Du Mingkui, Chief Physician of Orthopedics, Beijing Electric Power Hospital □ Liu Yang, Deputy Chief Physician
With the improvement of living standards, more and more middle-aged and elderly people begin to join the exercise teams such as walking and square dancing. However, many elderly people suffer from heel pain and their quality of life is affected.
There are many reasons for heel pain, such as inflammation or atrophy of heel fat pad, plantar aponeurosis, calcaneal bursitis, calcaneal spur, calcaneal hypertension and so on. Patients will feel pain whether they walk or stand, and in severe cases, the pain will even spread to the back of their calves.
According to different patients, different treatment schemes will be given clinically.
Physical exercise. It mainly includes plantar aponeurosis traction exercises, such as grabbing towels with toes and lifting heels. Among them, lift heel training is to lift the heel and enlarge part of the body on the toes of both feet. Because plantar aponeurosis contracture is a common cause of plantar aponeurosis, plantar aponeurosis traction is helpful for inflammation to subside.
Choose the right shoes and insoles. People who often wear leather shoes or cloth shoes are prone to high heel pressure and pain. It is recommended to buy soft-soled sports shoes, especially air-cushion shoes, which can cushion the heel.
Take anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs. Mainly non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but these drugs have strong gastrointestinal reactions and should be used with caution for those with a history of digestive system diseases.
Partially closed. When most conservative therapies fail, many clinicians turn to this therapy.
Surgery. When the patient's non-surgical treatment is ineffective for more than 6 months, surgical treatment can be used. At present, the main surgical methods are soft tissue release, plantar nerve release, calcaneal osteotomy, calcaneal spur resection and percutaneous calcaneal drilling decompression. ▲