Foot / Ankle :: Nerve Pain On Top Of Foot
Aug 6, 2013
It has been quite a while since I have been on here. I had surgery on Mar 14 to repair a tendon and release the nerve that runs on the top of my foot. I have had severe nerve pain since the surgery. I could only get so far in rehab - because of the severe nerve pain. I had a cortisone shot about five weeks ago - it was somewhat helpful. I can finally let a sheet rest on the top of my foot.
However, it is my right foot. It is extremely painful to drive - and basically impossible for me to be able to drive more than 25 miles without pulling over to alleviate the pain from the nerve. I still cannot wear anything more than sandals as I cannot let anything touch the top of my foot. Now mind you, it has improved some. It used to be the entire top of my foot. Now it is mainly the toes and about 3 inches up from my toes - it is so severe it has put me in tears more than once. I have been living with some friends of mine - about 25 miles from where I work. The problem is that I own a house about 52 miles from work - one way. There is no way I can drive that far - and don't think that will get better anytime soon.
I see my surgeon again on 8/16/13. I am willing to try another cortisone shot - but someone else has strongly recommended I cut the nerve to alleviate the pain. If he cuts the nerve - I will not have any feeling on the top of my foot for the rest of my life. I have asked him if I would be able to drive, etc....and he commented that cutting the nerve might actually make driving/pain worse?
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I had ankle surgery to repair my medial malleolus back on May 8. It was fairly routine--just 2 screws. I was in a cast for a week, then was put into a boot but told to treat it like a cast--NO weight bearing for 7 weeks, keep the boot on 24/7 unless in the bathtub. I followed directions religiously.
I did notice that when I pressed on certain areas of the foot, I would feel a sharp pain. This occurred in the heel (from the bottom), toes (again, from the bottom, primarily the foot pad below the pinky, second, and 4th toes). When I asked the doctor about this, he said (around week 5) that it was just because I hadn't been using the foot.
The problem persisted, and this week, week 7, I was cleared to start partial weight-bearing--walking in the boot while taking approximately 1/2 the weight off my foot via the crutches. I don't have ankle pain to speak of (or at least, not often and only if I overdo it), but I have terrible shooting pains in my heel and toes as I step. It's OK if I take most of the weight on the crutches, but as soon as I go to more than just a little weight on the boot, the pain starts.
This week I also started PT and the therapist told me this is nerve pain--not uncommon after surgery (don't know why the doctor couldn't have told me this, but OK). I couldn't get much of an idea from her how long this will persist or if there is anything I can do about it.
I'm doing my ankle and leg exercises (those are mostly non-weightbearing at this point) and they are going great. The ankle is clearly healing well. But I don't see how I can progress to full weight bearing (supposed to try that next week!) when much more than a little pressure on the foot results in this nerve pain!
Help! Does anyone have experience with this? Is there anything I can do to speed things along? I need to return to my second job (barefoot hoof trimming for horses--how I broke the ankle!) ASAP and I'm fearful this will slow my progress to a crawl! The doctor is useless.
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I am 7 1/2 weeks post of from Flat Foot Surgery and the outside area of foot from where my incision ends from the double calcaneal osteotomy up to my little toe the soft tissue is halfway numb and very painful. Has anyone else experienced this and if so how long did it last.
I am not sure how long it takes the soft tissue to heal to a point where it does not hurt when you are not walking. Or is what I am feeling nerve pain. I started PT this week and am PWB. My doctor thinks I will be in a shoe in 3 weeks and I don't know at this rate how that could be possible. I am icing a majority of the day for sure after I do my PT exercises.
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I have been dealing with pain in my feet for several years which has gotten progressively worse. The past 6 months or so have been so bad that 3 months ago my doctor prescribed Gabapentin which helped significantly for a brief few weeks, but I am at the highest levels now and there is a new pain in my right ankle that will just not go away. I am weaning off of the Gabapentin so that I can try Lyrica. I am being scheduled for a nerve conduction test to try and determine what is wrong exactly. I am not diabetic. I believe it is from too many years of standing/walking on concrete (I'm a caterer/chef) without proper foot support. My doctor seems to support this opinion, she does not seem to have any answers. Just had blood work done, I am in excellent health otherwise! Am so worried that I'll be unable to continue working. Pain is relentless. Cannot live on pain pills, just do not want to go down that road! Anyone out there have experience with this sort of problem? How about Lyrica?
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I'm a 38 year old with ankle and foot problems all my life. I was born with flat feet and I was always spraining my ankles. I acquired PTTD/Flat Foot on my left about a year ago and finally was diagnosed by an orthopedic foot and ankle expert. He recommended surgery and after a second opinion I decided I might as well get this taken care of so that I can go back to a normal life of walking through the streets of Europe.
