Plantar fasciitis rarely requires surgery for a full recovery. More than 90 percent of patients find that, typically within one year, they are fully recovered as long as basic treatment steps are followed. These treatments may involve shoe inserts, anti-inflammatory medications and stretching exercises. If these don’t work extracorporeal shock wave treatments or cortisone injections may be used. These treatments are more aggressive, but help to treat cases that linger after less aggressive treatments. If all else fails, your Orthopedic Surgeon Panama City FL or elsewhere may recommend that you undergo surgery for this condition.
Before an Orthopedic Surgeon will operate on a patient suffering from plantar fasciitis, the patient must continue to have symptoms after a minimum of nine months of treatment. He or she must be engaging in daily treatment sessions, sessions which include treatments such as stretches and exercises. The patient must also sit down and discuss with the doctor the benefits of having this surgery and the risks. This allows the patient to make an informed decision as to whether or not the procedure is right for him or her as this type of surgery does come with risks.
Risks of plantar fasciitis must be discussed in detail with an Orthopedic Surgeon Panama City FL. There are small nerves in the foot which run adjacent to your plantar fascia and these nerves may be damaged during surgery. If they are, the patient may experience numbness or pain in parts of the foot after the procedure. Another risk of the surgery is a flat foot deformity. This occurs when the surgeon releases too much of the plantar fascia. As flat foot can lead to a new set of problems, many of which are as bad as or worse than symptoms currently being experienced, this needs to be understood.
Patients may not receive relief after surgery due to the foot being affected by something other than plantar fasciitis. The symptoms of this condition are similar to those of many others and the doctor cannot definitively say the plantar fascia is the problem. Infection is also a risk that patients must be aware of.
Although there are risks with this surgery, approximately 70 to 80 percent of patients do receive relief after undergoing the procedure. Your doctor can give you a better idea of what to expect in your situation. It may be exactly what you need to get relief.
