Heal Spur and Calve Raises

[A1food4U]

Looking for someone with similar experience or I think their are a couple PT's on the board who might be able to advise.

I have been working with spurs for awhile. Recently, one has rubbed throught the ligament sheath at the mid-line of the heel. I'm icing and using Ibuprofin to manage the dull ache while scar tissue forms. The MD feels it's not worth taking off at this point, and believes I'll be fine with rest. he thinks tendonitis may be a problem later on but for now doesn't see it as a major deal.

Now the question; assuming the scared ligaments are set in place by the spur, will returning to calf raises put it at risk for a re-tear? The MD didn't seem to want to give an answer, he gave me the usual blanket non-answer answer.

Any Ideas anyone????

[bouncer]

It is a risk, depending on how bad the spur is. I dealt with heel spurs for 20 plus years, and had the most painful one removed last year. I had stopped doing calf raises nearly altogether. Just an occasional set because the movement aggravated the condition pretty severely.

If you aren't allergic to naproxin (Alieve) it's worked pretty well for me. The main thing is to keep the inflammation down as much as you can. I still have one spur, but it's asymptomatic at this point. Also, get a couple of tennis balls, and when you are relaxing-place the tennis balls on the floor and roll your arches over the them. That will help to keep the tendons stretched out.

I would also suggest that you do a kind of reverse calve raise. Stand with your heels on a block and lower the front of your feet-then flex upward. It works the tibialus anterior muscle along the shin and helps keep a better balance of strength in the lower leg.

As far as resuming training, go light to start with. If bodyweight is too much-use a machine. A1, I'm sure you have this figured out-but for newb's reading this thread-I'll include that anything high-impact is only going to aggravate things even more.

[Italianangel]

is surgery an option? Sounds like something that needs manual correction.