Background:
A heel spur is a disease associated with the formation of a bone growth near the heel bone, causing severe pain and inflammation of the plantar fasciitis.

Material and methods:
The study included 39 patients diagnosed with painful heel spurs who were randomly assigned to two research groups. The first group (18 patients) underwent a series of ultrasound therapy (UT), and the second group (21 patients) was treated with extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT). The therapeutic effects were assessed with the use of a survey including basic demographic data, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scale, Laitinen scale, and a SF-36 questionnaire.

Results:
The ESWT caused a statistically significantly greater reduction in pain compared to the patients group treated with the UT as assessed in the VAS scale (67.23% vs. 27.34%; p<0.001) and the Laitinen scale (60.65% vs. 30.77%; p<0.001). The results of the SF-36 questionnaire improved significantly in both groups (13.71% vs. 9.01% for the physical dimension and 16.33 vs. 9.68 for the mental dimension) with no statistical significance between two examined groups (p>0.05).

Conclusions:
The ESWT has shown higher therapeutic effectiveness in the treatment of heel spurs compared to the UT regarding a reduction in the intensity of pain. Quality of life improved in both groups, although there was no significant difference in the therapeutic effectiveness of both assessed physical procedures.