| CAUTION: Consult with your physician prior to beginning this exercise. Being a nurse who worked 12 hour shifts and had excruciating pain in the heels of both feet tears would run down my face when my feet hit the floor after a period of being off of them. When it got so bad I could no longer tolerate it I sought help from a specialist. Although he was a surgeon he showed me exercises to do with the expectation that with regular exercise the pain would be gone in three months. In the meantime I was told to go purchase a certain type of shoe insole to help with the pain until such time that the bone spurs were resolved. I purchased the insoles which were thick and made from a substance much like the artificial fishing worms, and which cost $100.00 for one pair. I purchased a larger shoe to accommodate the insoles and wore them for the full three months. Much to my surprise, at the end of three months the pain was indeed gone. WARNING…it will take the full three months though with no relief from the pain until suddenly it disappears. The bone spurs are caused from tightening tendons (generally the Achilles tendon) which pull away from the bone to which it is attached and at the same time pulls bits of bone out into a spur. Pressure of body weight on the spur caused a great deal of pain. At the slightest suggestion of returning pain I again do the exercises for a few days and have been free of bone spurs for over 16 years. Please see picture of my husband doing the exercise which accompanies this Memo. Instructions should be followed as given below the picture. |
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| The leg being exercised is the leg placed to the rear. Move feet farther |
| away from the wall than my husband has and assume the same position. |
| Keep the back leg straight, bend the front leg, and as you lean forward |
| against the wall you will feel the tension in the back of the lower leg. Count |
| slowly to 10 then change and put the other leg behind and do the same thing. |
| Repeat for three times on each leg. Do this twice per day for three months. |
| The pain does not seem to leave gradually, but suddenly. Any resumption of |
| pain should prompt resumption of exercise for a few days. |