Bone Spurs (1 Viewer)

[Clinton McClure]

I spend almost my entire day at work on my feet standing and walking on a concrete floor. For the past few months I have had a dull ache in my left foot which went away at night while I was asleep. I chalked it up to walking two to three miles a day after work and went on about my business. Over the course of the past month, it has gotten to where getting off my feet relieves the aching but as soon as I stand up or get out of bed in the morning, it feels like I'm walking on broken glass. After ten or fifteen minutes, the sharp pain goes away and becomes the dull ache I have become accustomed to. Today I made an appointment with my PCP and had it checked out. Turns out I have two bone spurs on my heel, one pointing up slightly off the back of my heel and the other pointing forward from underneath my heel. I also have what looks like a third spur growing from the front underside of my arch pointing backwards. I have an appointment Wednesday to see a podiatrist for consultation and a treatment plan. Has anyone ever dealt with bone spurs, specifically on the foot?

 

[Richard V]

I spend almost my entire day at work on my feet standing and walking on a concrete floor. For the past few months I have had a dull ache in my left foot which went away at night while I was asleep. I chalked it up to walking two to three miles a day after work and went on about my business. Over the course of the past month, it has gotten to where getting off my feet relieves the aching but as soon as I stand up or get out of bed in the morning, it feels like I'm walking on broken glass. After ten or fifteen minutes, the sharp pain goes away and becomes the dull ache I have become accustomed to. Today I made an appointment with my PCP and had it checked out. Turns out I have two bone spurs on my heel, one pointing up slightly off the back of my heel and the other pointing forward from underneath my heel. I also have what looks like a third spur growing from the front underside of my arch pointing backwards. I have an appointment Wednesday to see a podiatrist for consultation and a treatment plan. Has anyone ever dealt with bone spurs, specifically on the foot?

Yeah, I deal with them all the time, I'm a physician. There are good effective treatments for this condition.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I spend almost my entire day at work on my feet standing and walking on a concrete floor. For the past few months I have had a dull ache in my left foot which went away at night while I was asleep. I chalked it up to walking two to three miles a day after work and went on about my business. Over the course of the past month, it has gotten to where getting off my feet relieves the aching but as soon as I stand up or get out of bed in the morning, it feels like I'm walking on broken glass. After ten or fifteen minutes, the sharp pain goes away and becomes the dull ache I have become accustomed to. Today I made an appointment with my PCP and had it checked out. Turns out I have two bone spurs on my heel, one pointing up slightly off the back of my heel and the other pointing forward from underneath my heel. I also have what looks like a third spur growing from the front underside of my arch pointing backwards. I have an appointment Wednesday to see a podiatrist for consultation and a treatment plan. Has anyone ever dealt with bone spurs, specifically on the foot?

Yup, had surgery on both feet. One surgery was 20 years ago and the other surgery was just last year. I retired last year after spending over 36 years on concrete floors for an automotive maker.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Crawdaddy - What was your recovery time (ballpark estimate) from your surgeries? Obviously, surgery is always my last resort and everyone heals at a different pace but if that's the direction I end up going, I would like to get some of the sticker shock over now. I'll find out this afternoon what the doc wants to do.

 

[David_B_K]

I was afflicted with this problem around 1991-1992. My doctor explained that my heel pain was caused by plantar fasciitis, in which a tendon basically pulls at the heel area where it connects and causes pain. I would notice slight relief if I stepped on something that supported the arch area of my foot. I could barely walk, because when both feet hurt, you cannot limp on one. You sort of hobble on both. My doctor told me to start wearing some arch supports. Lack of arch support puts strain on that plantar fascia which translates to heel pain. The arch supports he recommended were foam rubber and really did not help.

One day, I was visiting an outlet mall and went into a Florsheim Shoe store. They sold arch supports, but they were not soft, squishy foam ones. They were flexible, but did not give at all when I stood on them. I bought two pairs, and over a fairly short time, maybe a month or two, my heel pain gradually went away. I still have the two pairs of arch supports and wear them with every shoe I wear. If I go looking for new shoes I always make sure the new shoes can accommodate the arch supports.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Crawdaddy - What was your recovery time (ballpark estimate) from your surgeries? Obviously, surgery is always my last resort and everyone heals at a different pace but if that's the direction I end up going, I would like to get some of the sticker shock over now. I'll find out this afternoon what the doc wants to do.

