12th March 2007

278 pounds and heel spurs

posted in FatBlogging, General, Heel Spurs, Walking Off The Weight |

I didn’t walk today. Someone mentioned heel spurs in a comment recently, and I know all about them, believe me. And with my walking regimen, they’re really acting up. Actually, only my left foot really bothers me. I have a small spur in my right foot, but it’s nothing compared to my left one. I had to have my foot X-rayed a couple years ago after an injury, and the doctor asked me if I had any trouble with my heel. I told him it hurt from time to time, but it wasn’t too bad. He said he was surprised I can walk, as I have one of the biggest heel spurs he’s ever seen.

Well, it’s really bothering me now. Not so much when I walk, although walking isn’t pain free, as when I’ve been off my feet for a while. When I get out of bed in the morning, I hobble. I can’t put any pressure at all on my left heel for like half an hour. If you’ve never had a heel spur, it feels like when you have a rock in your shoe, except that it feels like it’s inside your foot. I don’t know if my weight caused my spurs, but they’ve certainly made them worse. When the pain gets too bad, I take it easy for a few days. Eventually, once I’m used to walking, I think it will become more manageable. I first realized I had them several years ago when I took a job which pretty much required non stop walking for 8 hours. I eventually got used to them, and I’m hoping that as I continue walking the same thing will happen again. They can be cut out, but most doctors won’t do the surgery unless you’ve tried cortisone shots for a year or so. I’m not sure what the reasoning is behind that. I’ve seen shoe inserts advertised that claim they can reverse heel spurs. I find that difficult to believe. I can believe that they could relieve some of the pain, but I don’t understand how a shoe insert can reverse cartilage growth in your foot. And here are some pills that claim to be able to cure bone spurs. I’d like to believe it, but I’m very skeptical.





This entry was posted on Monday, March 12th, 2007 at 10:23 pm and is filed under FatBlogging, General, Heel Spurs, Walking Off The Weight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There are currently 7 responses to “278 pounds and heel spurs”

Why not let us know what you think by adding your own comment! Your opinion is as valid as anyone elses, so come on... let us know what you think.

  1. 1 On March 12th, 2007, Lesalu said:

    Greg,
    I know heel spurs are painful. Here is a good web site that might be help to you.

    http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=144

    or this one

    http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010201/467.html

    I used to work a 12 hour shift walking all night on concrete floors and I had a problem with them.
    Try to get some good inserts or gel insoles for your shoes, that will help some.

    Hope this helps! Congratulations on your weight loss.

  2. 2 On March 13th, 2007, Greg Todd said:

    Thanks! And thanks for the info. Very helpful.

  3. 3 On March 13th, 2007, cron said:

    My apologies if this comes off as didactic, it is just the way I write.

    The medical name for bone spurs is “Plantar Fascitus”, which means roughly inflammation of the fascia ( tissue ) that runs across the bottom of your foot ( plantar ) and ends at your heel.

    The inflammation part of that is why therapy sometimes uses cortisone before surgery, as cortisone is a powerful ( dangerously powerful ) anti-inflammatory.

    In most cases the bone spur itself is not a problem. It is the inflammation in your plantar fascia.

    This starts when your calf muscles are too tight and is made worse by having a lot of extra weight on your feet.

    When your calf muscles are too tight they pull on your plantar fascia, injuring it and inflamming it. Basically what you got isn’t a bone spur problem, but something like tendonitis in your foot.

    The calf muscles being tight forces your plantars to be tight and rub against your heel excessively, irritating the bone and causing the bone spur to grow.

  4. 4 On March 13th, 2007, cron said:

    So you get “bone spurs” ( plantar fascitus - inflammation of tissue in your foot ) by having tight calf muscles and being significantly overweight.

    Stretching, weight reduction, and managing your inflammation ( ice, ginger, ibuprofen in moderation, etc ) help a lot.

    Unfortunately it takes years to get over.

    One thing I learned which helps a lot is too stretch my calfs before I get out of bed.

    This decreases early morning tightness and decreases the early morning trauma to the heel.

    Just lay in bed on your back, lock your leg straight, pull your foot and your toes back to you and hold it for a slow count of 30.

    This really helps.

    You have to give it a few weeks, but you will notice your heel will not hurt as bad in the morning.

  5. 5 On March 13th, 2007, cron said:

    Don’t let the bone spurs make you upset.

    The bulk of weight loss comes from dietary moderation.

    The calorie loss from exercise can easily be undone with one beverage or a single snack.

    Controlling your intake is what makes the lion’s share of the difference.

    I’ve been exercising for a LONG time and did not seensignificant weight loss results until I got my intake under control.

    Governor Huckabee of Alabama, who started off larger than you, didn’t exercise for months once he started his weight reduction plan ( a doctor prescribed low calorie diet ).

    You can still lose 2 Lbs a week ( 104 lbs a year ) and be reasonably comfortable even if you have to taper back on your exercise periodically.

    If you haven’t, read the free online book “The Hacker’s Diet” by John Walker. He tells you how to eat less….comfortably…and lose weight steadily. He was a programmer who was obese all his life until he came up with an engineering approach, based on solid science, not fad diets, to lose weight.

    The book is free and online. He isn’t selling anything so you can feel that he is telling you the truth and not trying to exploit you like a diet book author.

    A good summary:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker%27s_diet

    The book:
    http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html

  6. 6 On March 13th, 2007, cron said:

    Good shoe inserts or good shoes can help bone spurs because they give your feet good support, taking pressure of your plantar fascia and allowing it to heal.

    I know your money is tight.

    If you can, go to a podiatrist and have him make you up a set of shoe inserts.

    Then go to a sports medicine doctor and have him send you to a physical therapist who can show you exercises for speeding up healing
    ( it can take years )

  7. 7 On March 14th, 2007, I’m off my feet for a while » No More Mr. Fat Guy! said:

    […] A couple people left some greatly informative comments on my Heel Spurs post. I’ve been reading up on it, and I’m learning some exercises and stretches that may help. But for now it sounds like the best thing to do is stay off my feet, and not take my two hour walks for a while. […]

Leave a Reply



Search