A heel spur is often used to describe the bony extension on the undersurface of the heel bone (inferior calcaneum). Sometimes it is used to describe the bony growth at the back of the heel (posterior calcaneum). The latter is due to insertional Achilles tendinopathy.

Patients often come to The London Foot and Ankle Clinic having been told that they have a heel spur which is the cause of their heel pain.

This was in the past thought to be the cause of plantar fasciitis but has now been disproven. A large proportion of the population has a “heel spur” and it is now seen as an incidental finding and nothing else.

No treatment is required for an inferior calcaneal heel spur.

Please visit insertional achilles tendinopathy for information regarding treatment of posterior calcaneal heel spurs.

A – Normal x-ray of the foot and ankle B – x-ray of a patient with a posterior and inferior calcaneal heel spur