The Link Between Obesity and Heel Spurs

Bone spurs (medically termed osteophytes) are smooth, hard bumps of extra bone tissue that form on the ends of bones. They commonly appear in the joints, the regions where two or more bones meet.

Bone spurs can form on numerous body parts, including your:

• Hands
• Shoulders
• Neck
• Spine
• Hips
• Knees
• Heel bones

Most bone spurs don't cause problems. But if they rub against other bones or press on sensitive nerves, you’ll probably feel both pain and stiffness in that area.

At Chicagoland Foot and Ankle, our team of board-certified foot and ankle specialists diagnoses and treats heel spurs at our offices in and around Chicago, Illinois. 

Heel spurs can sometimes lead to serious heel pain, and they often occur along with another common podiatric problem, plantar fasciitis, which also leads to heel pain.

Among the many risk factors for developing bone spurs is being obese. Here, we explain why.

Causes of bone spurs

The most common cause of bone spurs is joint damage from osteoarthritis (the wear-and-tear kind) or degenerative joint disease.

The spurs can also form because of an injury to a joint or tendon, such as with plantar fasciitis, an overuse injury of the tendon that runs along the sole of your foot. The inflammation causes the pain you feel beneath the heel. 

Your body tries to mitigate the damage by adding bone to the injured area, but the spur it creates causes more pain in the process.

Symptoms of bone spurs

Bone spurs only cause issues when they impinge nerves, tendons (like the plantar fascia), or other structures in your body. You might feel:

• Pain in the joint
• Pain or stiffness when you move the joint
• Muscle spasms, cramps, or weakness
• Bumps under your skin you can feel but can’t see

Your symptoms often worsen when you exercise or try to move the affected joint.

The link between obesity and heel spurs

The terms “overweight” and “obesity” describe weight ranges greater than what is usually considered healthy for a given height. These labels are generally measured by a person’s body mass index (BMI).

To obtain your BMI, we divide your weight in pounds by the square of your height in inches. A BMI of 30 or above is considered obese.

Researchers examining the effects of obesity on the development of heel spurs found an association between obesity and an increased average heel spur length seen on X-rays of patients with painful plantar fasciitis. 

Patients who were obese and had spurs but no fasciitis didn’t present with pain in their heel, meaning obesity played a role in their formation.

Other researchers reported that heel spurs develop in response to repetitive compression forces on the foot. Weight from the body above played a factor in their development — the more weight, the more compression.

In addition, previous studies reported that vertical heel pressure during walking was strongly associated with body weight. And current findings support the hypothesis that the development of heel spurs involves vertical stress. Increased body weight causes that stress, resulting in increased pressure on the heel and possible heel spur formation.

If you’re overweight or obese and are experiencing pain under the heel of your foot, you may have heel spurs that require treatment. At Chicagoland Foot and Ankle, we can help. 

To get started, book online or call us at any of our locations — the Mount Greenwood and Portage Park areas of Chicago, and Orland Park, Bartlett, Niles, and New Lenox, Illinois.