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Why does a heel spur hurt and how to get rid of the pain?
Last reviewed: 12.07.2025
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When the plantar fascia is overstretched, a growth or osteophyte called a spur forms on the inner part of the heel bone. When walking, this osteophyte can press on nearby nerves, and then a symptom appears – pain with a heel spur.
Causes heel spur pain
Why does a heel spur hurt?
By the way, marginal osteophyte of the calcaneus can be completely painless: 15 people out of 100 do not even know that they have a heel spur, and only one person out of two dozen experiences pain associated with the spur.
Explaining the pathogenesis of the formation of a thorn-like growth, orthopedists pay attention to the anatomical features of the calcaneus. The fact is that on its part, which is turned towards the metatarsus of the foot, there is a place (enthesis), where the fascia is attached with the help of tendon fiber ligaments.
The bone is covered with a two-layer fibrous tissue – the periosteum (periosteum), the lower layer of which is called the cambial layer. It contains cells that form bone tissue – osteoblasts. Due to the fact that the muscles of the sole of the foot and the fascia covering them experience great mechanical loads, supporting the weight of the body, the tendons attaching the fascia are stretched. The greater the load on the foot, the stronger this tension, and as a result, the periosteum (which holds the tendons) is injured, separating from the bone, and also begins to stretch. This leads to the activation of osteoblasts of the cambial layer and their transformation into osteocytes – that is, the formation of an osteophyte.
Risk factors for the occurrence of such bone growths are given in the article - Causes of heel spurs
Symptoms
The nature of pain in heel spurs
Most people who have developed a plantar osteophyte know how a heel spur hurts: in the morning, when getting out of bed, or after a long period of rest while sitting, they feel a sharp, stabbing pain in the heel that does not let up, which is described as piercing - as if a nail was driven into the heel area. The pain can be in the entire plantar part of the foot, and it intensifies with physical activity.
In fact, it is not the spur that hurts, since it is bone tissue, but the structures innervated by branches of the medial and lateral plantar nerves: the place where the periosteum separates from the calcaneus or the inflamed area of the fascia, injured by extreme tension.
How long does a heel spur hurt? Despite the appearance of acute pain, this pathology is chronic and can last for years.
But why does a heel spur hurt when it rains is a question that should be asked to a rheumatologist. Because osteophytes tend to form when joints are affected by arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis.
Diagnostics heel spur pain
Diagnostics
And how this pathology is diagnosed is described in detail in the publication – Heel spur
Differential diagnostics plays a special role, since, as clinical statistics show, in half of the cases foot pain or talalgia – heel pain occurs for other reasons, for example, due to flat feet, rheumatoid arthritis, periostitis, foot bone deformation or neuroma. In elderly people, atrophy of the calcaneal muscle cushion should be taken into account.
Treatment heel spur pain
How and what to use to relieve pain from heel spurs?
What to do if you have pain from a heel spur? Don't try to get rid of it by applying cabbage leaves, lard or garlic, but go to an orthopedist to get an accurate diagnosis and prescribe the right treatment.
The main medications recommended by doctors in such cases belong to the pharmacological group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (including Ibuprofen, etc.), for details see - Drug treatment of heel spurs, and also - Ointments for heel spurs.
Injections of corticosteroids or compresses with medical bile, bischofite and dimexide can temporarily reduce pain.
If severe pain becomes unbearable and cannot be relieved by either NSAID tablets or ointments, a novocaine blockade is used for heel spurs.
Non-drug treatment methods used include extracorporeal shock wave therapy, laser treatment, and ultrasound.
Physiotherapeutic treatment includes exercise therapy and therapeutic massage; how to do it correctly is described in the article - Foot massage for heel spurs. Also, to relieve pain, sessions of electrophoresis, darsonval, magnetic therapy, pelotherapy (sulfide mud) are prescribed.
How folk treatment is carried out, and what remedies are recommended to use, read in detail in the publication - Treatment of heel spurs with folk remedies
Surgical treatment is considered an extreme and not always effective measure - removal of plantar osteophytes. Such operations are performed quite rarely due to incomplete pain relief and a high risk of nerve damage.
Prevention
Prevention
To reduce the intensity of pain, you need to lose excess weight and wear comfortable shoes, in which pads with a hole in the middle are placed under the heel. Orthopedists strongly recommend wearing special insoles for heel spurs
Read about how to prevent heel pain due to heel spurs in the publication – Heel pain when walking.
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Forecast
Forecast
Currently, it is possible to cure osteophyte of the calcaneus, so the prognosis for most patients is favorable. But without proper treatment, pain from heel spurs reduces the quality of life and can significantly limit physical activity and the ability to move independently. That is, they can make a person disabled.
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