- July 11, 2022
What is Haglunds deformity of the heel?
Haglund’s deformity or a pump bump is an bigger bit of bone in the back of the heel bone is a painful issue in athletes and is frequently quite difficult to deal with. The enlarged part of the heel bone rubs on the footwear developing a bursitis and blisters. This bursitis may be very enlarged as well as painful. The painful bursa has the name retrocalcaneal bursitis.
The best way to make the enlarged heel bone disappear completely is using surgery and that surgery could include taking off the Achilles tendon at its insertion to access the calcaneus to eliminate the enlarged bone and then re-attach the tendon to the heel bone. This is a big deal and will involve plenty of rehabilitation, therefore we prefer to stay away from this if practical. Having said that, this is a quite good option in the long term if this is a continuing problem and also the methods useful to help it aren't working.
The ideal way to take care of a Haglunds problem of the calcaneus bone is to remove pressure off the painful spot and so the bursitis lump could go down. Occasionally, a simple heel raise could be all that is required occasionally since this may move the painful area on the calcaneus bone out from the aggravating area of the heel counter on the running shoe. Podiatry adhesive felt may also regularly be used to create a donut shaped felt pad that goes round the painful area. This could be adhered in the athletic shoe or to the foot. Other types of felt padding might be able to be adhered within the heel counter of the running shoe to keep the pressure off the bursitis letting it get better. Whenever the pressure from the shoe is reduced for long enough, the inflammation from the bursitis can go down.
As for what is the best running shoe for a Haglunds problem on the heel bone, there probably not one, even with runners often asking online to get the best and receiving lots of suggestions for specific running footwear. Most running shoes manufacturers use a different shaped last to make their shoes on, so its a matter of finding the footwear that best suits the contour of the back of your heel. Every runner's anatomy of their heel bone differs, making this is a difficult task. A running shoe that has a soft, flexible as well as pliable heel counter is going to be greater than one having a more inflexible heel counter.
Some runners test out a higher drop and a lower drop running shoe in order to find that one more than another does a more effective job at reducing pressure on the bump. Seeing that every individual Haglund’s swelling is unique it's not easy to offer particular advice for an individual regarding which running shoe will probably match them better. Quite a few runners sometimes resort to chopping a hole in the heel counter of the running shoe with the intention that there is no pressure from the shoe on the lump. If you would like do that, it will be good option to test it first with an older pair of running shoes just in case anything might not work out.
