Bone Spur

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Woke up this past Sunday and when I stepped out of bed the most horrible pain shot up from my heel. I hoped Whatever it was would go away in a day or two but by the fourth day decided to go to the doctor. X-rays confirmed I have a bone spur and they told me to stay off of it a day or two and hopefully it will improve or else I have to get a steroid shot. We are 33 days out from our Disney trip . I'm hoping things will improve by then and it won't ruin our trip. Any advice? I welcome any prayers thanks

[kakn7294]

If you need the steroid shot, do it at least a week before your trip and stay off of it as much as possible after you get it. I had one several years ago done on a Tuesday and then went to NYC for the weekend. It was horrible, the pain from the shot was almost as bad as the pain from the spur. The shot decreased but did not relieve my pain and only lasted about 1 month - perhaps because I was not able to stay off of my feet.

[BrerGnat]

I have a heel spur. I don't know why your doctor told you that it would improve after a day or so. They don't really go away fully. You need to wear shoes with good arch support and a cushioned heel.

Dr. Scholl's makes an insert for heel pain. It goes in your shoe and will help with the pain. The package literally says "insert for heel pain." Make sure you get the right one for your gender.

No barefoot walking. Wear supportive athletic shoes at all times.

Dr. Scholl's Active Series insoles are also very good for this problem.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

If you need the steroid shot, do it at least a week before your trip and stay off of it as much as possible after you get it. I had one several years ago done on a Tuesday and then went to NYC for the weekend. It was horrible, the pain from the shot was almost as bad as the pain from the spur. The shot decreased but did not relieve my pain and only lasted about 1 month - perhaps because I was not able to stay off of my feet.

That's good to know I'm thinking about going back and getting it

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I have a heel spur. I don't know why your doctor told you that it would improve after a day or so. They don't really go away fully. You need to wear shoes with good arch support and a cushioned heel.

Dr. Scholl's makes an insert for heel pain. It goes in your shoe and will help with the pain. The package literally says "insert for heel pain." Make sure you get the right one for your gender.

No barefoot walking. Wear supportive athletic shoes at all times.

Dr. Scholl's Active Series insoles are also very good for this problem.

Thanks I'll get them

[Katzateer]

Years ago my dad had surgery for his and it did not help at all. Maybe that is not an option now ?

Hope the inserts help!

[BrerGnat]

Years ago my dad had surgery for his and it did not help at all. Maybe that is not an option now ?

Hope the inserts help!

My podiatrist said they no longer do surgery to remove bone spurs as they often come back anyway. The underlying cause is plantar fascitis which has to be managed well in order for the spurs to slowly dissolve and not return. Usually requires orthotics.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Brer Gnat is right. They only do surgery as last resort and then they usually grow back. I was thinking I was doing the best thing by staying off of it but from what I've read the tissue needs to be stretched so extreme inactivity is not good. I've been walking around with my New Balances on and they help. Also calf stretches and rolling a cold or iced water bottle under my foot helps.

[kakn7294]

The key is to treating plantar fasciitis is to keep the ligaments loose which is why the exercises and items rolled in the ball of the foot help so much. Even when you are sitting, continue to move and stretch your legs. 2 other good exercises are to stand about 2-3 feet from a wall, place your arms on the wall then slowly lean in towards the wall as far as possible. Or stand with just the front of the feet on a stair and lean your weight back towards your heels.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I have been doing the stretching exercises, wearing my New Balances with heel inserts and am feeling a lot better.

[4disneynuts]

I to have a similar situation. I started going to the gym a year ago and after about 2 weeks of walking on the treadmill I woke up to horrible pain in the back of my heel. I have suffered with it (and yes through a Disney trip last October) for a year now. I finally went to the doctor last week as we have another upcoming trip in November to Disney and did not want to be in that much pain again. My husband said we would just rent a wheelchair but I would be way too embarressed to do that.

