Surgery decision

Hi Dennis I've had shockwave therapy  too I found that all it did was aggravate  rather than make it more comfortable. I was  offered the same drug and others as well but  don't like the side effects  that they have .hopefully it'll work for you  I have another operation  soon and hope that gives some relief it's a hard condition to treat as everyone is different   I hope you get some relief soon good luck x

hi David I hope santa is kind to you this Xmas I've spent a fortune on all kinds of shoes but find they all feel ok for a couple of days then agony  still searching for something that's comfortable but it gets to a point of having a hundred  more than the shoe shops ,,,,, if your anything like me you'll always be searching for them good luck hope you find some soon x

Hi David. I wear Merrell Jungle Mocs most of the time. I add ProFoot Plantar Fasciitis three quarter orthotics to them. They provide good arch support and have a gel heel. This is what is most comfortable for me.

Hi David,

The shoes that have been a godsend to me are very thick spongy thongs in OOFOS brand. They are like walking on clouds! I wear these as soon as I finish work and around the house always. I hope this helps..

Thankyou Amy have a good Xmas I'll keep you posted Carnot get my operation till early Feb but hoping for a cancellation in Jan I'll keep you posted  hope all goes well in the coming weeks happy holidays xxx

Hi Angela (and anyone else who's interested!) So it's been 6 weeks since my bilateral plantar fascia release. I think my right foot in terms of original PF pain is a lot better. I'm not walking on the outside of my foot as much to help ease the pain in the morning. The pain has by no means entirely gone but it is better. My left foot, is maybe even a little more better, although it was always the less affected foot. That is why the next point is so frustrating because I kind of feel like I wish I hadn't had my left foot done. I have blogged about this pain before. It is in my little and next toe, it's starts in the toes, shoots to the back of the heel through my calf and my thigh. It's like a cramp, spasm, nerve pain and takes my breath away at times! Also my little toe, part of the side and sole of my foot are numb. It is a lot worse after walking, having said that I can walk for an hour or two until the pain gets too much, although it's always there. Anyway I saw my podiatrist yesterday even though I'm not supposed to have a follow up for 6 months! I wanted to ask about this pain. He said he wasn't concerned but thought I had been doing too much and I needed MORE time off work. He thinks the pain is caused from walking too much on the outside of my foot to compensate for pain from my incision site. I'm not so sure that's it as my incision site is only a little bit tender but I'm concentrating on walking 'properly' now. He told me to do more calf stretches and I've also got some quite firm/rigid shoes from Clarks and Shuropody. So if I have another 3 weeks off work that will be 9 weeks in total! That's a lot more than the original 3-4 weeks they said I would need. So I'm going to do some intense rehab on my feet and and build my strength up. Sorry for the long entry but hopefully it might be of interest to someone. Amy X

Hi Amy nice to hear from you ,,glad your feeling the benefit of your surgery, I think it takes a lot longer than we think to get over the operation  but long term we will feel like it was worth it. My first lot of surgery I thought I would be ok 6weeks after my surgery,,, so I booked 2 holidays one was 6 weeks after surgery one was 3 weeks after the first holiday ,,,boy was I wrong I could barley get around I was in so much pain  my surgeon made me take my crutches for the second holidays which did help but was so inconvenient,,,. This time I'm not booking any holidays until I feel able to get about as normal,,,I think like my surgeon has warned me don't try to do do too much to soon it takes time to heal and lots of physio, I'm just impatient and want results to soon but it's not going to happen ,take the time and get yourself better before jumping back into normal routine and work ,I no it's not easy as I work for myself so I don't have to have time of from an employer. I hope you feel better every day keep me posted good luck.xx

Hi Angela, so 10 weeks after my surgery I have been back to work for two, 3 hour shifts. In my last message I spoke about starting to walk 'properly' through my left foot. Having poo pooed my podiatrists advice, I thought about it and yes I have been walking too much on the little toe side of my left foot which has caused this nerve pain and numb foot. I haven't had the shooting up the back of my leg for a few weeks now and the toe pain has decreased also. It comes back when I have been walking for more than about 4 hours or so. I have had two shifts at work and my feet have been ok. My feet have been a lot more tired than before the operation but I guess that's just a case of building up strength again. It's still getting me down because I can't imagine doing a 12 hour shift at the moment but work have been really good and I'm just going week by week. It must be very hard to be self employed because any time off is lost earnings. Have you got an operation date yet? Amy.

