Bone thorn

The bone spur in the heel of the foot makes the patient suffer from severe pain that increases in severity over time. He may think that this pain is caused by the presence of a “thorn” or a foreign body in the heel, but in fact it is a disease that needs treatment to avoid complications as much as possible.


The bone thorn is the main cause of inflammation in the lining of the foot that extends from the heel of the foot to the toes, according to Dr. Mohamed Abdel Moneim, a teacher and consultant orthopedic surgeon at the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, who explained that the inflammation occurs in the area where the membrane meets the bone of the foot as a result of calcium deposition in it, What leads to the bone thorn.
And about the cause of the infection in the first place, the orthopedic consultant explains that it is sometimes due to standing for long periods due to the nature of work as a housewife who needs to stand for long hours to perform housework, for example.
And the possibility of injury to the bone thorn increases in people who suffer from overweight, especially. Abdel-Moneim says that the infection can be caused by walking for a long time without wearing shoes, or by wearing uncomfortable shoes such as high heels, or if the heel of the shoe is hard and not soft.


According to Dr. Mohamed Abdel Moneim, the inflammation increases to a large degree if the patient suffers from gout at the same time.. But even in the case of a bone spur only, the patient suffers from pain in the sole of the heel, where he feels like a nail in the heel of the foot, and the severity of the pain increases When you wake up, the pain subsides in the middle of the day, and then it gets worse again at night.
Abdel Moneim explains the reason for this, that inflammatory substances accumulate in the heel of the foot during sleep, thus exacerbating the pain upon awakening, but movement helps to withdraw these inflammatory substances with the blood circulation, which reduces the severity of the pain, but it accumulates again at night, which intensifies the pain again. Noting that the bone thorn does not appear only by rays.


The bone thorn can cause complications if the inflammation increases to the point that it leads to cutting the lining of the foot, which causes the flat foot, in addition to the fact that the patient suffers from constant pain in this case, according to a teacher of orthopedic surgery, stressing that these complications It is considered rare.


The bone thorn has more than one treatment method, but Dr. Mohamed Abdel Moneim confirms that the treatment is done gradually. If the patient responds from the first stage, there is no need for the following stages, explaining that the stages of treatment are:

• The first stage: It consists of:
  - Taking anti-inflammatory drugs, whether orally or topical
  - Doing stretching exercises for the lining of the foot and the Achilles tendon
  - Wearing medical or soft shoes
• The second stage: It is a physical therapy that relies on exercises and sessions of ultrasound or laser waves
• The third stage: It is represented by the local injection of cortisone, but its defect is that its results are not guaranteed, that is, the pain can improve and in other cases it does not improve, but may increase in severity after the injection, but it can cause a cut in the lining of the foot. Whoever injected it more than once, especially since some doctors resort to injecting it 5 or more times, indicating that this increases the possibility of a cut in the membrane each time.
• The last solution: is surgery, whether open or through an endoscope, to clean the place of inflammation, and the surgeon may resort to making a partial cut in the lining of the foot in order to reduce pain and protect the patient from the possibility of a complete cut in it, indicating that the rate of improvement after surgical intervention is about 75% However, it is considered a small percentage, because any surgery is supposed to have a success rate of 90 to 95%.

A teacher of orthopedic surgery confirms that the patient’s condition determines whether there is a need to take escalating remedial steps or not. For example, if he suffers from severe pain to the extent that it hinders his daily activity, in this case, surgical intervention can be resorted to, especially after the failure of other treatment methods, presenting a number Some of the tips for those who suffer from a bone spur are:

• Commit to foot stretching exercises.
• Wearing soft, well-fitting shoes that help comfort the feet and prevent further pain.
• Avoid standing for long periods as much as possible.
• Try to lose excess weight. Take anti-inflammatories only when necessary.
• Do not walk without shoes.