Heel Spurs-long reply

[Guest guest]

The pain of a heel spur is one of those things you can't fathom until

it happens to you and that's why this post is so long! I've worked

with 2 different podiatrists and and orthopedic surgeon for the

problem. The 1st had the conventional view that the inflammation of

the tendon caused a bone spur to form because of tightness in the calf

and achilles tendon. He dispensed cortisone shorts into the offending

heel area (YOWWEEEEE!!!!). I would recommend avoiding this path until

you experiment first. The orthopedic surgeon sold me an achilles

tendon stretcher I was supposed to wear while sleeping (for sale- cheap).

 

I would dispute this theory of heel spurs, certainly amongst yoga

practitioners, since we typically stretch out our calves, feet, and

achilles tendons quite a lot with sun salutations and down dog (aka

stretch pose). What I did figure out is that I had a pair of hard

sandals that was irritating my heel. The days of walking barefoot on

hard surfaces or with thin and/or unpadded sandals were OVER! My 2nd

podiatrist, who I was consulting for another problem, thought heel

spurs could be caused by the relaxation of the muscles and tendons in

your feet with age, causing the bones to spread, pulling the plantar

fasciitis tendon and leading to calcification (many people have heel

pain before there's even any calcification). This would make more

sense, at least in my case because I used to have very high arches.

Now my arches look remarkably normal and my feet have gone from a 7 in

my twenties to an 8 1/2WW in my middle years .

 

The good news is that heel pain is a thing of the past if you take

care of your feet by wearing comfortable, supportive footwear. Those

gel inserts work great inside sneaks and runners. SAS is a great brand

for comfortable dress shoes and can be ordered in many sizes/widths.

Sandals with good padding are wonderful- Tevas, Merrills, and even the

simple thong style with the black rubbery base. Declare your freedom

from hard, unsupportive footwear! Especially to be avoided is walking

barefoot on ceramic tile floors. The only time I have trouble any more

is when I'm too lazy to put on slippers at home and walk too much

barefoot on the tile. I tried custom orthotics, but found the ones

sold in good shoe stores are nicer; I don't even know that they are

necessary if you stick to thick, padded soles, and I walk 3 miles a day.

[Guest guest]

I have had heel spurs even with comfortable shoes and stretching. After seeing a regular, Western medicine doctor - who said he was surprised I could still walk! - an acupuncturist told me that it happened because of various imbalances in diet. The two main things I was to avoid was mixing proteins. In other words, do not eat beans and meat or cheese and beans (cheese was considered a protein, not a dairy) and to avoid iced drinks at all costs. I was also given some stretches to do by a podiatrist, who originally suggested surgery but knew I was more in sync with non-invasive measures. So, I tried what my acupuncturist said. Six weeks of not drinking iced drinks (I used to be an "ice freak!") and not combining proteins - and my pain was virtually gone. When I went back to my original Western medicine doctor (insurance pays for that), he had me re-xrayed and the heel spurs were practically gone. He then told me it must have been a flaw in the original xrays!!! Of course, I know that wasn't the case. I am much more conscious now of combining foods and drinking iced drinks - and I have not had a recurrence of pain in probably 10 years.

Guru Jiwan Kaur

Corrales, New Mexico

 

"Time and space and the breath of life are the living triangle of life. Every process is a moment. Every moment is a process." ~Yogi Bhajan