Heel spurs – A source of heel pain?

For anyone who has been limited by severe heel pain and has sought out a physician, you probably already know what an x-ray of your feet look like.  X-rays are an easy and relatively safe means to rule out any bone pathology and help get to the root cause of your heel pain.  As experts of the foot and ankle, your Austin podiatrist has the most experience reviewing x-rays and the pathologies that they can show.   Unfortunately, there are some medical specialists who may have shown you an x-ray of your feet and pointed to a heel spur on your bones noting that this is the source of your pain.  While there is the rare case when a large bony prominence can pinch associated structures, heel spurs are often the result of a long standing condition and rarely the source of your pain.  So if it is not the spur, what is causing your heel pain?

A quick review of some of the anatomy of your foot will help us understand what is going on and why you have a heel spur. Beneath the arch of your foot is the plantar fascia.  It originates at your heel bone and inserts into the balls of you foot.  This ligament helps to support the arch of your foot and the muscles, nerves and vessels above it.  For a number of reasons, that may include weight gain, foot mechanics (such as over pronation or equinus deformity), the types of shoes we wear,  or a lifetime of walking on hard surfaces can all lead to tightening and pain in this ligament.  Because our daily activities have led to this change in the soft tissues, the first line of treatment is often stretching and relieving any inflammation through the RICE principle. Once the pain is removed and healing of the fascia takes place, it is important to prevent this tightening from reoccurring.  This is best achieved through custom orthotics or inserts for your shoes to adjust the alignment of your foot.   Only in the rare instance do these early conservative treatments offered at Austin Foot and Ankle Specialists fail relieve most cases of heel pain.  Removal of heel spurs is almost never necessary as there are many other conservative treatments, including ESWT, which will get you back on your feet minus the heel pain!!

Week 11 Injury Report – Colt McCoy

We all know of Colt McCoy.  This Longhorn had a 45-8 college record making him the NCAA’s winningest quarterback.  After being selected in the 3^rd round of the NFL draft, Cleveland Browns president noted that Colt McCoy would be unlikely to see much playing time since the team already had three quarterbacks.  That prediction proved to be completely untrue after ankle injuries to Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace.  McCoy made an impressive rookie NFL start in week 7 when he led the Browns to a win against the defending Saints.  After a bye week, McCoy then helped the team to their 3^rd win of the season against the Patriots in week 9.  Weeks 10 and 11 were disappointing, even with over 200 passing yards from McCoy they couldn’t pull out another win.

This former Longhorn had a noticeable limp as the game progressed, but that didn’t stop him from leading a valiant effort late against Jacksonville.  After leaving the stadium with his right foot in a walking boot, it has been reported that he sprained his ankle.  We have talked about ankle injuries, especially in the NFL, several times before.  The collection of ligaments that keep your ankle in place are prone to injury when the leg and foot are strained in different directions.  For the average individual, getting knocked off your feet by a sack isn’t too much of a worry.  Even so, there are a variety of activities that can cause you to strain, or in other cases tear, the ligaments in your ankle.  Colt McCoy was able to continue playing through his injury, we hope without furthering his injury.  We here at AFAS would never recommend this course of action.  The possibility of making your injury worse and keeping you out longer should always keep you from continuing your activity once you are hurt.  Instead implement the RICE principle and seek medical attention.

Until next time, keep those ankles happy and healthy Austin!