Dr Foot Discussion

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About 9 years ago I started getting heel pain right behind my foot at the bottom of the achilles mostly in the morning and this got progressively worse over 6 months until I saw a podiatrist who gave me orthotics. These orthotics and some calf muscle stretches got rid of my heel pain for about 12 months. After 12 months I got a different set of orthotics and this kept me going for a for another 12 months and I did this with about 6 sets of orthotics. At one point I also purchased a leg splint which is suppose to keep your heel stretched when sleeping but this didn't do much.

I've not been able to run now for about 4 years and has steadily got worse.

About 12 months ago the pain became chronic. I lived with this for a while before getting an x-ray which told me I had a heel spur. The spur turned out to be a calcification and I was referred to a specialist doctor. The doctor asked me to try shock wave therapy which I tried (hurt like hell) but did't do anything for me either.

My only choice now would be surgery however I am told that the rehab for this surgery is 12 months! The surgery apparently takes the tendon from underneath and cleans out the calcification and then puts it all back and screws the tendon back on the foot (using screws!). This seems very extreme and the 12 month recovery (12 months prior to resuming sports) seems very excessive.

I would love to hear of anyone else has had surgery and what success they have had. Was it a painful recovery? Was it worth it? Did it fix the problem?

Just trying to determine whether this surgery is something I should undertake.

Heel pain sux!

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Image of problem i33,tinypic,com/4sgyvr.jpg