Feet Pain -- Heel Spurs & medications?
So, my doc says I have a NASTY heel spur. It hurts like heck - but they want me to take Prednisone for the swelling.. I've never heard ANYTHING good about Prednisone. I've been taking Advil like crazy and it's getting better. Will this just come back if I don't take it? Any ideas?
Answers:
Prednisone is perfect...if used well, do follow directions and you will be safe. Most of the side-effects come from mis-use,,,taking it before meals and sometimes after long term use, there is a dependence (not addiction but the body must come back to normal). The spur is an irregularity on the bone and while the prednisone may relieve the symptoms, it may require simple surgery to smooth the area. If you do any carpentry, compare the spur to a knot in the wood that needs some special care to smooth out. The prednisone is a good anti-inflammatory and relief will be surprizingly fast.
I've never been given Prednisone for my heel spurs!
Get some heel inserts for your shoes. The kind with a dough-nut hole in it. This will help alleviate the pain. Advil will help keep the pain manageable. Also make sure you have good arch supports in your shoes.
Once I lost my footing and slid down my stairs on the soles of my feet. The spur went away. I don't recommend that though.
I did have a heel spur once and it went away after some time with foot manipulation by standing on 2X4 piece of wood and lifting my weight with toes off the ground regularly. You can also stand and tilt foot side to side and put the ankle as far to floor as possible to self massge the foot back and forth. Then just regular foot massage and occasional soaking my feet every 2 days in old sour wine and water. If no gone off wine is available, use half vinegar and half water to soak feet for 20 minutes Maximum at a time. You will feel the difference real quick...
Ahhh man I feel for ya...those thangs are painful!
I've had them (both heels). I was given an anti-inflammatory called "Meclanem" (spelling I'm certain is wrong..that is how it's pronounced though) AND I got the cortisone shots...they helped immensely and cleared it up in no time...didn't resurface until 10 yrs later...did the same thing...cleared up again..that was 2 yrs ago. I was never told to take prednisone for that...seems odd to me, but I'm not a doctor.
Good luck to you...duc tape sponges on the bottom of your feet!lol...Just kidding - feel better.
This worked for me. I think heel spurs and plantar fasciitis are the same thing.
First, take aspirin for pain and swelling. Second, do exercises to stretch the plantar ligaments. This is much easier to show in person than to explain online, but you stand near the wall. Keep your heel on the floor and your toes and the ball of your foot on the wall. Lean forward, keeping the pressure steady, not bouncing. Hold it for 10 to 20 seconds. That will stretch the ligaments in the bottom of your foot, if you do it correctly.
Third, go to a store and buy inserts for your shoes that will support your arches. Where I live, we have a store that caters to runners, and they have a good selection of arch supports. You want something a little better than the stuff you can buy in a grocery store.
Did your doctor not suggest any of these things?
This is what one gentleman said took care of his.
"I dissolved my heel spurs by using 10-20 OsteoMatrix (Calcium/Magnesium) a day plus 30-40 Alfalfa Complex. It took only a couple days before the spur was gone and the pain disappeared. Using Vita-Lea and OsteoMatric on a regular basis keeps them from reappearing.
Hope this is helpful and for the website or questions, feel free to contact me.
You can use all the information everyone else has offered it all might help. My advice it to find a Certified Pedorthist in your area or a shoe store that knows what they are talking about...(they should measure both of you feet show you a great shoe with a shank and the right orthotic). You must be fitted, you cannot fit yourself as you normally would. Be fitted heel to ball not heel to toe, have plenty of good toe room but have a nice secure hind foot fit, and also fit the longitudinal and metatarsal arches. Best shoes for this are certain New Balance (they CANNOT bend in the center, won't give you proper support and control, try 1010, 926, 816) with a Birkenstock Bluefoot bed arch support, or a Finn Comfort, Birkenstock, or MBT. REMEMBER---They must be properly fitted to get proper relief! Hope that helps!
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