Do I Need Plantar Fasciitis Surgery?

Understand The Risks That Come From Having Surgery as well as Not Having Surgery

It is always highly recommended that anyone considering surgery always have a clear understanding of the risks as well as the benefits of elective surgery. In addition, one should be aware of the success rate of the particular surgery in question, combined with the post-surgical recommendations that will typically have an impact on your chances of success. I should say here that overall, the statistics for foot surgery are not great, which is one of the major reasons you may find a surgeon reticent to operate on your injured foot unless they are fully convinced it is necessary. Your surgeon should provide a treatment plan to help you regain use of the affected area as soon as possible.

As with any surgery there are risks to every procedure depending on a lot of factors, including your age, the severity of your injury and your level of health going into the procedure. It's always best to discuss all possible risks and complications with your doctor before the procedure. It's important to be aware of the risks you may face with any procedure intended to fix or relieve pain from your foot injury.

If Surgery Is Not Necessary....

If you are not at the surgery stage and your physician has opted to treat your injury with conservative treatment options, then you will find that many of our customers have had great success treating themselves with the powerful conservative treatment products such as the Plantar TShellz Wrap^®. When used as directed, it is our opinion that the TShellz Wrap^® when combined with an overall conservative treatment plan, will give you the best chances of healing your plantar fasciitis or related soft tissue injury at home without the need for surgery. If surgical intervention is required, you will be put on a post-surgery recovery plan by your surgeon or physician. We feel the TShellz Wrap^® also plays a valuable role in post surgery recovery, but do not use them for at least 6 weeks after surgery, and only on approval from your physician or surgeon. (Basically do not use heat based treatments until the wound has healed, swelling has dropped and you have recovered enough to have been assigned a home stretching plan). The TShellz Wraps^®, when used at this time should be quite effective at enhancing range of motion and minimizing scar tissue growth (which is a major problem when talking about foot surgery).

For acute (new or recent) plantar, or sesamoiditis injuries that have the ability to heal on their own - your doctor may even suggest use of a removable foot brace. A removable foot brace can be very helpful to prepare you for physical therapy sessions and mobility exercises.

However, prolonged use of a removable foot brace or long-term rest (restricted movement) without proper exercise or stretching can make your plantar condition worse. If your foot remains completely immobilized and at constant rest, the edges of your soft tissue tear will begin to fill in with scar tissue as part of the healing process. You may also have on-going symptoms of pain, swelling, inflammation, and even poor blood flow circulation.

Home Conservative Treatments For Plantar Fasciitis That Many of Our Clients Have Found to be Effective:

