DP has crippling heel spurs and the Podiatrist Waiting List is OVER 13 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

We cannot afford private treatment at all.

As each week passes he is in more and more pain.

It truly is crippling him. He can barely walk in the mornings - he is only 35. Its so easily fixable apparently if he gets special insoles from a podiatrist.

The best we can do atm is buy him scholl ones which cost about £15 or £20 a go and dont really do the job.

Anyone had this, got any ideas? I cant believe all he's had from the hospital is a letter saying "got your referral, the waiting list is 13 months long, we'll contact you nearer the time" and when he went back to the gp who referred him to another dept they just referred him back to podiatry.

Its utter PANTS.

what is a heel spur

where damage to ligaments in the arch of the foot cause calcification on the heel bone and dont allow the ligaments to heel. I THINK.....

anyone???

I have heel spurs Vicki! They are horrible. I am currently taking a medication called Mobix as I want to put off a scraping and cutting of the tendon or whatever they do to remove them. The calcium actually leeches from your blood and forms a spur on your heelbone. They look so cute in the xray, but they absolutely KILL me to walk. I feel for him. They are always worse in the mornings. I have orthotic inserts to put in my trainersbut believe me it doesn't stop the pain entirely at all. It has changed my lifeI can't be on my feet for more than an hour at a time. I find that icing and/or using a heating pad on them helps alot after I have done a big shop or something. Good luck to him.

that's crappy. whereabouts do you live?

ring first your GP's secretary and then the podiatry department and see if anyone will give you a real estimate as to when it might be?

write to your MP?
at least get a quote for the private version, so that if some fairy gives you £200 you know it will cover it (or whatever)?
move to an area with a smaller waiting list? (round here it's awful but improving slightly in last few months)

oh sunchowder - someone who understands!

He wants to get fit but cant excercise. Wants to play with the kids at the park and cant. Its such a stupid little condition but its truly crippling him.

Acnebride we are commited to living where we are now for a number of reasons. GP has tried to get us in elsewhere but cant.

I think privately made insoles cost in the several hundred pound region. Didnt know you could have surgery actually but would imagine that would run into hundreds more, probably thousands.

No fairies coming to visit here anytime soon. We have just run out of luck financially.

Ah VickiI do understand. The only exercise he can do properly will be sitting down, whether it is biking or one of those horrible machines in the weight roomor swimming of course. Believe me, the inserts for the shoes will not solve the problem, but I have heard good things about the surgery. They also do Cortisone shots to the heel, but I would not recommend as they can cause numbness which will also drive you nuts and the results only last a few months. (numbness being permanent). If you can get back to the regular doctor, maybe they can prescribe something like the Mobix which is for arthritis but works so well on my spur pain. I take it every other day or third day as I hate taking medication. Give it a go, I feel for him and know how horrible it is.

Ah, you forget, we live in the UK Sunchowder, north london to be precise, we probably wouldnt get him prescribed any expensive medication let alone injections. GP told us surgery had no guarantees at all.

I wish i could fix it for him he used to be so active, and he is so overweight and feels he cant do anything about it.

Vicki, I am really overweight also which doesn't help the spurs at all. Have him try the heat and/or ice to see if that would give him relief. My doctor also told me that I have to stretch them several times during the day. Stand about 10 inches from the wallplace hands on wall, place one knee against wall, extend the other leg back and place that foot flat to extend and stretch your heel. It hurts like hell to do it, but the stretching is important to keep the tendons limber. I do this several times a day and I hate to exercise. He has to try to push through the pain, even if it means he does an activity with the kids for 20 minutes and then rests the heels on ice. Even pushing the cart around Tescowhatever. Good luck with it, I know it's horrible.

Thanks Sunny

Hi vicki,

I have a heel spur on one foot,
I've had various treatments but nothing has healed it completely.I avoid walking barefoot now .I've tried ultrasound/ice/heel pads/acupuncture/strapping.Does your dh put shoes on when he wakes up.Barefoot is agony!

I was told to avoid too much flexing of the foot..

Sorry not much help ,much sympathy though.

BTW mine lessened in pain after a few months and I can exercise again now as long as I don't run.

He wears his shoes ALL the time gg. His feet stink and he keeps getting athletes foot because of it.

Anyone else able to help?