Heel Spur

Getting to the bottom of your heel pain – it may or not be caused by heel spurs

Many people assume that if their heel hurts, it must be heel spurs. If you ask a friend, they’ll very likely agree with you. Which is why, if you do have heel pain, you should make an appointment with Frankel Foot & Ankle. You need an experienced foot and ankle specialist who can sort through overlapping symptoms and set you on the road to recovery.

What are heel spurs?

A heel spur is a calcium deposit causing a bony protrusion on the underside of the heel bone (the calcaneus). On an X-ray, a heel spur can extend forward by as much as a half-inch. Although heel spurs are present on X-rays in patients with heel pain, they are not the cause of heel pain. The most common cause of heel pain is a soft tissue ligament injury called plantar fasciitis.

Although many people with plantar fasciitis have heel spurs are not the cause of plantar fasciitis pain. Because the spur is not the cause of plantar fasciitis, the pain can frequently be treated without removing the spur and addressing the ligament only.