• Rest - This is important for initial healing to reduce risk of further injury, pain, swelling and inflammation in the early stage of your soft tissue injury. Too much rest can also be harmful as joint immobility can actually cause stiffening, overcompensation and atrophy (wasting away of soft tissue). This is why rest should be used when reducing initial pain and swelling, but should not be considered for more long-term conservative treatment.
• Avoid Activity that caused your Plantar Fasciitis [PF]. - While resting the area, it's also important to avoid all activities that may have caused your symptoms - including any repetitive movements (possibly work or hobby related). This pretty much includes any type of sport, and may very well include reduced activities in your job if that has caused your injury - especially if your job means being on your feet all day. Continuing on with regular activities can increase the severity of an injury, turning a mild to moderate case of foot strain into a downward spiral of atrophic damage that may eventually severely impact your life. Also, trying to 'work around' your injury will eventually give rise to over-compensation injuries in other areas of your body (like your opposite foot, or hip & knee pain due to your limping gait).
• Use a Cold Compress or Ice Pack - Cold is very effective at reducing pain and inflammation, although statistically, there is usually very little inflammation associated with plantar fasciitis. Notwithstanding - if there is swelling, apply cold.
• Use a Plantar TShellz^® Circulatory Boost Wrap - Once swelling has been reduced, you can use your own blood flow to maximize your rehabilitation. Knowing the body uses blood flow to heal soft tissue, this wrap is intended to introduce heat and an increase in blood flow to the application area at the bottom of the foot (where the fascia is). This in turn, will assist the body in its own repair process, helping decrease recovery time while reducing re-injury risk. Promoting blood flow and heat to the fascia will help to minimize the growth of scar tissue, increase tissue flexibility and help reduce onset of atrophy. This is why we recommend a TShellz Wrap treatment before undergoing activity - an increase in flexibility should help reduce risk of further injury while also assisting in the battle against atrophy (what we are saying is that you want to keep your fascia flexible so the strain/tear won't worsen). Many of our clients find heat via the Plantar TShellz Wrap^® to be especially helpful in dealing with chronic PF injuries or when there is a flare-up of pain and stiffness in the foot.
• Use a Support Wrap or Brace (depending on the area). To increase comfort and prevent further damage you may want to use a support sleeve or brace to help support the area, reduce risk of further injury and reduce stress on the injured tissue. They can be used until your injury is gone or during active sports for additional stability. Note that these should not be worn at all times as they can limit muscle development, cut off circulation and impede healing of muscle tissue.
• For reducing discomfort while resting, (or to get some sleep) consider a High Quality Back Pillow and/or Knee Pillow for comfort while sleeping or sitting
• Rehabilitative stretching under supervision of a PT or doctor. The intent of this is to provide you with increased range of motion, pain relief and strengthening of the surrounding tissue of the joint. Caution: aggressive stretching or massage can be harmful - when dealing with a joint that has very limited range of motion, there is risk of further damage to weak connective tissue. This could lead to the need for surgery, and this is why you need to seek out a PT or physician as they can determine safe stretching parameters for you.
• Stretching - Stretching your joint in PT and at home will help you to regain your range of motion much faster than not stretching at all. Stretching in many ways is key for maintaining good Range of Motion (ROM) in your foot, and stretching can be made much easier with use of a TShellz Wrap^® before to warm up soft tissue, and a Cold Compress or Ice Pack treatment after to deal with flare-ups of inflammation.

The Two Biggest "Gotchas" When Treating Soft Tissue Injuries of the Foot

1: The Absence of Pain Does Not Mean Your Injury is Gone

After resting and using a Cold Compress or Ice Pack for a couple days, pain will often drop significantly. This where most people wrongly associate the pain with the injury, whereas in truth, much of the pain often comes from inflammation and swelling. Once the inflammation is gone, do not assume you are fully healed.

2: Time Is Not Your Friend

So you have used a Cold Compress or Ice Pack and most of the pain is gone, but it's been a couple of weeks and the injury keeps flaring up. If this is you, then you probably know why this is happening now... the injury was never full healed. To really heal a soft tissue injury, you really need to rest until it is healed, and you don't need me to tell you this is a pain in the butt! This is why the TShellz Wrap^® is such an important tool, as it introduces the concept of enhancing localized blood circulation - giving the body's own healing process a kickstart. With this accelerated blood flow, you increase your odds of getting back on your feet more quickly, thus reducing your risk of re-injury.

When the swelling has gone down and the pain has reduced, this is the perfect time to use the TShellz Wrap^®. A treatment with a TShellz Wrap^® is intended to substantially increase blood-flow to the treatment area - an increased blood flow helps maximize your body's rate of healing. We also highly recommend that our clients treat themselves with the T•Shellz first thing in the morning before getting out of bed. We feel it is important, as heat is known to increase elasticity and flexibility in soft tissue; when getting out of bed, your soft tissue is likely at its least flexible point throughout the day. Not only will this treatment combat atrophy, it will also decrease the chance of re-straining connective tissue in the foot at its most vulnerable time - after a long period of inactivity.

Why Your Plantar Fasciitis Won't Heal

If our body is designed to heal our own injuries, why does it take so long to heal?