Last year's surgery was more complicated due to also repairing a partially torn achilles heel so I was in a cast and then a walking boot for several weeks. The other surgery 20 years ago I was out of commission for about 3-4 weeks.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Update -

I saw the podiatrist this afternoon. He said he wasn't concerned with the bone spurs and that they normally do not cause pain in most people. His opinion is what David had - plantar fasciitis caused by my arches being flattened out and presenting itself as heel pain and burning along my arch and the side of my foot. For now, he has me wrapping my foot each morning with reusable athletic wrap and wearing a splint when I get home at night. When tightened, the splint stretches my calf muscle and correctly positions my arch to relieve pain. He also provided me with a pair of hard orthotics to put in my shoes to keep pressure against my arches so they don't flatten out when I stand. I will follow this daily regimen and go back to see him on Dec 28. He is pretty confident this will take care of my problem as he wants to avoid cortisone shots and surgery if at all possible.

 

[Stan]

Update -

I saw the podiatrist this afternoon. He said he wasn't concerned with the bone spurs and that they normally do not cause pain in most people. His opinion is what David had - plantar fasciitis caused by my arches being flattened out and presenting itself as heel pain and burning along my arch and the side of my foot. For now, he has me wrapping my foot each morning with reusable athletic wrap and wearing a splint when I get home at night. When tightened, the splint stretches my calf muscle and correctly positions my arch to relieve pain. He also provided me with a pair of hard orthotics to put in my shoes to keep pressure against my arches so they don't flatten out when I stand. I will follow this daily regimen and go back to see him on Dec 28. He is pretty confident this will take care of my problem as he wants to avoid cortisone shots and surgery if at all possible.

You have a very different issue, mine was spinal, bulging disc, pressure on nerves, etc.

I went through everything, pain meds (which I'm still taking, but almost done), oral steroids, two dose-paks of methylprednisolone, which caused me to vomit. Followed by injected steroids, so painful I nearly passed out. After that didn't work, first time I've ever had a doctor say we can't do anything for you and send me away.

Then finally surgery with a referral from my PCP, which has fixed the problem, still recovering, but huge improvement. I can walk, exercise, do things like normal. Still have to behave and not get to carried away, no twisting, no carrying more than 20 lbs., but so nice to have the problem fixed. Pain has gone from a 9-10 to almost zero.

It's sad that sometime we have to suffer for so long, trying all kinds of solutions that don't work, until they admit that surgery is necessary. Coming up on a year of pain for me, but it took until November that they gave up on the non-invasive solutions.

I don't know your situation, but I think like me, they're trying everything possible to avoid surgery, when pain-wise and financially for you, that's what may end up being the best solution. It's like they try all the band-aids possible then give in to truly fix the problem.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I would personally never see a physician who goes straight for the knife and am an advocate of exploring all non-invasive options before cutting... first, do no harm and all that stuff.

After my dr's appointment in November, I bought a pair of crocs to wear around the house so I never go bare-footed, not even in the shower. That helps quite a bit. Since I have been stretching, wrapping and wearing my splint at night, I have noticed some improvement, although I had to spend three days in a row last week on my feet for my entire shift doing PM work on my client's equipment. By the end of each day, I felt like I was walking on a broken foot. Luckily, I spent almost my entire day today in my office so not a lot of standing.

I go back next week for my follow up and, hopefully, we'll continue to follow this treatment plan for another month or so before moving on to cortisone injections and other unpleasant things.

 

[Stan]

I would personally never see a physician who goes straight for the knife and am an advocate of exploring all non-invasive options before cutting... first, do no harm and all that stuff.

After my dr's appointment in November, I bought a pair of crocs to wear around the house so I never go bare-footed, not even in the shower. That helps quite a bit. Since I have been stretching, wrapping and wearing my splint at night, I have noticed some improvement, although I had to spend three days in a row last week on my feet for my entire shift doing PM work on my client's equipment. By the end of each day, I felt like I was walking on a broken foot. Luckily, I spent almost my entire day today in my office so not a lot of standing.

I go back next week for my follow up and, hopefully, we'll continue to follow this treatment plan for another month or so before moving on to cortisone injections and other unpleasant things.

Right there with you, cutting into you should be the last resort solution. But you've got to jump through all the hoops, try everything else that's possible.

There's never any way to know what's going to work, I just wish we could have skipped all the "in between" steps and gone straight for the surgery. None of the "in between" things worked. And OMG, I had steroid injections that were possibly the most painful thing I ever went through and they didn't work.

I'm guessing probably 20+ injections. Lidocaine, steroid, move up 1/4 inch, lidocaine, steroid, rinse and repeat. Then a month later, finally realized that didn't work, so now we go to surgery.

They kicked me out of the first surgery, low platelets. Then they talked with my PCP, he said it was normal, I'd had low platelets for at least 20 years, so rescheduled and they fixed things. Kind of retracting my earlier statement, even more painful than the steroid injections was having the stitches removed from the operation, that was six weeks ago. They were so deep, not like a basic skin laceration, and so close to the nerves, absolute agony for about a month afterwards.

