Everything You Need to Know About Heel Pain Treatments, and Prevention
The U.S Food and Drug Administration has approved treatments for heel pain and it’s up to the medical provider to decide whether those treatments will be necessary. To determine whether these medications are right for you, your doctor should first discuss with you your risk for heel pain and which factors might be making this condition worse.
Heel pain is a condition that affects millions of people worldwide. It’s one of the most common orthopedic conditions in middle-aged men and women from age 40 through 80 years old. It can occur at any time, but often is not accompanied by other serious health problems or symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disturbances, back pain, and poor sleep quality.
Although the cause of heel pain is not always clear, there are many unknowns related to its pathogenesis which include poor nutrition, smoking, obesity, high levels of stress, alcohol use, chronic pain condition such as diabetes or cancer, and certain medications. Here are some of the possible diagnoses for heel pain, including a blood clots or thyroid problem, surgery, cancer, arthritis, and heart attack.
What Is Hemiparesis?
Hepatic artery disease, also known as a large vessel arterial blockage (LAVA), is where plaque builds up in an artery. When this plaque narrows a blood vessel (and the muscle of the artery wall becomes too brittle) and a clot forms which blocks the artery (or an artery branch) causing the blood flow to stop. A person has an acute and severe form of this condition, called femoral artery thrombosis (FAT), which often goes in people over 50 years of age.
While there are no FDA-approved drugs to treat heel pain, these treatments can make your overall health a lot better than if you had the original condition which is very rare. If you have heparin sodium heparin (also referred to as blood thinners), they can help prevent major events such as stroke or death, even when used alone.
Some research has been done comparing heparin with aspirin, which appears to be effective against arterial spasms, while others look at the two drugs together as being effective, though not against all artery spasms. Even though there is little evidence on these therapies in people who already had a stroke, there have been studies, mostly small and not randomized, that show heparin can prevent death or long-term disability when used alone.
The best way to know if a given combination therapy you’re considering is safe or not is to talk to a healthcare professional, such as a primary care physician, urologist, rheumatologist, cardiologist, or vascular surgeon, about the treatment.
They will likely give you the best guidance on whether these treatments will work for you, for example, if you’ve had previous heart attack or heart-failure surgery and had low or high cholesterol, heart attack, or liver disease. Many people already have these conditions, so these types of tests may not be relevant to you. For instance, you may need to have coronary artery stents implanted or taken off if your doctor suspects you’re at high risk of having another heart attack or stroke due to these medications.
What Causes Nonhealable CAAT?
Several factors can cause nonhealable CAAT. Risk factors and coexisting conditions can increase your risk of nonhealable CAAT, including:
- Obesity
- High Blood pressure or diabetes
- Hypertension or diabetes
- Cholesterol
- Previous stroke
- Age
- Family history
- Family history may also raise a patient’s risk with comas
Diagnostic Testing
Treatment for nonhealable CAAT uses different medications. Generally speaking, most nonhealable CAAT treatment involves acetylsalicylic acid (AHA) injections, such as Coumadin. Other less commonly used drugs used are aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS).
If you have a significant contraindication to use of Coumadin or other NSAIDS such as ibuprofen or naproxen, it may not be possible to do a CT angiogram. That means your doctor will not be able to tell the whole story, however, and it’s important to get an MRI, MRI angiogram which may show more detail of your arteries.
An ultrasound of the abdomen will show any large vessels in the abdominal area and how your veins are located. Your doctor will also be able to tell you if you have a heart murmur, which happens when your lungs contract differently than they should. You’ll also know if you need angioplasty (a catheterization procedure to open blocked up a narrowed artery) or if you have a blocked artery that needs to be closed off using a balloon or stent.
Your healthcare provider will then recommend one or more of those nonhealable CAAT medications based on what can be safely done to treat your condition. Common medications include:
- Oral acetylsalicylic acid
- Oral acetamidoprim/prazosimod/carbidopa/carfidatil/cimetidine
- Oral acetylsalicylic acid
- Oral nafoxime
- Oral pamipretide
- Oral pamipine
- Oral budesonide
- Oral budesonide
- Oral terlipressin
- Oral treprobulin fumarate
- Oral trimethylenin
- Oral tramadol
- Oral verapam
- Oral vardenafil
- Oral venlafrese (narrowing of vein in extremities)
- Oral vardenafil (narrowing of vein in extremities)
- Oral warfarin (Coumadin or Jantovene®)
- Oral warfarin
- Oral zocDoc
Talk to a Healthcare Professional About Heel Pain Treatment Whether it’s a new addition to a current list of chronic diseases or a long-time condition that puts you out of commission for weeks, months, or even year-plus, it can feel overwhelming to go from feeling the crushing weight of your condition to being completely incapacitated by it. With a headache, tiredness, insomnia, fatigue, and anxiety all causing problems, your discomfort can make it difficult for you to function, and leave you unable to function any of your daily activities.
Because heel pain most often comes on slowly, sometimes chronic pain medication isn’t enough to relieve the symptoms that accompany it. Chronic muscle pain can cause cramping, numbness, and stiffness, leaving you with limited mobility. Sometimes doctors will prescribe opioids to relieve its symptoms, but unless your pain condition is a life-threatening emergency, it’s not recommended. Instead, a pain management program can help improve your quality of life by combining pain medications with lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet, physical activity, and sleep hygiene.
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