The Plantar Fasciitis Community Will Help
I too had the surgery 12/15..
I had an open partial release done this past Thursday by who seems to be the best doctor for this in central Florida. The anaesthesiologist, who I met with briefly during pre-op, had even had the same surgery done by my doc, and he had no complaints and said it worked.
The first night is rough, no lying about that. I'd give it an 8 on the pain scale. (At ten is when I would sell my wife and kid to make it stop, and I wasn't there yet...) But I was totally off the pain meds by Sunday. The first five days or so he had me in a boot with no weight bearing. Mild weight bearing, as tolerated and crutch assisted, are okay now, but I remain in the boot. Crutches should be gone in two or three days. By next Friday I should be in sneakers. This guy wants up and moving as soon as possible. Figures I can be biking and swimming late next week, and running (not sprinting, but jogging..) again in four or five weeks.
Plain and simple, he says in some cases it gets too tight and you need to loosen it. It works in the vast majority of cases. I learned about this guy from a fellow athlete at a race when I overheard her talking about PF over two years ago. She had the surgery and said it was "the best decision I ever made." I got his name and sat on it until I figured that nothing else was going to work.
Am I anxious that it may not work? That it will hurt more? Naturally. But hopefully it will have been among the best decisions that I have ever made. I will let you know. I don't know if posting the names of doctors is approved, but if someone asks in private I will give it.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by T. D. Sharkey on -
A week in, not so bad. I am in the Boot, and using crutches to get around and progressively putting more weight on it as I can tolerate. Right now I am pretty close to single crutching as opposed to using both. I hope to be crutch-free by Monday or Tuesday and walking in the boot. Honestly, it is more a psychological than a physical block. My head says "they just lobotomized your foot, and now you are going to start walking on it? Yeah...right..." I think Kim, here on the boards, had similar head issues, and was eventually told to stop babying the foot. Even so, the timeline this doctor has for being up and in regular shoes (sneakers) is VERY rapid, and just a little intimidating!
The primary purpose of the boot is so that the ligaments will all heal in a proper, stretched position, and somewhat for protection.
The foot is a little numb on top and in the toes. To some degree I think that is the pressure from the wrapping combined with the boot; indeed there are some minor pressure sores on the top of the foot and at the ankles. I let it "air out" a couple of time a day and flex it around a little, which I am doing as I type this. (All of this is fine with the doc, who doesn't want it to stiffen up from being immobile..)
About myself, I am a 44 y.o. male with a healthy BMI. I am very active, and even through this problem continued to exercise. I hope that makes my recovery quicker. This time "off" is just about killing me..
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Permalink Reply by Annie Drommond on
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How long did you have PF before you opted for the surgery?
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Permalink Reply by T. D. Sharkey on
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About two and a half years. I'd say that if 18 months of conservative treatment does not work, consider the surgery and the right doctor for it.
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Permalink Reply by Caroline Hall on -
I had the same surgery done endoscopically. Tomorrow it will be 10 weeks. All I can say is relief. I tried everything and am happy with my results. My surgeon is a foot and ankle orthopedic specialist in western CT. I had a nerve block and didn't need any pain medication nearly 10 hours after the surgery. And having had knee replacements, this surgery seemed like a breeze. I had the worse foot done first and apparently the other foot had been compensating for the worse one and once the worse one was fixed, the other one improved greatly. My knee ortho told me to get my feet in working order and he would do an arthroscopic surgery on my left knee -and I'll be having that on Wednesday. Sometimes the decision to do the surgery works out very well.
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Permalink Reply by T. D. Sharkey on
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Tomorrow will be two weeks in and I pitched the crutches yesterday. Still in the boot with my next appointment on Friday. Foot feels pretty good. I have been wearing the night splint instead of the boot at night while sleeping to give it some relief from pressure spots. The doctor did not specifically recommend that, but the rationale for the boot is to keep the foot stretched so it heals that way, and the night splint does the same thing with greater comfort, so why not? There is maybe a touch of discomfort at the spot of the incision, and the stitches are still there until Friday, so I guess that is to be expected. Still a little numbness around the toes, but that seems to be lessening. Friday is probably sneakers two weeks after being cut. I'll probably try a little bike ride, and maybe a little golf this weekend and see how it feels...
It isn't the fastest two weeks I have been through (and probably even slower for my wife, given that we have a one year old at Christmas time with family, etc..) but if this fixes it, it was time well spent!
The doctor said it was so tight, and fibrous that there was simply no way that it would have healed on its own.
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Permalink Reply by Caroline Hall on
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Then you too made the right choice to do the surgery. I had reached the end of the road and there was nowhere else to go but to have the surgery. Glad you're doing well too!
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Permalink Reply by T. D. Sharkey on
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Well, I am not counting my chickens until they have hatched. The possibility exists that complications, lasting ones, can develop such as lateral column syndrome. It is my gravest concern, but not one my doctor seems worried about..
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Permalink Reply by Caroline Hall on
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I kept making sure my arch was still in place. 10 weeks later it still is. Just had knee surgery Wednesday and my feet have cooperated.
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Permalink Reply by T. D. Sharkey on
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Stitches all out and in regular shoes. My! Still is tender at the point of incision. He says that will go away in the next couple of weeks. I should go back to exercise as can be tolerated; bicycling and swimming preferable now, and moving to higher impact stuff as tolerated. Next appointment is optional in three weeks. If I'm feeling super I can cancel it.
So, would seem to be that...
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Permalink Reply by Caroline Hall on
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Where my stitches are can still be tender-plus my ortho said the skin would look funky for a while-which it has by the scar. I load it up with Aveeno lotion. ALso told to wear orthotics all the time-which I do. I wore my sneakers non-stop while my feet were bad and now, actually, other shoes are more comfortable than they are. I used my exercise bike about 3 weeks after surgery.
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