Heel pain therapy

In most cases, conservative therapy is sufficient to effectively treat heel pain in the heel. This form of therapy does not serve to eliminate the heel spurs, but to treat the inflammatory and pain-inducing changes in the heel. The conservative therapy of an inflamed plantar aponeurosis consists among other things of a stretching therapy of the shortened calf muscles.

This is intended to relieve the plantar aponeurosis during gait and standing. This helps the inflammation to heal better and prevents it from re-inflammating. The stretching exercises must be carried out over several months to achieve success.

The stretching exercises should take place once or twice a day for 5-10 minutes. Even after the period of active stretching, the calf muscles should continue to be stretched regularly in order to prevent a renewed shortening and thus the development of a new inflammation or heel spur. In addition, there are numerous orthopedic aids that can relieve heel pain or prevent its development.

On the one hand, shoe insoles can support the longitudinal arch of the foot and thus the plantar aponeurosis. On the other hand, the insoles are used to correct foot malpositions which, over time, can cause heel pain. Heel pads or heel cushions with a recess in the heel bone area protect the heel from friction against the shoe and relieve the pain.

This is especially helpful in the case of a heel spur, which causes pain due to the pressure load in the shoe. Physiotherapeutic methods such as cold therapy can also relieve the pain in the heel. Cooling should only be applied for 5-10 minutes several times a day and serves to inhibit inflammation and decongest swelling.

Heat treatments, shock wave therapy or X-ray stimulation can also be used. All of the above mentioned measures are usually not successful individually, but in combination. For this reason, one treatment is not sufficient to relieve the pain.

Often a regular therapy over months with different proportions is necessary to eliminate the pain. If necessary, drug therapies may be necessary in addition to conservative measures. In this case, pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory drugs are used for healing.

However, these drugs should not be taken permanently. Furthermore, they only serve the acute treatment, but do not protect against the renewed development of heel pain. If even this therapy is not sufficient, surgery is recommended in very rare cases.

In this case, the excess bone is removed from a heel spur in order to relieve the pain. However, the operation is accompanied by risks and often requires some time of follow-up treatment. This is another reason why a relapse cannot be prevented if no additional physiotherapeutic or orthopedic measures are applied.