A Simple Guide to the Heel Spur, Diagnosis, Treatment and Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes The Heel Spur, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

Recently I have a patient who had a severe pain in the right heel while walking for the past 6 months.
He had seen several doctors and even an acupuncturist without improvement.
The first thing after examining his heel was to send him for an X-ray of the heel.
The X-ray showed the presence of a bony spur on the underside of the calcaneum or heel bone.
The bony heel spur may not cause pain but can produce painful inflammation of the fibrous band of connective tissue (plantar fascia) that passes along the bottom of the foot.
This inflammation of the fascia (plantar fasciitis) is what causes the pain in my patient when walking.
The treatment is injection of steroid to the inflamed area or surgical removal of the heel spur.
The patient improves after several injections of steroid.

A heel spur is a small bony outgrowth that is formed on the calcaneum or heel bone, either at the back of the heel or under the sole of the heel.

It is caused by injury to the bone that has accumulated over a long period of time as a result of chronic inflammation of the Achilles tendon in the calf or the tough connective tissue called the plantar fascia, which is present on the soles of the feet.

An X-ray is often required to verify a heel spur diagnosis.

A heel spur may form a bony protrusion on the underside of the heel bone extending by as much as 1.25cm (half an inch).

The heel spur is the pointed bony outgrowth of the heel bone that can cause immense pain in the foot region and restrict the mobility of the sufferer.

The heel spur can induce swelling or pain in one or more joints and also restrict the joint movement.

While the heel spur may not affect the patient’s health, it can cause problems with the mobility.

The calcaneus bone of the heel can develop the pointed bony outgrowth slowly over the years.

The outgrowth can produce chronic local inflammation by inducing the swelling in the soft-tissue tendons or the fascia.

The heel spur can also appear under the heel, back of the heel or underneath the sole of the foot.

Inflammation of the Achilles tendon can cause the protrusion of the heel spur at the back of the heel leading to pain and tenderness at the back of the heel.

The disorder becomes worse while the person is pushing off the ball of the foot.

Risk factors for heel spurs are:
Walking gait abnormalities, which put additional stress on the heel bone, ligaments and nerves near the heel
Running or jogging, specifically on hard surfaces
Poorly shaped or badly fitting worn out shoes, mainly those having lack of proper arch support
Over weight and obesity

The physical examination can reveal the tenderness at the heel spur.

The patient’s walk is monitored to detect the problem.

With heel spur, it becomes difficult to walk barefoot on wooden floors, tiles or hard surfaces.

To finally confirm the diagnosis and exclude other causes of heel pain like arthritis, the doctor may request other investigations such as X-rays.

Non-surgical treatments for heel spurs
Stretching exercises
Improved shoes
Ankle taping or strapping to relax stressed muscles and tendons
Shoe inserts or orthotic devices
Physiotherapy
Extra-corporeal shockwave therapy
A course of steroid injections

If conservative treatment does not treat symptoms of heel spurs after 9 to 12 months, surgery may be required to alleviate pain and recover mobility by
Release of the plantar fascia.
Removal of the spur

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Heel Spur
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis
Chapter 5 Treatment
Chapter 6 Prognosis
Chapter 7 Plantar Fasciitis
Chapter 8 Achilles’ Tendonitis
Epilogue

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Jan 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215077252

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Heel Spur,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2023 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes The Heel Spur, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat The Heel Spur)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

My diagnosis and treatment capability has improved tremendously from my continued education.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

The Heel spur

Recently I have a patient who had a severe pain in the right heel while walking for the past 6 months.

He had seen several doctors and even an acupuncturist without improvement.

The first thing after examining his heel was to send him for an X-ray of the heel.

The X-ray showed the presence of a bony spur on the underside of the calcaneum or heel bone.

The bony heel spur may not cause pain but can produce painful inflammation of the fibrous band of connective tissue (plantar fascia) that passes along the bottom of the foot.

This inflammation of the fascia (plantar fasciitis) is what causes the pain in my patient when walking.

The treatment is injection of steroid to the inflamed area or surgical removal of the heel spur.

The patient improves after several injections of steroid.

A heel spur is a small bony outgrowth that is formed on the calcaneum or heel bone, either at the back of the heel or under the sole of the heel.

It is caused by injury to the bone that has accumulated over a long period of time as a result of chronic inflammation of the Achilles tendon in the calf or the tough connective tissue called the plantar fascia, which is present on the soles of the feet.

An X-ray is often required to verify a heel spur diagnosis.

A heel spur is an additional growth on the bone of the heel that can form over a long period.

Heel spurs are more frequent among people who experience heel pain, though the spur itself does not really produce any pain.

A heel spur may form a bony protrusion on the underside of the heel bone extending by as much as 1.25cm (half an inch).

The heel spur is the pointed bony outgrowth of the heel bone that can cause immense pain in the foot region and restrict the mobility of the sufferer.

The heel spur can induce swelling or pain in one or more joints and also restrict the joint movement.

While the heel spur may not affect the patient’s health, it can cause problems with the mobility.

The calcaneus bone of the heel can develop the pointed bony outgrowth slowly over the years.

The outgrowth can produce chronic local inflammation by inducing the swelling in the soft-tissue tendons or the fascia.

The heel spur can also appear under the heel, back of the heel or underneath the sole of the foot.

Inflammation of the Achilles tendon can cause the protrusion of the heel spur at the back of the heel leading to pain and tenderness at the back of the heel.

The disorder becomes worse while the person is pushing off the ball of the foot.

Difference between Heel Spur and Plantar Fasciitis

Heel spurs are often linked with plantar fasciitis, a painful inflammation of the fibrous band of connective tissue (plantar fascia) that passes along the bottom of the foot and joins the heel bone to the ball of the foot.

Having plantar fasciitis can raise the risk of developing heel spur.

Hence the heel spur can occur in people who already have plantar fasciitis.

The heel spur develops due to the calcium deposits as a bony protrusion along the plantar fascia.

The plantar fasciitis is the disorder happening due to the local irritation of plantar fascia which becomes swollen causing pain in the heel.

While heel spurs are often painless, they can produce heel pain.

What are the causes of Heel spurs?

Causes

Heel spurs do not happen overnight.

Heel spurs happen when calcium deposits gradually on the underside of the heel bone, a process that normally happens over a period of many months.

The pain or inflammation is felt after several months.

Heel spurs are often produced by:

1. Strains on foot muscles and ligaments,

2. Over-stretching of the plantar fascia and

3. Repeated rupture of the membrane that