Heel Spurs - Anyone?

[Mike Goetzke]

I’ve had pain come and go in my heels for several years. I retired about a year ago and my heel pain seemed to get more sever and doesn’t like to go away. I went to a doctor and he took some x-rays and they revealed I have bone spurs on the back of my heels. He said there wasn’t much to do with them. It’s been about 5 months since I saw the doctor and my heels are pretty painful at times. Is it time to see another doctor or anyone else have the same issue that can suggest something to help appreciated.

[Jerry Bruette]

My wife had heel spurs so bad she started walking on the balls of her feet. The podiatrist she saw made an incision on the inside of her heels and knocked the spurs off. She's been good since.

She said it was painful and probably wouldn't have it done in the office again and would do only one foot at a time.

[Sam Force]

511053511054

Oh the pain, I have had 2 separate surgeries 22 months apart. The 1st one allegedly spurs were removed but still had a lot of trouble. Had issues with the podiatrist and switched to another Dr. The 2 spurs shown were removed during the 2nd surgery. I can tell you when they are attached to your Achilles tendon it is not a walk in the park. I was in a cast for 8 weeks and used a knee roller, after the cast still no weight bearing for another month. It is all doable but nothing pleasant for quite some time. Unfortunately I am in another issue with the same foot and do not know what the outcome will be. But if just for the spurs, I would say go for it but heed the advice of your Dr. It does show positive results in time, but definitely not a quick recovery.

I did several options prior to surgery but therapy just made it worse. Prior to that they tried some type of intense ultrasound heat that was a waste of time. Tried several wraps, braces etc. they did not help at all.

Hope this offers some reassurance

[Mel Fulks]

My wife had heel spurs so bad she started walking on the balls of her feet. The podiatrist she saw made an incision on the inside of her heels and knocked the spurs off. She's been good since.

She said it was painful and probably wouldn't have it done in the office again and would do only one foot at a time.

“I Got Spurs That Jingle Jangle Jingle” .
You have to use the right spurs to make your feet dance to the music !

[Bill George]

Most podiatrists are not MDs but DO who I do not have a lot of respect for, at least for surgery's. The one I went to for my broken leg near my ankle got mad at me for not letting him do surgery.

[Ronald Blue]

They are just as much a Dr as a regular MD. They will have DPM after their name. They are simply specialized in foot and ankle issues. They can be certified surgeons as well.

https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-a-podiatrist

[Stan Calow]

I thought there was a way that they could remove the spurs ultrasonically - not true?

[Bill George]

They are just as much a Dr as a regular MD. They will have DPM after their name. They are simply specialized in foot and ankle issues. They can be certified surgeons as well.

https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-a-podiatrist

Big difference between a Podiatrist like I had which was just a DO and one Certified to be a Surgeon and he was not. DPM only have 4 years of training plus 3 years of work with supervision in the field.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Sorry to read about your pain. Its good that your doctor was quick to have you X-rayed. I have had orthotics in my shoes for many years. No doctor ever bothered to x-ray my feet until 7 years ago. That doctor has yet to pass the x-rays along to my primary care doctor or my podiatrist. The x-rays are tied up in the confusion of having to change physicians annually, according to the whims of insurance companies.

Cases of heel spurs made a decline after the draft ended.

[Patty Hann]

Most podiatrists are not MDs but DO who I do not have a lot of respect for, at least for surgery's. The one I went to for my broken leg near my ankle got mad at me for not letting him do surgery.
My "Poddy" is a Board Certified MD.

[Bill George]

My "Poddy" is a Board Certified MD.

The joker I went to used to be a EMT and went to school part time at the big DO college here in town. The second opinion DPM I went to said no way would I do surgery on that clean break and risk complications. The first one, Everyone who had a broken whatever got surgery!!

[Bill Dufour]

Cases of heel spurs made a decline after the draft ended.[/QUOTE]

Lets not get into politics here. Didn't some presidents do woodworking? I know the first president is known for chopping down a cherry tree.
BillD

[Jerome Stanek]

I have heel spurs and my doc hit me with cortizone and then a whirlpool. I had several therapies sections with ultra sound, hot wax and whirlpool. He made casts and I got orthotics. They lasted for 10 years and then I had to have a new set made. havn't had a bad flair up since.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Yes! It is time to see another doctor or two or three. Trust your gut feeling. It all depends upon the size and location of your spur. Some you can live with, others need to be removed. There are different levels of podiatrist skill sets too. You may need to start out with one who treats general foot issues and will then refer you to a surgeon.

I have more scars than Frankenstein from the calf down to my toes on one foot due to 3 foot surgeries. I went through more than 16 specialists, PT, podiatrists, surgeons, etc. and they all made things worse. I had the best success when seeing a Sports Medicine board certified surgeon who specialized in reconstructive rear foot and ankles at a University. He was the one that finally diagnosed the true problem and installed a handful of hardware. If you have any back injuries or pain, don't rule that out either. I'm actually scheduled for L4-L5 surgery in January due to an old injury from 20 years ago. It is flaring up a nerve from my low back all the way down to my ankle and toes.

[Bill George]

Well I have learned my lesson, surgery from doctors who are Not Surgeons is not good. My first guy was making money by doing unnecessary ones and he needs to be shut down, but not by me. Learned a lot from another Thread posted here!

[Ronald Blue]

Big difference between a Podiatrist like I had which was just a DO and one Certified to be a Surgeon and he was not. DPM only have 4 years of training plus 3 years of work with supervision in the field.

Just like a regular MD they have to attend college taking prerequisites before they can apply for the medical side of the schooling followed by residency requirements. Below text was copied from the website for the association of podiatric medicine. Maybe yours wasn't a typical Podiatrist. By todays standards however they will have had at least 7 years of school plus residency.

To enter a podiatric medical school, one must first complete a minimum of three years or 90 semester hours of college credit at an accredited institution. Over 97% of the students who enter podiatric medical school have a bachelor’s degree. Many have also completed some graduate study.

https://aacpm.org/becoming-a-podiatric-physician/admissions/

[Jerome Stanek]

My doctor said that surgery was the last resort. He said surgery on the foot is not a good thing as it can cuase other problems and the healing proccess is slow.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

Things must have changed dramatically. The last Podiatrist I knew, went to Podiatrist school after just 2 years of college and Podiatry school was only 2 years. I liked the guy a lot, but would never let the guy do more than remove a hang nail.

I had trouble with bone spurs on the feet and two foot doctors I consulted were anxious to do surgery, I also knew an Orthopedic surgeon and went to see him, he advised against surgery, to change the style of shoes I wear and gave me some medical articles about studies concerning recurrence of the spurs after surgery. At least back then in the early 1990's, surgery looked like a temporary fix and they were likely to recur. I went to wearing loafers, and frankly, I wear shoes as little as possible. I even farm and bale hay in some sturdy sandals most of the year. My feet are much happier now. Back on October, Mrs. and I hiked 9 miles along a beach and I was bare foot. Followed that up with another 4.5 mile hike on packed sand trails 2 days later. also barefoot.