Tarsal coalition

[makena]

I was diagnosed this week with tarsal coalition. Ive had the symptoms for nearly a decade. I went to the doc early on and was told I had chronic tendonitis and would just have to learn to live with it. I lived with it until recently, the pain had just become unbearable. Because I went so long without having it fixed I now also have arthritis in the subtalar joint. My doctor has put me on Lodine for now, while I decide whether or not to have surgery. If anyone here has had the fusion surgery Id love to hear from you.

My husband doesnt want me to have the surgery. He seems to think that once the medication starts to work Ill be able to get back to the gym, and strengthen my ankle. Will working out help this condition? Since it is a bone and not a muscle condition Im not sure if it will help or not. Plus, Im not enjoying this medication at all. Im still hurting, and now Im dizzy and nauseaus as well.

Are there any other options than surgery? Im a firm beleiver in chiropractic care, will that help at all? The way my doc described it..there are ways to "manage" the condition with medicine and shoe inserts, but it wont help fix it. I dont want to be stuck on medication for the rest of my life. Im scared theyll cause even worse conditions.

Im just not sure what to do here.

[cosmo]

I too have tarsal coalition and was first affected by it when I was 16 years old. I was in pain 24/7 at that time and it affects both feet. For several years during and after college I was actually OK. However, I'm in my 30s now and the pain has become unbearable again. I have tried everything over the years including orthotics (three different times and they were so painful I had to stop), anti-inflammatories (now I have an ulcer from overusage), physical therapy (twice - it did nothing at all for me), and steroid injections (I'm one week after the injections and they are starting to wear off). Now I am afflicted with back, hip, and knee pain as well. At this point I think I am headed for fusion surgery and will be happy when the day comes that my back, hip, knees, and feet are no longer hurting!

By the way, I seriously doubt that working out at the gym will help. I have worked out with trainers and by myself and it has not helped the condition or made it worse.

[makena]

Hi Mimi..thanks for the reply. Do you have a surgery date set, or are you still considering it? What type of doctor are you seeing...an orthopedic Dr, or a podiatrist?
Im going tomorrow to see a podiatrist for a second opinion, before I commit to surgery. I was hoping there would be some alternatives, but it sounds like most didnt work for you. What was painful about the orthotics?
I also have alot of hip back and knee pain. I favor my ankle so much that I know it throws off the rest of my body.
Im leaning towards the surgery, but am still a little uncertain. It sure would be nice to be pain free for good!

[cosmo]

I have seen orthopedic surgeons in the past (long time ago) who recommended surgery. Now I am seeing a podiatrist because he seems to do this surgery more than most orthopedic surgeons. The hospital that I work at does not have any good foot/ankle orthopedic surgeons and I would rather go to someone who does this often. I even went to an orthopedic surgeon about my hip a few years ago and he didn't even know what tarsal coalition was! It was the physical therapist who figured out that my hip pain was related to my coalition. Therefore, I think I will stick with this podiatrist who seemed to know a lot about this condition. I had toenail surgery with him (though this is much more minor) and he did a nice job and was a true perfectionist with the postop treatments. If I go through with the surgery, it will probably be during the summer when my boss takes off 3 weeks! I am dying to get rid of this back (upper and lower), hip (awful), and knee pain! Not to mention the horrendous foot/ankle pain! When I was a teenager I put the surgery off, and now I don't want to put it off until I can't walk! Good luck with your planning. Let me know what happens! Oh, the orthotics just caused a lot more pain in my feet. Much more of the coalition pain (if you can imagine it being worse). They were unbearable - I couldn't keep them in for 5 minutes!

[cosmo]

Makena:

Is your coalition in both feet or just one? I have it in both so I imagine the surgeries would be about one year apart. I can't imagine having a bad foot as the dominant foot for a while, but I guess that will have to be.