Anyone completely clear of foot pain after 2 years?
Hi,
I keep reading about people still having pain a long time after surgery. It seems that the consensus is that overall the pain is less severe than before their surgeries. But is there anyone out there who is well past their surgeries who feels completely normal again?
I have dreams of having a completely normal feeling foot in a couple of years. Am I just dreaming? I would LOVE, more than anything, to be able to walk on the beach without pain and without paying for it for the next 3 days...
Re: Anyone completely clear of foot pain after 2 years?
Sarah, Just wanted to say don't be too discouraged by the stories you read here. The people who have successful, pain-free results go on about their lives and aren't likely to post on a "Foot Problems" board. The majority of these surgeries are successful. Sometimes when you have foot problems, one thing can lead to another, causing long-term or multiple problems. Often subsequent pain is caused by waiting too long to have the surgery, or other things are stressed or damaged during the surgery and/or recovery process.
In my case, I had PTT surgery with tendon transfer and calcaneal osteotomy. During rehab my PT was overly aggressive and was trying to force my foot into normal inversion, which I will never have. Because I had waited so long and my foot was badly pronated my peroneal tendons were at risk already. In a perfect world they would have adapted to my newly realigned foot and all would have been well. As it turns out, I had a tear in both of them which occurred during PT. Would they have torn anyway? Possibly, but I'll never know that for sure.
Since I had peroneal surgery one year after PTT surgery I ended up not having a normally functioning foot for going on two years. This caused scar tissue to build up in the joint which made debridement surgery necessary. Scar tissue had damanged (or the multiple surgeries did it) my deep peroneal nerve which causes the pain I have today.
The foot is very complex and has many, many joints, ligaments and tendons which are made to work with each other. When one part is "off" it affects other parts of the foot. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it isn't always that the surgery is not successful. Although I had two subsequent surgeries, my PTT surgery was successful. I've never had pain in the PTT area again. Had the series of events that happened to me not occurred I would be able to have a functioning, pain-free foot that. while not 100%, at least 75%, which is enough to do most anything you would want to do.
Don't worry too much. Think positive, do everything your doctor tells you, follow up with a good PT and the odds are that you will be perfectly fine.
Re: Anyone completely clear of foot pain after 2 years?
I must be honest that it'll be 3 years on June 30th since I really noticed something was very very wrong with my right foot and I wish I could say that I'm fine.
I'm making progress, yes. But after peroneal tendonopathy in both feet and a series of surgeries, physio sessions, steroid injections, laser treatments snd just about everything else the docs can think of, I'm still in ridiculous amounts of pain and life is pretty hard. Some days are better than others but I'm sure that's the case for everyone.
That said, I'm hopeful that sooner or later I'll get there of course. I just don't want to put false hope into anyone's head that give it time and everything will be ok. Sadly, there are those among us who will have permenant problems in many aspects of our health. I've been told I'd do well to consider a career change and a general lifestyle overhaul. I'm taking this advice and am working on improving my life overall. I hoped it'd be easiler than this but it's a struggle.
It can be hard to stay positive and to Sarahluke I'd say do what you can, don't push your luck when it comes to overdoing it and live in hope that one day it'll all be ok. Chances are it will - just allow yourself to be aware (as I'm sure you are) that if it doesn't all come out in the wash, as the saying goes, that you're prepared for that.
I'm all for positive thinking but the sad truth is that if you go overboard on the positive thinking, you have further to fall when the best doesn't happen. Have a plan for all outcomes - that's the key for success.
Be prepared for the fact that you may never be what you were - but that you can find constructive ways to overcome the hurdles your condition may bring. If everything turns out well then you're ahead of the game and if things go the other way then you're mentally preapred to deal with that.
I wish you good luck.
Re: Anyone completely clear of foot pain after 2 years?
I am 6 weeks from tendon transfer and osteotomy on the left foot, so I can't comment on that yet. The doctor says that the sooner I walk 50-75 miles (not all at once!) on uneven ground without cane or crutches and without limping, the sooner I'll be out of pain. I had a cheilectomy on the other foot over 7 years ago, which was very successful and I have had much less pain and more flexibility than before the surgery. However, every now and then when I work it too hard, I have some pain. There may be arthritis returning, too. Good luck.
Re: Anyone completely clear of foot pain after 2 years?
I have to agree with Emmie54 (Hi Emmie), I also waited too long (9 years). Partially because I couldn't find anyone who knew what I had (which is odd because I live in the NYC Metro area), and then because I was afraid. The result? Pain.
Anyone completely clear of foot pain after 2 years? 
Think positive, do everything your doctor tells you, follow up with a good PT and the odds are that you will be perfectly fine.
