Heel spur? anyone? ever? from chemo? confused.

Try going to your regular doctor. An onc is not likely to be skilled at diagnosing causes of heel pain which might not be chemo related or might be indirectly related (e.g. perhaps because your exercise and use patterns have changed due to chemo).

I have had pain in my heel from tendonitis of the achillies tendon and it hurt about like you are describing. Wearing shoes was torture at first but part of the cure because I was told to put heal lifts in them to reduce the stretch on the tendon for a while. Regular icing helped. Anti-inflammatory meds help but might not go well with chemo. I also had visits with the physical therapist, the first ones to be told what not to do and what to do to help it calm down and the later ones to add some gentle stretching and strength exercises for it.

A general practitioner will probably also do an X-ray to check if there is a bone problem causing the heel pain. They did that when I had heel pain but the bones were fine - no impingement - just the tendon getting angry.

It isn't clear to me which problem caused him to put you on antibiotics.

deborah- I have a history with heel spurs that cleared when i began wearing crocs faithfully till they healed...BUT with the first taxotere.....OHHHHH MANNNN i know what you are talking about. It throbbed it was like stabbing shooting pains..I was also soooo sick. I ended up going back to get steroids and fluids but the heel pain began with the neulasta and then got sooo much worse. My onco didn't want to blame it on the chemo, said he had never seen it before..Well PCP gave me some vicodin to get past it and low and behold when the rest of the bone pain stopped so did the heel pain.

Try to stetch the tendon before you get up and bear weight but patience and good shoes are the ticket.

i hope your pain stops soon. I know how you are feeling. Just tell that idiot that he doesn't know what he is talking about. My onco swallowed a little crow himself when he realized the taxotere set it off.

Hugs to you,

lisa/BG

 Cherneski, don't freak out.  I really feel for you.  Approx. 3 treatments in with T, I developed the same pain as you.  The bad news is that it spread, to both feet.  Then it spread to my bones.  My Onc said it was a common se from Chemo.  Walking was almost impossible.  Friends bought me very thick and fluffy memory foam slippers.  The Onc. prescribed steroids and pain killers. Nausea,  I remember puking, laying on the bathroom floor, semi passed out, waking up, puking, pass back out, doing it over and over again.  It was the first time I saw the bottom of a toilet.  My feet hurt to much to keep walking back and forth from bedroom to bathroom.  By the time the pain started to lessen, it was time for another tx.  Mentally,  I thought for sure I was going to be committed.  It took about a month after the last treatment for the pain to go away.  So there is a light at the end of this sh$ty tunnel.    As for being normal, I think that is highly over rated & boring.  How about just  pain & fatigue free.   (((Hugs)))Angel

I still think that you should also try to get an appointment with your regular doc to check it out. It doesn't have to be chemo related. And I think that the inflammation from something like tendonitis can make it warmer than the other heel without an infection.

I know how hard it is when your foot really hurts like that. Sometimes the other foot can start hurting too because you are walking different to favor the bad one.

Is there any bulge that the other foot doesn't have? With achillies tendonits, the back of my anckle about an inch above the ground bulged out.

Hi there - so sorry to hear of all this awful pain.

I have had heel spurs ( sometimes called plantar fascitis) - not related to cancer in any way.  I had a lot of trouble for 3 years but I am ok now.  

I am not sure this is plantar - it came on very suddenly and plantar doesn't usually have the temperature thing, which sounds like sever inflammation.  Pack out the area with bags of frozen peas to get the inflammation down.  Good to raise foot on a pillow while lying down.  To get a plantar F. diagnosis, you could either see an osteopath or possibly a chiropodist.

I think ass a temporary measure, you might be able to get a steroid injection to ease off the pain and inflammation.

Are you wearing flat shoes a lot, with thing soles?  To protect your foot from percussion of walking around, absolutely flatties are not good.  As a start off point, can you buy some arch supports that you can tuck in your shoes?   

So sorry - do let us know how you get on.

Much love -

Sound like plantar fascitis to me. I started with a red, inflamed heel. I could not stand on it either and had to walk on my toes just like you. You need to get it X-rayed but also see a podiatrist who will make special soles, inserts to put in you shoes, they are made to measure and after wearing them for a while you will see the swelling going away, and you will be able to walk normally. Don't worry to much about it being something worst, there are lots of threads on this here . With this condition, at night I cannot rest my foot on the bed, I have to prop it with a pillow. I use Traumell or Myoflex cream on it and it helps with the pains, those are worst at night so that is when I use the oinments.

Deborah - really glad it has eased off.  Sounded awful.  If you have never had anything similar to this before, I doubt it is plantar fascitis.  Anyway, good luck!

The patient's complaint of heel pain provided the initial evidence of having big problem that can go toward serious cancer so precocious have the remedy by shoes for plantar fasciitis heel spurs