Osteophyte is an unpleasant and contented painful manifestation of bone growth in the form of a spike caused by the pulling effect of a tendon or ligament. For a disease such as calcaneal spur, drug treatment is quite possible if it is not started. We will talk about the causes and means of assistance in today's article.
Why does the disease occur?
When diagnosed with a heel spur, medication means that the disease has already been detected, for example, by means of an ultrasound scan or X-ray. The signs of a heel spur are obvious, and despite the fact that the disease develops gradually, consultations with a doctor arise almost at the stage when the growths cause tangible discomfort when walking. According to the statistics of treatment with fasciitis (inflammation of muscle tissue due to osteophyte), women are more likely to suffer because high-heeled shoes, when the foot changes sharply from the position of loading one ligament to the resting position and vice versa, are typical for the female sex. The load on the legs when walking, an active lifestyle is not at all an indicator that the osteophyte is excluded. The main condition for its prevention is proper nutrition, uniform alternation of loads on the leg with rest and timely diagnosis by a specialist.
Asymptomatic course of the disease
Microscopic tears, cracks that form during systematic loads on the foot due to uncomfortable shoes, the unusual height of the heel (or lack thereof after the foot was constantly on the heel) are treatable. How to treat heel spur medication? Provide peace of the foot, lubricate with any soothing and relieving inflammation, anesthetize and try, when relieved, give time to the foot and not load it. Absolutely other measures should be taken if heel pain began to be tormented due to other causes - infections, injuries, obesity, etc. In this case, the root cause of the problem should be identified and it should be excluded first, otherwise the use of agents that directly affect the tissues ( bone, muscle, tendons) will help only for a short time. Their action is based on analgesia and relieving inflammation. It will be even worse to insist on conservative methods without confirming the genesis of the disease. Therefore, before treating the heel spur with medications, you should make sure that your initiative does not harm: take tests, do an X-ray or an ultrasound of the foot.
Signs of a heel spur in which you need to see a doctor
It is not difficult to determine the disease if it is already progressing. The first signs:
- Discomfort in the heel with a load on the foot, piercing pain - this is plantar fasciitis.
- Bone growths on the back of the heel, developing and protruding from under the skin, visually easily diagnosed, cause no less problems - this is a heel spur.
Medicinal treatment of heel spurs at home is possible, but self-medication should not be done without diagnosis, if only because the different stages of the disease have different purposes, and the fact that one of them is an effective remedy can aggravate the course of the disease in the other.
What are the causes of the development of the disease
One of the main causes of spurs is an impaired metabolism, which, as a rule, is also associated with an overweight patient. The incorrect course of carbohydrate metabolism in the body leads to the formation of salts of calcium deposits and inflammation of the tissues of the calcaneal tuber. Experiencing maximum load during walking, running, jumping, the internal tissues of the foot sometimes receive microtraumas, which, as a result of constant loading, do not heal, but are aggravated by new loads. Therefore, often the disease is accompanied by athletes, athletes. Usually, treatment of heel spurs with medication is possible even before the diagnosis, according to the primary signs: sharp pain inside the foot, inability to step on the heel due to the sensation of a “driven nail”. In such cases, you should not do foot baths, you can not warm them with compresses: this will help in the later stages of the disease, but in the initial stages it can cause swelling and increased pain. That's why if a diagnosis of heel spur is suspected, a specialist should prescribe medication, and self-medication is not recommended.
First of all - we treat the source
Other causes of the disease include flat feet, orthopedic diseases and curvature of the spine (due to uneven distribution of weight on both feet), chronic latent infections (chlamydia, causing Reuters syndrome), rheumatic diseases (arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, gout). To confirm the diagnosis of “calcaneal spur” (treatment with medicines can be prescribed only after establishment), some tests need to be passed. They allow you to determine that the disease is really osteopathic in nature, and not another (articular, vertebral) with similar symptoms. With some of them, the load on the feet may not even be so significant, so the treatment of heel spurs with medicines will no longer give a stable effect. In this case, you need to deal with a thorough cure of the source of the problems.
Calcaneal Spur: Medication
Reviews about the medical treatment of patients are often positive, because carefully executed prescriptions by an orthopedist or surgeon at the initial stage of the disease can relieve the painful syndrome and get rid of the symptoms. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used in the form of capsules, tablets of creams and ointments, for applications and compresses, hormonal preparations in the form of a gel, cream or injections. Combining with massages that also need to be performed correctly, treatment with such means can remove all pain during a two-week course of application. Ointments and creams of steroid or non-steroid type effectively help. It has been shown and has effectively proven itself for the “calcaneal spur” disease with treatment with medicines: saberfish, bee venom, based on which creams are created to relieve symptoms. Ointments should not be applied periodically for the most intense pains, but three to four times a day, after warming up the sore heel. Their action is manifested as softening of the skin, relieving inflammation, anesthesia, improving blood supply in the painful area.
Saber
The marsh cinquefoil has long been widely used both internally and externally, and promotes the healing and removal of inflammations of a different nature. It is taken as alcohol tinctures, decoctions and herbal infusions, used locally externally. Its leaves contain many valuable substances that have a pronounced anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect, improve metabolism when taken orally, help strengthen the body's defenses, immunity. In addition, the saber does not have contraindications. Unless pregnant and lactating mothers should not resort to saber.
For the treatment of heel spurs, saber is recognized as one of the best natural remedies. Based on this natural preparation, alcohol tincture is made. The course of treatment is three weeks for oral administration. On the basis of tincture from saberfish, night compresses are also made on the sore heel using foil or patch. From badger, goose fat or glycerin, tablets of mumiyo and a dessert spoon of such a tincture, an ointment is made that is applied to preheated skin and remains in the form of a compress for the whole night.
Methods of conservative medicine for the treatment of heel spurs
They can alleviate the symptoms of the disease and tools such as:
- Shock wave therapy (HTW), aimed at improving blood circulation. It quickly makes the bone part more loose using impulses.
- X-ray therapy, which has no contraindications, which anesthetizes the spur localization site.
- Ultrasound, warming up a painful place, and accelerating metabolic processes, which contributes to the regeneration of damaged tissues.
- A great way to get rid of a disease such as calcaneal spur is with medication: ointments, creams, which suggest a whole course of treatment, long and effective. Various ointments and creams are suitable, containing components such as butadione, diclofenac, ibuprofen to relieve inflammation.
- One of the extreme methods that they try to resort to as little as possible is surgical intervention, it is necessary only if all other methods have not helped.
Types of heel spur treatment
Other methods of conservative treatment include the use of orthopedic insoles, silicone heel pads with a recess or hole in the localization of the growth. This method can be combined with a more traditional one, the effect of a cream or ointment in combination with gentle heel care will make healing faster and more effective.
In addition, such types of help are used as plasters, warm foot baths, wraps, paraffin warming (paraffin therapy), foil metal therapy, mud therapy, laser therapy and drug blockages. Blockades are a remedy that in no case can be used independently. Injection into the heel of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs can only be entrusted to a specialist, otherwise there can only be deterioration.