12 weeks-Suffering with heel pain, any ideas?
Hello ATR World, I’m now over 12 weeks into my recovery and all was progressing well when about 2 days ago I started getting this intense heel pain which seems to have come out of no where. It’s worse when I straighten my leg out and dorsiflex, does not hurt if leg is bent, only when leg is straight or almost straight. Also hurts when walking when landing heel first. Is this because of 3-4 weeks of walking improperly with a limp–is this what I get for my gimpy walking? Just when my calf and AT are feeling a bit better and I can almost walk with no limp a whole new source of pain arrives. And this is not just a mild burning, this is shooting pain right in the bottom and back of my heel. My next PT appt. is on Wed. so I will be asking him what the deal is but wanted to find out if anyone else in the ATR World has had this and do you have any remedies? All help, suggestions, treatments are welcome. Thanks, Bode
April 27th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Hi Bode,
I’m no expert at this orthopedic stuff, but I have a few thoughts you could ask about. It doesn’t sound like a clot in a leg vein, that pain is usually higher up above the heel, but you don’t want to miss that, either. A nerve could be bothered by scarring around the surgical site. Does the pain ever shoot down the outside of your foot toward the little toe? There is also a bursa back there, so retrocalcaneal bursitis a definite possibility, too. Are there any spots that you can press on to elicit the pain?
Best wishes,
Doug
April 27th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Hi again,
Looking around a little about retrocalcaneal bursitis, shoes are sometimes blamed. Maybe your retrocalcaneal bursa doesn’t like your new shoes?
Doug
April 27th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Hi Doug, Thanks for the ideas and questions-it does help to try to figure this out. No, I have not had any pain shoot down toward my little toe. No, pressing all around my heel does not cause any pain. Really the only condition that causes pain is when I straighten my leg and then dorsiflex my foot–yikes! That hurts. Bend my leg at the knee and I can dorsiflex all I want with no pain which makes me think it is plantar fasciitis which I likely caused by walking irregularly for the past 4 weeks. Seems like the process of trying to walk while the AT heals has now caused a new ailment. Funny thing about the shoes is that I have not been wearing them much as they don’t fit he corporate dress code so can’t wear them at work. If you or anyone else has any ideas, suggestions I’m happy to hear them. From what I can find on plantar fasciitis I should rest, ice, take ibuprofen and wait it out. Maybe in a few days it will be getting better. One can still hope!
April 27th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
I had the location wrong, I think. The pain is on the bottom of your foot, not the back of your heel where the tendon joins the bone? Is it on one side or the other, or right in the middle?
Doug
April 27th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Hi Doug,
I had a bit of heel pain while wearing my removable boot. It has since gone away. Come to think of it, I also had a bit of heel pain when I was back in two shoes. I’m not 8 months Post OP with no pain at all. I ruptured my AT last August. I’m glad to report it has healed fine. Still working on getting the strength back as it was Pre AT injury. My girl friend tells me I look like I walk normal, but sometimes I feel I’m stepping to far with my left leg. I may have developed that with the walking boot. She says I walk fine so it might all be in my head. Again, no pain in heal. Past few months I’ve had a sting or two, but other than that, no problems. I’m able to do some jogging. I also work on getting muscle back to what it was before injury.
Good luck
Glen
San Diego
April 28th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Doug–The heel pain is right on the bottom of the heel in the middle of the heel. It’s a little better today but still hurts. I did not walk as much today and when I did I slowed it down and was more careful to roll through on the ball of my foot which seems to help. Hopefully a few more days taking it easy and I can then get back to working to build up calf strength. I am hoping to be able to run soon, but that still seems a ways off.
April 28th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Hi Bode,
That symptom of your knee’s angle having such an effect on the dorsiflexion pain sounds like it should mean something important, but I can’t add it up. If that’s a feature of plantar fasciitis, it’s news to me. (But then the medical libraries are full of stuff I don’t know.) I hope your PT can figure it out and help you get rid of it. If not, maybe a physical medicine and rehab doc with an interest in sports medicine can figure it out, if it gets annoying enough.
I had a nice “first” last Friday while biking, getting out of the saddle going up a hill. I was so busy being careful, though, it felt really awkward. But hey, it’s a start.
Good luck with that heel,
Doug
April 29th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Hi Doug–Great news on your biking up hills standing on those pedals! I’m looking forward to that day in the future. Well my PT thinks my heel pain is from a “fat pad” on the bottom of my heel that is somehow inflamed/agitated and I’m getting pain only when engaging the gastrocnemius muscle as it is pulling on the fat pad causing pain. I told him that it does not hurt when standing and stretching it and he posited that’s because the weight of my body is holding the fat pad firm not letting it move. Seems reasonable to me. So now I just have to be careful how I move to avoid stretching the leg straight unless I have weight on it to avoid the stabbing pain. Also, trying to recover from another intense PT session-the STIM really worked the leg today and I’m feeling the mild pains this evening. I suppose this means it will be stronger tomorrow and I’ll be a bit closer to my next bike ride. For now, it’s time to rest.
September 7th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Hi bode,
How’s your heel now?….Was searching the web for my heel pain when i came across your post. I had the same condition as u for 1 week now. Before this, i was under going some treatment on my sprained ankle. The pain in the heel came suddenly. Pressing all around my heel does not cause any pain, the only condition that causes pain is when I straighten my leg and then dorsiflex my foot.
Am really worry now. What did your doctor say about this condition?…has your heel recovered?
hope to hear from u
cheers
September 10th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Hi Ken,
My heel pain has been gone for months now which I am very grateful for. It was not fun. It lasted about 2-3 weeks. My PT said it was the “fat pad” on my heel that was agitated due to the way I was walking with a limp/gimp. He used the Graston tool on it and massaged it every visit for 2-3 times and I rested it, tried to walk more normal and in a few weeks it totally went away. It’s very frustrating at the time it occurs but as with most ailments, our bodies are amazingly adept at healing themselves (of course with some added help from the docs and PTs). I hope your heel pain subsides soon. Be careful and patient and it should heal up! (pardon the pun)
Cheers,
Bode
September 11th, 2009 at 7:46 am
hi bode,
Happy to know that u had recover from the heel pain and also made great progress in your ATR. It had been 2 weeks for me. No sign of recovery for my heel pain yet.
Which part of your legs does your PT massage?…..u do feel pain when he use the Graston tool on your leg?…..can i use my hand to massage my leg instead of the tools.
hope u can enlighten me
cheers
Ken
September 11th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Hi Ken, I no longer go to PT but when I did he would use that Graton tool on my calf muscle and all around the AT and my heel. I could never really tell if it worked or not and yes it did hurt but not too bad. I have heard from others that massaging the AT itself can help loosen it up and help with healing. I did that for a while but not lately. I think it does help. Good luck on your recovery! Cheers, Bode
May 30th, 2010 at 8:51 am
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