Medical technologist had plantar fascia release and heel spur removed

by Brett
(San Antonio)

I had plantar fascia release and a heel spur removed from my left foot about 4 weeks ago. I had surgery on an AVM in my Gastrocnemeus sulcus complex 6 months prior to the plantar surgery.

The Doctors believe that the Spur/Fasciitis was a result of the AVM. 4 weeks post op and I still have chronic pain at the posterior segment of my arch, feels like I am walking on a golf ball.

I am still on pain medications. 1 week post op, I returned to work. My physician says it should take between 6 and 8 weeks for the pain to truly subside. I use a flexion device to bed for morning pain relief. The pain is usually worse in the mornings, and after a hard day of walking at work. The surgery was probably the most uneventful surgery I ever had.

The doctor blocked my foot, and the anesthesia was gentle compared to most surgeries. The initial reason for having the surgery was I tried all other options first, including 4 months of physical therapy 3 times a week. The pain was similar to having a tack imbedded into the heel of my foot. This pain was rated as an 8 and was a daily irritation with little to no relief.

I refused cortical steriod injections due to the research that I did. I felt as though the steroids could potentially do more harm than good, especially considering the amount of small nerves in that area.

Post operatively speaking, there are days that I have little to no pain, and there are days where my pain spikes to a 9. I think it was worth while to have the surgery.

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Joshua Answers:

Hey Brett.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Back to work a week later huh? Are you in a walking cast or boot or some such?

Yeah, agree with you on the Corticosteroid Injections topic. I've never met anyone that said "Yeah, that totally fixed the problem!"

The thing with Tendonitis and related issues like Bone Spur and Plantar Fasciitis, is that those issues are CAUSED by a set of factors, and surgery doesn't do much for those.

So keep an eye out for that.

See: What Is Tendonitis

And as far as helping recovery, you may want to do some Ice Dipping as described on the How To Reduce Inflammation page and see what that does for the pain. Plus the increased circulation will benefit the healing process.



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Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
www.TendonitisExpert.com