I had my surgery about 2.5 weeks ago and I wanted to lend advice to those about to take on this crazy surgery. Firstly, the morning of surgery when the anesthesiologist was performing the nerve block it hurt like hell and made me even more panicked about the surgery. The relaxing medication they gave me did nothing to settle my nerves. I woke up from surgery a few hours later and I could feel all sorts of shocking pains coming from my foot. I asked if I should be feeling all the pain and they said that the nerve block failed. The anesthesiologist was busy for another hour and so I writhed in pain (crying hysterically) for the hour and vomited multiple times due to the extra anesthetic they gave me due to the failed nerve block.
Once the new anesthesiologist came she figured out that my nerve split into two and the other guy had not seen this split. After she was finished it was completely numb and I was worn out. I was sent home. Over the next day I vomited profusely, found out that I cannot breath when I take Oxycontin, I lost balance and fell on my foot and I was taking anything I could get my hands on for constipation. I finally found the foul tasting milk of magnesia and I can now go to the bathroom every few days.
My pain was managed by a morphine twice a day while in the splint, but now that I am in the cast my heel is killing me especially at night and the dr gave me hydrocodone which didn't touch the pain last night. Is it normal to have more pain at this point?
When will I be fairly pain free and when will I be able to leave the house? I live in Santa Barbara and i have an ocean view so I should not be complaining but i am feeling pretty horrid and ready to get out. When I think about leaving I worry about falling again and having my throbbing leg down.
Am I alone in all of this? Many experiences I have been reading say that after 5 days everything was hunky dory.
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I am currently 8 weeks post op from a very extensive flat foot reconstructive surgery . I was excited to start partial weight bearing this week starting w 25 percent in a boot.
My problem is I have sharp pains coming from the bottom of my heel which I am thinking may be from the screws from the calcaneal osteotomy. This is making it very difficult to put any pressure on my foot when weight bearing ?
Has anyone experienced this ? Did it go away on its own? Was there anything that helped this . I am afraid I will not be able to proceed the wt bearing with this continued heel pain.
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I am 7 and a half weeks post op after a Lapidus & an Akin procedure. I was in cast until last week and have managed a tennis type shoe and a sandal on so far.
The swelling has been bad as expected with full weight bearing, but the real pain is in the ball of my foot and my big toe does not lie flat, but rather sits elevated. I think the ball of the foot under the big toe is swollen so that may be the cause? I can only walk for a few minutes properly before the pain becomes too much and I am limping and walking on the outside of my operated foot. I can usually cope with pain so know this must be fairly severe.
I am doing my toe bending exercises and think that already the range of motion is not too bad.
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It is my right foot only. Heel pain, and basically all of my foot. I wear inserts plus an extra heel cushion. I been to the foot doctor and gave me a antibiotic and he recommended icing and heating and stretching bottom of foot. Any other suggestions?
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I had PTTD reconstructive surgery on Feb. 24th. I am still NWB and in the hard cast.
I have been good about icing and elevating, and now the swelling is rarely an issue. However, now that the cast is much looser, I am very aware of the feeling that my foot is turning inwards... as in...It feels like i'm "standing" on the outside of my foot. If I prop the foot up so that the bottom of my foot is all fully touching the bottom of the cast, I have significant pain along that outside area from what feels like right under my ankle to just below the ball of my foot. Is there any chance that I am healing "crookedly" due to the cast being loose? Although I can't put weight on it, just straightening my leg completely will cause that "rolling out" and pain.
On an unrelated note:
Is there anything that I can do for nerve pain at this point in my recovery? I am no longer taking the "heavy" pain medication. I am just taking Advil and Tylenol. I am finding, however, that these do nothing for the nerve pain. Is there anything that I can do besides going back to narcotics? I'm wary of taking them for too long, but the real issue is that I would rather be clear-headed.
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I will be having PTT surgery(calcaneal osteotomy, lateral lengthening, gastroc recession, tendon transfer) next week and am wondering about your experience with the nerve blocks, in my case a popliteal nerve block. The research from my OS's office shows 13% have residual nerve pain following the block. Most of the posts here show that patients are very happy they had a nerve block for their surgery. Has anyone had residual pain from one?
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I had broken my right calcaneus the doctor put 2 screws in. I'm at 8 weeks just started putting weight on it and walking with 1 crutch. Started doing stretching exercises. My question is I'm having pain in my foot now that I have started walking with 1 crutch. Very uncomfortable walking with boot so I changed to my tennis shoes with gel inserts.how long does it take before I can walk with little or no pain. Does anybody know.
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After having surgery on both the 4th and 5th metatarsal with plates and screws holding everything I have pain on the ball of my foot. I haven't yet started walking, I've been in no weight bearing. It's been three weeks and a half since surgery and the bottom of my foot really hurts when pressed upon. After almost a month this doesn't seem normal. Should I be worried. I will ask the doctor about this on my next visit when he pulls out the k wire.
The ball of my foot hurts also when I do toe exercise such as curling in and out.
Each visit to the doctor he tells me not to walk and put put weight on my foot. I tell him each time that I can't if I wanted to as it hurts to barely try.
