What's a Heel Spur? (March 2024)

If this were a TV show, I'd have a cool little Previously on The Lazy Lady montage, but alas, this is only the printed word... 

In January, I was unable to complete the Celebration Half-Marathon, quitting at Mile 6 due to some gnarly Plantar Fasciitis and leg pain. I had a little mental breakdown, but I feel much better now (mentally anyway). 

In February, I was able to complete both races during Gasparilla. I think that the heavy-handed massages, tons of cardio, and lots of stretching my calves had something to do with it. 

In March, I pushed my luck, and did Gate River Run. I completed it, but at what cost? My foot hurt the entire time (not like bad bad, but enough), and I think the final downhill portion really screwed something up. By the time I got to a local convenience store to change my clothes, I literally couldn't put any weight on my left foot. All the way home, and the rest of the weekend, I babied my foot, but I knew that something was fucky, and I needed to see a doctor. Thoughts of sprains, strains, tears, and even fractures crossed my mind. When I made an appointment with my doctor, I told them I suggested a stress fracture. 

At the appointment, Doc poked and prodded my foot, pointing out how swollen both of my feet and legs were. She took an x-ray of my left foot and told me that she didn't see any breaks or fractures, but there was a possible heel spur on my left heel. Okay, what the hell is a heel spur?

Well, it's a calcium deposit causing a bony protrusion on the underside of the heel bone, and they are frequently associated with plantar fasciitis. Treatment includes exercise, orthotics, pain meds, and cortisone shots (if necessary). Heel spurs are caused by strains of foot muscles, stretching of the planta fascia, and repeated tearing of the membrane that covers the heel bone. They are especially common among athletes who run or jump. Other risk factors include abnormal gait (walking 'funny'), poorly fitting shoes, increasing age, flat feet, (and everyone's favorite...) obesity. Heel spurs themselves don't hurt, but rather the soft tissue injury and inflammation associated with it.  Doc said that because my spur was super-tiny, there was no need to do much for it (though she did give me a bottle of high-strength Aleve, which worked well), but she did suggest referring me to a Podiatrist, both for the foot pain as well as the swelling. 

Over the next few weeks (the appointment was almost two months later), my swelling lessened, and the pain abated somewhat, and by the time I saw the Podiatrist, I was second-guessing myself as to whether or not I even needed to see this guy. I mean, by this point, I'd dealt with it for weeks, ran though an airport, and even hiked a mountain valley! But I figured I'd go through with it, because at the very least, he could give me some tips on how to keep it from happening again, right? Right?

Nope. Not this guy. When I got to his office, he was running almost an hour late. When he finally came into my exam room, he rolled in on his little stool and immediately asked me why I was here. No bedside manner at all, almost interrogatory demeanor. Very off-putting. I tried to give him the history (January to now) of why I was here, but he kept looking at me like, shut up and give me a quicker answer. He asked what I was currently doing to ease the pain, and I told him that I'd been doing all the stretches, rolling the ball, etc. He made a dismissive noise at this and spent about 15 seconds looking at my feet. Looking. I honestly don't remember him even touching my feet! If he did, it was so inconsequential that I missed it. 

He leaned back on his little rolley stool and asked me what I wanted... He said well, so what do you want me to do? All I can offer you are pills and shots, but you're obviously not into traditional western medicine since you're doing all the holistic hippie stuff. Yes, he called years and years of traditional flexibility methods holistic hippie stuff. I agreed with him that I didn't need any of that, but asked him what else I could do to fix this issue. He never suggested more of that holistic hippie stuff; instead he offered me a pair of insoles and a prescription for Meloxicam - a med primarily used to treat arthritis. It's a drug that needs to be taken every day so that a level amount of the drug stays in your system. Rather than a one-and-done like Advil or Aleve. And with that, he deemed the appointment over and walked me to the cashier. 

I have never been treated so shittily (yes it's a word now) by a doctor in my life! He didn't listen to what I had to say, he didn't care about prior history that contributed to my ongoing foot pain, and all he wanted to do was pump me full of pills and shots... When I got home and told Hubby about the whole... adventure... he was so frustrated and angry for me; he said he was glad that he didn't go with me because he would have given that guy a piece of his mind. During my story, I said the phrase Pills and Shots so much that this guy will forever be known as Dr. Pillzenshotz when I speak of him. I imagine a little cartoon man, similar to Dr. Doofenshmirtz, running around with pockets full of drugs and syringes.

So where does that leave me now? Well, in the same place I've been for a while. I have feet that hurt me, and I need to baby them and treat them well and stretch them out. I know that my lower leg muscles contribute to this pain, so I need to treat them and stretch them too. (I gotta say, I'm not looking forward to the next few massages, because I know she's gonna make me miserable, in a beneficial way).