Hi Amy nice to hear from you ,, good to hear things are improving slowly.i have my operation on Saturday I'm a little nervous as the last surgery didn't work but I have to try   Just hope it works as I've got no other option. I'll let you no how it goes keep strong I think it's just a long road we're going down but chin up 🤕😉xx

hi Amy ..well it's been 8days after my surgery and although I have pain at site of surgery I definitely can say I feel so much relief from the nagging excruciating horrible pain that I had constantly. My others foot killing me because I'm putting all my weight on it  but the crutches help. I'm not taking my pain medication  cause I'm ok without them so hopefully will continue to improve ...How are you doing have you had some relief how are you doing are you walking in normal footwear yet .. xxx

Hi Angela I didn't get an alert about your previous message so I couldn't say good luck. Looks like you don't need it though if you are feeling the benefit already! I'm glad to hear your pain has improved. May I ask are you in the UK? It's just that I was told I could not/didn't need to have crutches or pain relief. Well I have been back at work for 3 weeks and it is going ok. I went to see my gp two weeks ago and I am taking Amitriptaline for this nerve pain in my left foot. I think it has improved the pain but I still have pain. So I'm just taking it day by day really. Keep me updated on your progress. Amy x

Hi Amy, yes I'm in the uk .i have had my treatment at a private hospital  not the NHS  so not sure if the advice is any different  .I was given Codine Ibuprofen and paracetamol, but I only took it tor the first three days  have crutches so that I don't put any weight in the surgical site and wasn't allowed to put it to the floor for the first three days so not to thicken the wound site .Im now putting it to the floor but not putting weight on it as such just using it more for balance but putting more pressure on it every day.I can definitely feel the difference ,yes it's sore but as long as I don't do too much the pain. Has definitely improved ..Are you in the U.K. .xxx

Yep I am in the uk too. Any reason you decided to go private? I had mine on the nhs and I was told to weight bear after the first 24 hours and wasn't given any crutches. Maybe it's because I had both feet done. Anyway that's all in the past now! I'm starting full time hours at work next week and I'm going back to the doctors to see if they can give me anything else for this nerve pain. Glad to hear you are doing well xx

Hi Amy. I didn't decide to go private on my own I did go to NHS specialists first in the MICATS. Department but after 2 rounds of cortisone injections  and ultrasounds they referred me to go private hospital as they said they didn't have the expertise or the most revolutionary equipment to deal with the problem,I must admit I'm so glad I did it as you would not believe the difference in your care and the knowledge that they have and how different  the treatment is .Im glad your ok and getting back to normal even though it's a long road,I've only had one foot at a time done as my surgeon wouldn't do both of them for this type of procedure as he said it  wasn't  suitable doing both at the same time not for this op .im having the others one done in 6months when I've fully recovered from this one ,take care xx

Hi Angela, how is your foot? I am back at work now full time. I am finding it difficult and painful doing my full time shifts. I am on the top dose of amitriptyline which is helping but the pain in my toes has still not fully gone but I don't get the shooting pain much now. My right foot is not really any better than pre op but my left is better but with the added new pain. So still not sure how to summarise how successful it's been. I'm still doing my stretches and icing. I'll be 6 months post op in a month. I hope you are getting on better than me! Amy X

Hi Amy sorry to hear your still having problems,, it's been just over 6 weeks after op for me and everything going really well still have some surgical pain at site of the op but otherwise it's feeling so good I have no pain in my heel at all just still a little sore at op site but the pain that I had before which was excruciating has gone ....

i saw my surgeon on Monday who was pleased with the progress and I go back in another 4 weeks to see him but I'm so pleased I had it done .ill be having the other foot done later in the year but want to make sure that this one is fully recovered as having to bear more weight on one foot is hard work for the poor foot that you use especially as I have Pf in that one as well. it's worked well for me but I think that the advice and help from your surgeon goes a long way I've been on crutches for 6weeks and a boot which I think may of helped with the recovering,.My advice is go private the specialists and care are much better .. I hope you feel better soon .take care xx

Hi Angela, you must be having your other foot done soon? I am 8 months post op now. I recently went on holiday where we did quite a lot of walking and I was really pleased with my feet! My right foot is still painful at times and my podiatrist said the plantar fascia is still abit tight unlike my left foot which he said is quite loose now so in that sense my pain is a reflection of the success of each foot individually. He said I can have it done again but I don't want to go through it again! On holiday I had a lot of times even after walking a lot where I had no pain! I do calf stretches 4 times a day which greatly helps and I am still on Amitriptaline as I can still feel niggling nerve pain at times. Anyway let me know how you are doing. Amy.

Hi Angela, I was wondering how you are doing--I read all your posts.  I had surgery almost 4 weeks ago, getting anxious as I want to travel and visit my son the end of next month.  I'm walking without assistance, but I do get pain in the area of surgery (expected) and on the outer part of my foot but also on the outside of my foot now--I'll be discussing with my podiatrist on Tuesday.  So, questions for you: are you walking normally with shoes?  did you have any physical therapy after surgery? do you do any exercises? when does the surgical pain go away?  Thanks for any encouragement!