Visible Protrusion On or Under Heel
Take a close look at the heel of your hurting foot. Do you see a protrusion or a lump under the skin? This bump is the calcium deposit that is causing the heel spur. You can see it because it grows outward, away from the foot and towards the surface of the skin. Sometimes, the deposits are very small and cannot be seen by the naked eye or even felt. However, an X-ray is usually capable of picking up even the tiniest of heel spurs. That said, most doctors will order a CT scan, since CT scans are more precise and will detect spurs that other methods would have missed.
About the time the protrusion is visible, you may be in significant pain. Debilitating heel spurs often need to be taken care of with surgery. During the surgery, also known as an endoscopic plantar fasciotomy, the surgeon will open a small insertion point in the foot and look around with a camera to locate the spur before removing the growth. Once the calcium deposit is removed, new fascia will grow.
After surgery, you will be off your feet for about a week, and it will typically take anywhere between 3-4 weeks before you are completely pain-free.
