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Plantar fasciotomy at age 34, still have pain 5 weeks after
by Kevin
I tried all the typical conservative approaches with no pain relief. On March 8, 2011 I had the fasciotomy release done on the medial 1/3rd of my left fascia. It has now been 4 weeks post op. The first 3 weeks I pretty much stayed off my feet with the exception of hygiene needs and hobbled around on crutches. In the start of my 4th week the doctor gave me instructions to start weening myself off the crutches over the last week. By last Friday, 4/1 I was pretty much off the crutches and limping around. It is now the start of my 5th week post op and the doctor gave me instructions to bear weight, but take it easy. I am sore and all though parts of my heel feel a little relieved I now have more pain directly on the bottom of my left heel, as opposed to before, the pain was towards the inside of the left heel more. As many others, it is tough to stay optimistic. I'm icing it right now, as this has been my first day back to work in full shoes. I'm looking into negative heel shoes right now to aid in my recovery and will ask my doctor about them next week during my checkup. They seem like a viable aid to help reduce my pain symptoms. One question I have, if a fasciotomy is to be considered successful, how much time to go by before I should normally have no pain? Like said above after being off the foot for 3 weeks, there was no heel pain, but now after being on it again for the last week, it seems similar pain has returned? Thanks for reading ---- Joshua Answers: Hi Kevin. Plantar Fasciitis can be bad news, but at least one's structure is intact. Go in there and cut the structural supports, and it's a whole new ball game. How long for pain to go away for it to be considered 'successful'? I really can't say. I think a more valuable way to look at it is, 'If I can walk on it without pain, then it was a success.' Having said that, I've seen doctors predict anywhere from a month to 8 months for pain to go away. I imagine it depends on how much structure they cut. That structure got taut when you put weight on the foot. The doctor cut it partially or completely. Now you put weight on your foot and that structure no longer provides resistance, or a partly severed structure provides resistance but....it's cut down the middle. And all that force has to go -somewhere-. Your pain went away in the first few weeks because you were off your foot. Now that you're putting load on it again.... Also, the -cause- of the original problem is still in place. It wasn't the plantar fascia, it was all the tight muscles and connective tissue of the lower leg. The doctor cut where he cut for whatever reason. And considering that surgery causes damage, you're at four weeks which, all things considered, isn't that long of a period post-injury. Heck, just stepping on a nail hurts for 3ish weeks, and your surgery caused a lot more damage than that. And, of course, greatly aggravated the pre-existing Process of Inflammation. Now you're walking again. And that's going to cause you to be sore, not just from the surgery injury, but because your structure has changed. And since that's changed, muscles are going to work differently and they're likely to get sore and unhappy (and they already were sore and unhappy). In short, your symptoms are unsurprising for where you're at at week 5. Are you doomed to more pain, or will it get better? I really have no idea at this point, it could go either way, and there's lots of factors involved. You of course can help it with Ice Dipping and increasing your protein and good fats intake, and loosening up the structures of the back of your lower leg. ---------------------- Please reply using the comment link below. Do not submit a new submission to answer/reply, it's too hard for me to find where it's supposed to go. And, comments have a 3,000 character limit so you may have to comment twice. -----------------------  Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T. The Tendonitis Expert www.TendonitisExpert.com
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