Still on pain pills, but only one or two a day, so things are almost normal. No twisting, no lifting more than 20 lbs. for another month or so. Life gradually returning to normal. My neighbors are shoveling the snow off my walk. I feel like I'm this wimpy invalid, but I'll follow doctor's orders, don't want to aggravate things. Nice to have friends and neighbors to help out.

My father was in a car accident last week. Fractured skull, clavicle, shoulder blade and ribs. 86 years old but he's doing well. He expects to be back at work in a few weeks. I let him go on with that delusion, he may never return to work, but I do my best to support him.

Another one of those "Way to much Info" posts, but if it in any way helps another member, it's worth it.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

They say you should never shovel snow once you hit 40 or so. It's like the ultimate heart attack trigger.

 

[Stan]

They say you should never shovel snow once you hit 40 or so. It's like the ultimate heart attack trigger.

Well I'm still here. Shovel my own walk and purposely bought a regular lawn mower after I saw my overweight neighbor pushing his power mower around with his pinky finger. Just one of those "I refuse to be that lazy kind of things". He's the one guy in the neighborhood, (always has to be one) that everybody refers to as Grumpy Gary. Heaven forbid a dog pees on his yard or somebody parks in front of his house on the public street. His wife is a major booze-hound, it's the only way she can tolerate him.

The lady living next to him is a very good friend, but has some health issues and myself or other neighbors will help her out with things. With our last snowfall a few days ago, I just happened to be watching and he brought out his snowblower, did his walk, went precisely to the property line and stopped. It might have taken him 3-4 minutes to do her walk. Mega jerk.

Anyhow, 40 passed over a decade ago, still shoveling my walk, so I must be doing something right

 

[Clinton McClure]

I would use that excuse with my better half but since I live in central Arkansas, we usually get ice, if anything at all. Can't shovel that.

 

[Stan]

I would use that excuse with my better half but since I live in central Arkansas, we usually get ice, if anything at all. Can't shovel that.

Oh yes, the ice is hopeless. My back porch that faces north has about three inches of solid ice, can't chip it or break it up, just being very careful.

On another wonderful, semi-related topic. Starting with a new PCP tomorrow and we get to discuss my knee issues. Not bone spur, but somewhat similar. Three operations over 30 years, all they do is remove torn cartilage, now I'm down to bone on bone. Oddly not painful, my previous doctor always noticed it during physicals, he could move my knee in ways that apparently weren't normal. I've been fine. Operations in '83, '96 and '05, but after the last one, surgeon told me he's not fixing things, just removing torn pieces of the meniscus. Next step is a knee replacement, something I've been avoiding for years.

That would be a huge operation with mega recovery and physical therapy, might even end up worse than now. There are many things I can't do, but I still think I'd be just as limited with a fake knee.

By the way, this started when I was 23, so for all you younger guys, sometimes s*** happens.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Clinton, I hope the non-surgical methods take care of the problem. I had plantar facetious a few years back. It didn't creep up on me, one morning getting out of bet it HURT to stand.

My doc gave me a boot to wear at night and some massage techniques but it didn't help. One day I saw this "sock" on Amazon and tried it out. Instead of just holding the foot straight, it kind of bent it back towards my face. The amount of bend was adjustable. After ONE night wearing this sock I was 90% improved. Within a month I was cured. Kid you not.

 

[dvdclon]

I had plantar fasciitis some time back and what fixed it for me was putting a folded handkerchief under my heel in each shoe. I don't remember why I thought to try that,

 

[Clinton McClure]

I have been having good days with virtually no pain and some days when I put weight on my foot and it nearly brings tears to my eyes. I go back to see my podiatrist on Wednesday and we'll see what he wants to do then.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Good luck. I hope you get this sorted out.

 

[Clinton McClure]

It's been a while since I posted in this thread so I thought I would post an update. During my last podiatrist appointment on January 11th, the doc was satisfied that the treatment plan I have been following was working and decided I did not need to see him any further unless my foot got worse. I have since been able to get back to walking for 30 minutes (about 1.5 miles) after work every day. I bought a different pair of work shoes (Magnum tactical boots) and a set of therapy balls to roll under my foot to massage the plantar facia. I do this three times a day along with frequent calf-stretches and it has made a world of difference. I still have some days where my foot feels absolutely broken because I didn't wrap it tight enough before work or I didn't have time to stop and stretch or use my therapy balls but most days are good with very little discomfort.

 

[Mike Frezon]

We need to change the name of this forum from "Home Theater Forum" to "Debilitated Old Man Forum."