I’m leaning toward thinking your foot pain was or is caused muscles but remember this is my best long distance thought and I’m not a doctor.

Lots of folks don’t have much foot padding. I can always tell the ones who love to walk barefoot because they have thick well-cushioned soles.

Start massaging, rubbing and pressing on the muscles of your feet and lower legs. If you can, go to a professional massage therapist who can work deeply on those muscles (after warming them up.) Massage works better than stretching or any other therapy and is the first step in normalizing muscles so strengthening therapies can work.

If you can, have someone assess your posture or look sideways in a mirror. How is your posture? Do you look like you are downhill skiing? Is your upper back rounded forward?

Arch supports can be hard to adjust to when muscles are tight. Rolling feet on a tennis ball (or similar ball) while applying pressure can help foot muscles relax.

Do you have flat feet? This can throw your posture off and cause foot pain, leg pain and even pain in the neck!

It can take time for the swelling from surgery to go down enough so that the pain goes away. That’s usually 6 weeks or so. Have you asked your doctor when it will feel better? Have you asked him why it doesn’t yet?

Have you used cold therapy for your feet? That helps muscles relax and feel better. ( I am assuming you have no metal parts in your repaired ankle.)

I hope these long distance thoughts will help you, Elizabeth. The best I can think of right now is to get started with massage to correct your posture and work deeply into your leg and foot muscles. This just may be the ticket to help you get rid of your foot pain naturally.

Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach

i have been struggling with foot pain in both feet for about 5 years now– misdiagnosed as plantar fascitis for a long time (super rigid plastic custom orthotics that were even more painful, wore EVERY TYPE OF SHOE), and i have seen 2 podiatrists (complete idiots in my opinion who didn’t ever make the connection to tarsal tunnel) 1 rhumitologist (to rule out arthritis, etc), 1 physiologist, 2 physical therapists (1 post surgery, 1 pre surgery for 6 months who didn’t do anything helpful) and now my orthopedic surgeon. just a year ago i had the nerve conduction test which showed tarsal tunnel.

i had the surgery dec 19th , as well as an ankle reconstruction because of previous sprain and frequent “rolling”, and i have had no improvements to my symptoms dealing with foot pain, but i am positive i have tarsal tunnel because my doctor said my the muscle was super tight and my symptoms are exactly as listed (the “feeling like the foot doesn’t have enough cushion” is usually my biggest one, along with the bottoms of my feet always asleep and sharp heel/ball of foot pain)

now it is 2.5 months later and i am left wondering when will it ever get better! will it even? i am only 20 and this is ruining my life. what is the longest time you have heard for the surgery to take to “kick in”? i am so envious of those who say after 2 weeks it was better. i guess my real question is, after how long should i know that the surgery definitely didn’t work. any help would be appreciated.

thank you so much.

It’s good you are having the ultrasound. It may possibly be a cyst on the top of your foot causing your symptoms. But remember, I’m not a doctor and this isn’t a diagnosis–it’s my long distance thought.

Your knee pain may be caused by muscles that are tight in your leg or maybe from the way you are using your foot. Knee pain can also be caused by ligaments or other parts inside the knee. Your doctor can make this determination.

Therapeutic massage is the most non-invasive way to try to get rid of foot and knee pain. If the tests find nothing, that is a good sign that muscles are the cause.

I hope this helps you feel a bit better. Please let me know if you have more questions after you get the ultrasound results.

Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach

I might suggest it could be any of your guesses either in combination or alone. Tight buttock muscles can cause pain on the soles of the feet. They also cause sciatica sensations.

What would I do? I would start by working on the gluteal (buttock) muscles. If they are the cause, that is an easy fix and you would know pretty quickly. Here are directions on using a tennis ball as a massage tool:

http://www.simplebackpainrelief.com/sciatica/how-to-massage-gluteal-muscles-for-back-pain-relief/

And here’s an article about muscles near your waist that can also cause sciatica.

http://www.simplebackpainrelief.com/sciatica/which-muscles-in-your-lower-back-can-cause-sciatic-pain/

But I’m kind of leaning toward the tight gluteals because of your feet symptoms. That’s where I would suggest starting. And it is possible that if you have flat feet they are causing you to have tight gluteal muscles. You may need arch supports but maybe the ones you had (or the shoes you wore them in) weren’t quite right for you.

Let me know your progress after you ‘massage’ and relax your buttock muscles. You may find quite a bit of tenderness there initially. Let’s see if that’s the key to getting rid of the pain in your feet.

Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach

All good questions and I’m sorry to hear of your injury. As you know, I’m not a doctor. Here are my best thoughts:

1. Cortisone does weaken or soften the tissues but it also reduces the swelling which might take the pressure off the nerve. It could possibly take only one injection. And resting the foot to prevent movement may keep you from irritating the nerve and over time, the swelling will probably reduce on its own. (But casting the foot or giving you a built-up sole will throw your posture off and cause other problems so make sure to get both soles lifted to the same height.)

2. If the nerve is being impinged by bone realigning the bones of your heel could be the answer (Some chiropractors do adjustments of bones in the feet. Some osteopathic doctors also do ‘adjustments.’)

3. If muscles are entrapping the nerve, yes, manual therapy would help. If you get the nerve conduction test done you may get an answer to whether the nerve is being pinched by bone or by muscle/soft tissue.

But know what? Muscles move bones. And massage reduces swelling. So even if the entrapment is in/near/by bone I would have calf/heel/foot massage to reduce any muscles that are ‘too tight.”

4. Sounds like you already know that you need orthotics to support your arches. That will help you in any case. Running shoe stores usually carry a good, sturdy arch support. They are standard sized arches so the one that best fits YOUR foot may be a different size than the shoe you wear. You want an arch that makes you have arches. The problem with custom fitted orthotics is that sometimes they are made to support your dysfunction rather than to create correct support.

I have not had tarsal tunnel but I do have a crazy nerve in the heel of my flat foot (I have only one) and when I wear the arch supports from a running shoe store (They are Carbon Flex inserts) I have no nervy issues.

5. Softening and warming your calf muscles can be done with cold therapy. Cold/ice is generally the drug of choice for nerve pain. Heat for muscles 72 hours after injury. But if you try heat and it feels a bit worse you will know that’s the wrong therapy. I’m going with the ice.

If you relax your muscles with gentle stretching of your calf, icing your calf muscles, massaging them and supporting your arches to help align your heel bones I believe you will have benefit.

I think I got to all of your questions, Heather.

One more thing: I help people get rid of the pain naturally by explaining the HOW and WHY when I can. Conventional medicine pretty much treats symptoms and forgets the roles of muscles in pain syndromes. Rather than focusing on the horror stories be assured that your body will heal. You may need a little help as we discussed above and that’s okay. It can heal and I’m sure it will heal.

You’re welcome,
Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach

Yes, surgeries do traumatize tissues. Follow your instincts to keep moving. Sometimes the cast isn’t exactly perfectly comfortably placed.

Surgery isn’t normal so it is difficult to tell whether you are experiencing what you should or not.

Even micro-movements of your toes, foot and leg will help keep your blood and lymph flowing through the area. That will help reduce swelling.

And if it starts bothering you even more, get in contact with the surgeon even if it’s not time yet.

I hope you will soon feel better and that your tarsal tunnel surgery will be hugely successful.

Kathryn
The Pain Relief Coach