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My foot still hurts when I walk, in a week I'll be 5 months post-op and I was suppose to see my surgeon on Friday but it got rescheduled to October 3rd. I'm trying to phone my surgeon to see if I can get an earlier appointment because October 3rd is really a long time to wait!
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I had reconstruction of my left foot. I am 7 1/2 weeks Post op. I was in the hospital for 4 days with a nerve block behind my knee and drugs through a pushbutton pump. pain was managed. I was sent home with perks and vicodin.
For the first week I was told to take the pain meds before I felt the pain which was every 4 hours. After the perks I was able to use vicaden, however I didn't like the vicodin so I went to tramadol. That was only for the first two weeks. My dr does not believe in hard drugs after that. I was in a cast for two week which was the worse for me😔I felt very confined and tight.
Went back to the Dr to only find out an additional 4 more weeks in the cast. Total of 8 weeks, I am now in a boot an able to bear 1/3 of my weight along with PT and exercises at home.Weight bearing is gradual. Takes 3 months for full weight bearing. It is a very long process with lots of patience.
My knee roller is a blessing.Before weight bearing I tried hopping on crutches and fell, please don't try that.
Be honest I haven't felt myself since surgery hope it's part of recovery...I would like to know if you feel not yourself yet after 7 weeks. I am the type of person that loves to run out every chance I get and sometimes I am not up to it because it's tons of work with the boot. I sincerely hope after 3 months I can work by myself. Let me know if anyone feels the same.
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Today the PT had me try a heel raise standing just on my operated foot and I could barely do anything. When I do both feet together it goes pretty well. Just curious to know how long it took others of you to reach that point where your foot & calf were strong enough to do it just on that one foot.
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Right, so i fell from a stairs which is at least 5-6 foot high and i have no idea how i landed on my heel first but i probably did as it's the only place where it hurts. I Can move my foot, rotate it and bend it and everything but i can't bear weight. The pain is not really in the middle of the heel but more to the left (Right foot). I can walk but i limp and i usually use the right side of my foot to bear weight and the part where it hurts is elevated a little so it looks kinda funny. Did i fractured my heel bone or is this just a sprain? It doesn't hurt when i'm resting, slightly pressing it but it hurts when i try walking using my heel. It has been more than 48 hours and I don't see any noticeable bruising or swelling as well.
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I know NWB means you're not allowed to touch the ground, but that is nearly impossible for me when I'm driving or sitting on the toilet
I'm 6'0 tall and my legs will hit the ground sometimes! I had a lapidus bunionectomy which is surgery on the first metatarsal, so I'm thinking maybe it's ok if I rest my heel or side of my foot to the ground every once in awhile? Does anyone else on NWB do this? If not, then how do you manage driving or goto the bathroom? Also has anyone ever had any complications from using your heel/side of foot a little bit?
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If you used both crutches and a knee walker after surgery, how much did you depend on your crutches? I tried using crutches today for my upcoming surgery, and I don't think I can go more than 15 feet with them because of elbow problems.
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I had a bunionectomy 6 days ago, been doing great, and just tripped in my living room, which resulted in a fall. I fell on the operated toe and of course wasn't wearing my surgical shoe. I'd guess it was pretty minor, some addition throbbing, but nothing extreme. The post-of sheet I got indicated to call the podiatrist immediately after bumping or injuring one's foot. It's evening now, so I'm curious if others here have experienced that, and if so, did you go back to see the doctor? Is it pretty safe to assume that all is still good if pain hasn't increased by the morning?
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I had a bunionectomy/osteotomy a week ago and as with basically everyone here, was instructed to elevate and ice that foot. Non-weight-bearing for 5 weeks, on crutches, and very minimal activity for the first 4 days. Now, I don't recall being told, not have I asked, when I might be able to try sitting with my foot down. I have it fully elevated (at least 6" above heart) around 95% of the day. When I take it down, it's only to have it flat on the couch, but not my feet on the floor. My first post-op appointment isn't for another 1.5 weeks when the sutures are removed, so I'm curious if I could maybe start having my operated foot down a few minutes or so here and there. I find in the mornings, after it's been propped up on 2 pillows all night, it starts out throbbing when blood flow first goes back to it, but then calms down after a few minutes.
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After a L5-S1 in October, I am left with residual left foot and partial leg nerve pain. In addition to numbness, my leg aches. My MRI looks clean, but neurosurgeon referred me to neurologist for possible nerve root injections. He also suspects the it may be radial sympathetic nerve issue. If nothing else, he's willing to take hardware out to see if that helps. I keep falling with my left foot so "numb," so I am frustrated. Is the device that scrambles pain. Â (can't think of it now) good for nerve pain? (Pain extends to my left lower back.) Has anyone had nerve blocks for nerve pain? Â I wouldn't have had surgery if I had known my mobility would have been compromised so much.
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