{"id":30178,"date":"2022-11-21T14:56:13","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T14:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitetest19.striveenterprisetest.com\/?p=19394"},"modified":"2025-06-30T21:45:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T21:45:21","slug":"knowing-why-bone-heel-spur-treatment-is-treatment-of-your-fascia-not-the-spur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitetest19.striveenterprisetest.com\/2022\/11\/21\/knowing-why-bone-heel-spur-treatment-is-treatment-of-your-fascia-not-the-spur","title":{"rendered":"Knowing Why Bone Heel Spur Treatment Is Treatment Of Your Fascia, Not The Spur!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bone<\/p>\n

A common foot complaint you ask? How about heel pain? Most commonly felt on the bottom of your heel bone, it can be pain experienced when you first get up in the morning. For most, this is how it starts. However, after a few minutes, the pain subsides. You think to yourself, \u201cThis must be nothing\u201d and move on with your day, but I am telling you now, you don\u2019t have to live with this!<\/p>\n

Many patients we see often ask the question, \u201cDo I have a heel spur? Should I seek bone heel spur treatment\u201d<\/strong> The idea that a heel spur is causing your pain, is an old concept that doesn\u2019t seem to go away. It\u2019s actually the plantar fascia causing your pain, and we will explain how and why it’s not a boney issue.<\/p>\n

What Is a Heel Spur?<\/h2>\n

The plantar fascia is tight connective tissue that extends from the ball of the foot, to the bottom of the heel bone. With every step that is taken, your body weight comes down on the foot and your arch flattens causing the fascia to be pulled. Children and young adults are less likely to have pain from the fascia, as their fascia is more flexible, much like a rubber band. When they bear weight, the fascia will stretch and not pull from the heel bone where it attaches. As we get older, the frequency of heel pain<\/a> is thought to increase because the fascia becomes less flexible as it pulls from the heel. Microtears of fascia may occur at its attachment point on the heel bone. It is thought that a heel spur is the result of the fascia pulling from the heel bone. This may result in more bone formation at its insertion point, resulting in the spur, but the actual spur is not painful.<\/p>\n

Why Is It Not The Bone Heel Spur?<\/h2>\n

1. Surgical Treatment<\/h3>\n

When surgery is performed the spur is not removed, and patients typically get much better. Starting in the 1990\u2019s, Dr. Steve Barrett was the first doctor to train other physicians on using a minimal incision approach to releasing and cutting the fascia so that it may stretch and elongate. This reduces the pull of the fascia from the heel and is highly successful for pain relief. When the surgery is performed, a scope is placed along the bottom of the heel and if a spur is present it is not removed. Because of the effectiveness of the procedure, it proves the spur does not cause pain. (Barrett SL, Day SV. Endoscopic plantar fasciotomy for chronic plantar fasciitis\/heel spur syndrome: surgical technique\u2014early clinical results. J Foot Surg. 1991;30:568-70.) https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3117526\/<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Diagnostic Ultrasound Evaluation<\/h3>\n

When patients are consulted for their heel pain, we\u00a0 evaluate the heel with an ultrasound machine. Studies have shown what the normal appearance of the fascia should be based upon its thickness and coloration. The thicker and darker the fascia appears, the more damaged it is. The appearance is highly correlated with the amount of pain the patient has – whether or not a spur is present.<\/p>\n