Heel Pain and Heel Spurs: Diagnosis and Treatment Options

A heel spur is a bony growth on the foot that can become hooked or pointed or even develop a shelf-like shape. Often, they’re very painful and require intensive diagnosis and treatment to manage. At Total Foot Care, Dr. Richard Cohen, Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, and Dr. Alex Lakner can help you manage your heel pain in Greenbelt and Ellicott City, MD, by getting rid of your spurs for good.

Diagnosis: We Track Your Symptoms

When you have heel spurs, you’ll know it. They typically produce a visible protrusion on the skin that’s easily visible in X-rays. It’ll also cause swelling, inflammation, burning, and tenderness, making walking hard. Causes for this condition include overuse, obesity, improper footwear, osteoarthritis, Reiter’s disease, and plantar fasciitis. We can diagnose these issues by:

• Looking at your foot to identify where the heel spur is likely to originate on the foot
• Talking with you about the history of your feet to see what problem might be at play 
• Watching your foot as you flex it and watching for painful reactions as you do
• Working you through range-of-motion exercises that gauge your strength and flexibility 
• X-raying your foot to look for obvious symptoms of the heel spur to direct care

Treatment: We’ll Help Your pain 

At Total Foot Care, Dr. Cohen, Dr. Steinberg, and Dr. Lakner can help with your spur-related heel pain in Greenbelt, MD. We’ll provide various hands-on treatments that mitigate your pain and help you stay on your feet again. With our help, you can not only figure out why they happened in the first place but also get the following care to avoid long-term heel damage:

• RICE (Rest, Icing, Compression, and Elevation) at home
• Anti-inflammatory medicines to minimize your pain
• Stretching exercises to restore range of motion
• Orthotic devices to support your foot
• Physical therapy treatments

In rare cases, we might need to administer cortisone injections to help you recover or even remove the heel spur surgically. We only choose this therapy option last because we prefer working with you through conservative care methods first to prevent invasive therapies. With our help, you should be able to recover from heel spurs and mitigate any pain you might feel.

Recovering From Heel Spurs 

With the help of Total Foot Care and Dr. Cohen, Dr. Steinberg, and Dr. Lakner, you can manage your heel spurs and avoid unnecessary suffering. We understand how to diagnose heel pain in Greenbelt and Ellicott City, MD, and we will give you the treatment you deserve to recover. Call us at (301) 345-4087 to learn more about the many ways our team can help you bounce back from this pain.