Heel Spur Surgery: What is Involved?
For those who suffer from painful heel spurs that just will not go away, heel spur surgery is a treatment of last resort. It is usually only considered if other treatments such as stretching exercises, heel cradles or cups, wearing the appropriate shoe, and especially foot orthotics (arch supports) have been tried and are not working.
Due to the severe pain you may experience from a heel spur, it can disrupt your everyday activities and make your heel pain unbearable when you place pressure on your foot. Heel spur surgery can be successful in treating the pain in many cases, however, there are always potential side effects, and if the underlying alignment or biomechanical problems are not corrected, the heel spur is likely to return.
Heel Spur Surgery Procedures
Heel spur surgery can be done in various ways. "Endoscopic plantar fasciotomy" is one method used for heel spur pain or as a plantar fasciitis treatment. In this procedure your surgeon will make two slits around the heel and insert a small camera through these slits enabling him or her to view the injured area. A small knife will be used to cut or detach the plantar fascia from the heel bone. This will relieve the stress you are feeling and allow new fascia tissue to grow. With this heel spur surgery, the tension that created the heel spurs or plantar fasciitis is removed. It does nothing to correct positional problems in the foot that may have caused the heel spur in the first place so arch supports should be considered to prevent recurrence.
Another heel spur surgery may include the plantar fascia being only partially detached instead of being cut completely. Some surgeons feel this procedure is not as effective as an endoscopic plantar fasciotomy, while others believe it is the better solution. If you are deciding upon one of these procedures discuss with your surgeon which heel spur surgery would be the best for you.
Your surgeon may also decide to remove the spur itself. To do this, the surgeon uses a small camera as a guide and using small instruments removes the bony nail-like fragment of calcium. This can drastically relieve the pain and decrease further damage to the tissue around the heel, but this procedure does not address positional and biomechanical problems that may have caused the heel spur.
Heel spur surgery is only a consideration after more conservative treatments have not proven successful. When a heel spur is discovered, early less drastic measures are usually very effective in relieving the pain, particularly arch supports or foot orthotics to remove pressure from the area and correct any alignment or biomechanical problems causing the heel spur. However, heel spur pain can sometimes get to the point where heel spur surgery is required.
Heel Spur Surgery: Risks
Any surgical procedure involves risk, and heel spur surgery is no different. You must discuss any potential side effects and negative results with your surgeon before going into the procedure.
Some of these risks and side effects may include:
- infection or other surgical complications, a risk with any surgery
- a recovery period in which you must limit weight bearing allowing the tissue time to heal
- possible damage to nerve tissue that may cause numbness in certain areas of the heel after surgery
- heel pain – your pain may continue after surgery, but usually in most cases it fades after a week or so.
- the heel spur can return after surgery, especially if the cause is due to foot position while weight bearing and this is not addressed
Heel Spur Surgery Prevention
Most people do not want surgery to become a necessity, so the key to avoiding heel spur surgery is prevention. Factors that may contribute to the creation of heel spurs include poor fitting shoes, repetitive stress on the feet, being overweight, and having naturally flat feet or high arches. Recognizing these factors and taking steps to improve them, such as choosing a different shoe or using foot orthotics can save you a lot of pain and decrease your chances of developing heel spurs and requiring heel spur surgery.
If you have high arches, supinated feet, low arches/fallen arches, or overpronation, chances are good that your heel spur will return after heel spur surgery if your foot position is not corrected or accommodated with foot orthotics / arch supports. In these cases, arch supports may be a better choice of treatment than heel spur surgery in the first place.
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