Heel spur

Heel spurs. Symptoms and treatment at the clinic «Awatage».

Heel spurs is bony growths in the form of a thorn in the heel bone, usually on its plantar surface, at least in the point of attachment of the tendon of Achilles tendon to the heel bone. When the patient has a heel spur, he marks burning, intense pain in the heel while stepping on it. Pain can occur immediately at a pressure on the heel, sometimes after a while. Pain is sometimes so intense that patients can not come on the heel, while trying to rely either on the toe of the foot or the other, resorting to the aid of crutches. Patients often define pain as a feeling of "nail in the heel".

The symptoms of heel spurs

Clinical symptoms are caused primarily by changes in the soft tissues: inflammation of the mucous bags and deep phenomena of periostitis.

The pain caused by pressure build-up on the bone soft tissue inflammation. The intensity of the pain does not depend on the size and shape of the build-up: often large and sharp ones are not felt, and small and flat ones are very painful.

Often the cause of heel spurs is prolonged trauma tendon and ligaments in the area of the heel bone, for example athletes have it during prolonged wearing improper footwear, and also against the background of flatfoot, when increasing of the load on the heel area happens. Less common heel spurs occur when a rapid increasing of body weight, gout, after the infectious diseases.

Heel spur and its treatment

The effectiveness of the treatment of heel spurs by shock wave therapy is 98% and our 6-year experience confirms that. Nowadays, this method has become the "gold" standard of plantar fasciitis treatment (heel spur) and is actually surgery without a scalpel! The minimum number of procedures in the treatment of plantar fasciitis (heel spur) by shock wave therapy is 3 ones. Average number is from 4 to 7 procedures and depends on the patient's age, severity of illness, the value of spurs, etc. The procedure is done in the Swiss machinery company Storz Medical. It is a recognized leader in the study of shock waves. More than half of patients already in the first session noted a decrease in pain of 50%, and after 3 - 4 treatments they noted getting rid of persistent discomfort when walking. The maximum therapeutic effect occurs after 3 - 6 months after completion of shock wave therapy treatment. Thus, after the course of shock wave therapy, treatment continues through enhanced internal processes in the body. The patient is fully refundable to a healthy lifestyle is already at the end of the course UHT in 90 cases out of 100.

Shock waves contribute to:

Improving of blood circulation in the application of SWT (during the procedure up to 40 times).
Reducing or getting rid of pain.
A dramatic increasing in the protective functions of the immune system in the place of SW influence.
The collapse of calcified fibroblasts, bone spurs, fibrotic foci and the gradual absorption of their fragments.
Endorphins, which have an ability to reduce pain.
Improving of the sustainability of tendons and ligaments to further injury or physical stress.
Improving of mobility in the affected part of the body.
Increasing and diffusing of cytokines, which limit the development of inflammation, providing intercellular communication through the walls of blood vessels, which speeds up the healing process.
Germination in the field of new procedures microvessels (neangeogenez is proven by clinical studies Mariotto, Italy, 2005; Oi, Nishida, Shimokawa, Japan, 2008), that improves the tissue of nutrition and persistent pain reduction.

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Shock-wave therapy