Heel spurs are calcium deposits directly on the heel bone that may or may not cause pain. Someone could have heel spurs for a long time and not even know it. This causes a calcium buildup.

 

 

Doctors believe that heel spurs originally start from excessive demands put on the muscles of the feet and ligaments. This ends up stretching the plantar fascia, which is made of a connective tissue sheet. When the sheet is torn, the body tries to repair it and deposits calcium in the area. Some heel spurs may be one-half inch long.

 

Thus, if you want to prevent heel spurs, avoid wearing worn-out shoes that have lost their arch support. Stay away from hard surfaces such as concrete when you want to run or jog. And keep your weight within the range for ideal body weight so you won’t put those excessive demands on the muscles of the feet and ligaments.

 

Let’s take a more holistic view of heel spurs for a minute. Are there other instances where calcium deposits in the body? Yes, absolutely. You might have calcium deposits such as heel spurs that occur in the shoulder joint or in the joints of the back. Calcium also may deposit in the brain and cause early signs of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. It’s understandable if the calcium deposits in the shoulder joint occur because of overuse, but there’s really no such thing as overuse of the brain!

 

And the latest theory about kidney stones is that they are from a lack of calcium, not an excessive intake of calcium. Once the body doesn’t get enough calcium, it starts forming calcium deposits in different places – and one of them could be the kidneys if other circumstances are ripe for this to happen. What seems logical in the body doesn’t seem logical at all at times.

 

Well interestingly enough, Mark Underwood, researcher and CEO of Quincy Labs in Wisconsin, discovered that calcium deposits in the brain were regulated by a protein called apoaequorin, a protein normally found in jellyfish. When levels of this protein decrease as we get older, the buildup of calcium are linked with dementia and cognitive decline. Just like with the brain, it’s possible that there’s a regulatory protein in the body for calcium deposits that is related to heel spurs – but we don’t know it yet.

 

The good news is that heel spur pain is treatable by realigning the foot with the right orthotics and arch supports. There are many brands on the market – Spenco, Polysorb, Natural Balance, Orthaheel, Birkenstock, Superfeet, and others that you could purchase online at www.TheInsoleStore.com and feel a difference immediately. These orthotics tend to have a deep heel cup that realigns the foot as well as a good arch support. When the heel is aligned and the arch is pumped up to where it should be, there’s no reason for excessive strain on the muscles and ligaments of the foot. You take away the primary reason for the heel spurs to appear.