Here is what the Podiatrist diagnosed me with:

Achilles Tendonitis - I have a calcification on my heel that you can actually see sticking out.

Here is what he has recommended for me:

-He gave me a boot to wear when I need to do a lot of walking (I will not be bringing this to Disney with me)

-He told me to take ibuprofen (I am taking Aleve) exactly as the bottle says for 3 weeks straight

-Ice it for 20 minutes 3 times a day

-Wear heel inserts ( I bought some gel ones which I like)

And he wants me to do ultrasound therapy. I am going to skip this for now and try the other things first.

I have been doing what he says for 1 week now and can already tell it is geting better. The gel heel inserts have really made a difference.

He told me it will never fully go away but I need to get the inflammation to settle down. My last resort would be surgery where they would go in and detach the tendons, cut the calcification off the heel and then reattach the tendons. I would be totally laid up for 6 weeks for that so at this point I won't even consider that.

I really hope you can get yourself healed so you can enjoy your trip. I know the pain for me last year was horrific, even had to go back to the room and just lay in bed for a full day it got so bad.

Good luck!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I to have a similar situation. I started going to the gym a year ago and after about 2 weeks of walking on the treadmill I woke up to horrible pain in the back of my heel. I have suffered with it (and yes through a Disney trip last October) for a year now. I finally went to the doctor last week as we have another upcoming trip in November to Disney and did not want to be in that much pain again. My husband said we would just rent a wheelchair but I would be way too embarressed to do that.

Here is what the Podiatrist diagnosed me with:

Achilles Tendonitis - I have a calcification on my heel that you can actually see sticking out.

Here is what he has recommended for me:

-He gave me a boot to wear when I need to do a lot of walking (I will not be bringing this to Disney with me)

-He told me to take ibuprofen (I am taking Aleve) exactly as the bottle says for 3 weeks straight

-Ice it for 20 minutes 3 times a day

-Wear heel inserts ( I bought some gel ones which I like)

And he wants me to do ultrasound therapy. I am going to skip this for now and try the other things first.

I have been doing what he says for 1 week now and can already tell it is geting better. The gel heel inserts have really made a difference.

He told me it will never fully go away but I need to get the inflammation to settle down. My last resort would be surgery where they would go in and detach the tendons, cut the calcification off the heel and then reattach the tendons. I would be totally laid up for 6 weeks for that so at this point I won't even consider that.

I really hope you can get yourself healed so you can enjoy your trip. I know the pain for me last year was horrific, even had to go back to the room and just lay in bed for a full day it got so bad.

Good luck!

Yes, I got the gel heel inserts and they feel heavenly...My mom has had surgery on both of her feet. If you can avoid it please do so. It is a long, hard recovery and you must have someone with you at all times because you cannot be on your feet at all.

[sgdisney]

I have plantar fasciitis too and have been very successful at managing it over the past year by following my podiatrist suggestons. I keep an iced water bottle on hand to roll my foot on when the pain flairs up, which helps. Also have custom orthotics that I use in my walking shoes. It takes a while to get them and they are not cheap, but they were covered by my health insurance. He has also prescribed an anti-inflamtory medicine that he told me to use every day on my last Disney trip, even if I was not having problems. And I have had a couple of Cortizone shots in my heel, and yes it hurt a bit going in, but was not too bad at all.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I have plantar fasciitis too and have been very successful at managing it over the past year by following my podiatrist suggestons. I keep an iced water bottle on hand to roll my foot on when the pain flairs up, which helps. Also have custom orthotics that I use in my walking shoes. It takes a while to get them and they are not cheap, but they were covered by my health insurance. He has also prescribed an anti-inflamtory medicine that he told me to use every day on my last Disney trip, even if I was not having problems. And I have had a couple of Cortizone shots in my heel, and yes it hurt a bit going in, but was not too bad at all.

I'm already on daily anti inflamatory meds for a neck injury and I did the frozen water bottle for a few days...wow did it help, felt good too