you have a spike under your foot? Do you have difficulty putting your heel down when you walk? Are you familiar with heel spurs?

The heel spur is a bony growth under the heel created by the traction of the plantar fascia.

Indeed, the plantar fascia is a solid membrane that attaches under the heel bone called calcaneus. It supports the foot and prevents it from collapsing. With repeated use, this membrane pulls on its attachment and pulls so much that the bone will adapt, remodel and form the famous heel spur.

• Pain? A heel spur does not necessarily mean pain. One can have a spur under the foot and not have any pain, and its presence is often discovered by chance following an X-ray of the foot. When pain is present it is actually due to the inflammation caused by the thorn and the crushing of the surrounding tissue. The pain can be present under the heel, spread under the sole of the foot and be present when pressing
• Sensation of having a point, a stone under the foot
• Plantar fasciitis ? It is common to suffer from plantar aponeuropathy or aponeurosis in cases of heel spur. The plantar aponeurosis is very involved in the mechanism of occurrence of

A heel spur is easily seen on x-ray or ultrasound.

• Micro-traumas to the heel caused by repeated shocks, jumps found in some sports: running, team sports ...
• Overweight: the feet carry the weight of the body, the higher the weight, the more the feet are stressed. It is therefore essential that the feet are well muscled to support the weight
• Poor foot musculature
• Unsuitable shoes :
  • • Worn shoes
    • Footwear not adapted to the person or to the physical activity
• Postural disorder: a postural disorder can cause a poor distribution of weight and forces on the feet. This may be due to an old trauma or an adaptation, etc.

It is not possible to remove the heel spur but the goal of the treatment is to remove the pain. To do this, a multidisciplinary approach is recommended.

To do this, refer to the paragraph on the factors that contribute to the problem and try to solve the problem, for example by changing shoes, losing weight, etc.

I place osteopathy before the next two because it is more logical to consult an osteopath first to remove all mechanical blockages before treating the consequences. Osteopathy is complementary to other therapies.

Its role is to act on the cause of the appearance of the heel spur but also on the consequences. Indeed, by limping because of the pain, other compensations can occur on the rest of the body as for example at the level of the pelvis or the lower back. The osteopath will therefore treat all these compensations.

Your practitioner will also give you tips and exercises to relieve you.

The podiatrist will first analyze your posture and will try to treat the postural problems at the origin of the appearance of the heel spur. But he can also put an insole in order to relieve the area of the spur to avoid pressure on the area and thus reduce the inflammation.

Physical therapy is recommended for the management of pain related to heel spurs for several reasons:

• Shock waves
• Foot training
• Work on the flexibility of the foot and work on the plantar fascia
• Eccentric work of the achilles tendon

To benefit from physical therapy sessions, they must be prescribed by your doctor.

Marie Messager
Osteopath D.O
78 - Versailles