Those words a podiatrist loves to hear

Today in my Toronto podiatry office, I overheard those magic words, “My foot feels perfect, absolutely no pain”, as a patient was being brought into a treatment room.

They were coming from a lovely 70 year old lady, whose foot problems I have had the privilige to treat for almost 18 years.  She has had heel pain, or plantar fasciitis on and off for all those years.  Plantar fasciitis is an irritation or an inflammation of a broad ligament called the plantar fascia, which runs from the heel to the toes and helps to support the arch.  When the part of the ligament that attaches to the heel bone, or calcaneus , becomes over stretched, over used or traumatized, it can cause pain at the heel or arch.  Most people will feel it with the first few steps in the morning and following rest.

I originally had great success with this lady by making her orthotics to improve the mechanics of her feet and relieve the pull of the plantar fascia, along with performing a cortisone injection which relieved the inflammation.  She told me that she was pain free for a number of years but she returned to my office in May, 2012 complaining of a recurrence of the plantar fasciitis in her right foot.  I had not seen her since 2003.

She told me that the heel has been bothering her for five years, and getting worse.  She saw another podiatrist who made orthotics but this did not relieve her pain.

I told her that she would be a good candidate for Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy.  This is a high intensity sound wave modality that is performed with a local anesthetic.  I have been using this shock wave unit, with great success, since the spring of 2004.  It is particularly effective for  chronic plantar fasciitis, which is plantar fasciitis that has been present for more than several months and has failed other conservative treatments such as Custom foot orthotics, physiotherapy, injections, and anti-inflammatory medications.  I find that more than 75% of patients with chronic plantar fasciitis will experience anywhere from 50% to a 100% improvement following only one shock wave treatment,  even if the pain has been present for several years.  At the time, she said her pain registered 9.9 out of 10 on the visual analog pain scale.  I performed the shock wave treatment for her on July 18, 2012.  

I saw her for her first check up on August 21, 2012.  At that time she told me she was experiencing less than half the pain than she was experiencing one month earlier.

Today, on October 2, 2012 she told me those magic words, “My foot feels perfect, absolutely no pain”.

Those are the words a podiatrist loves to hear.

If you, a family member or a friend suffer from heel or arch pain due to plantar fasciitis or other foot problems including Bunions, hammer toes, Ingrown Toenails. or bone spurs, please call my friendly staff at 416-486-9917 to set up a private consultation so that you too may walk without pain.