I’m glad you found my blog. I’m sorry that you are experiencing pain and swelling again. I wonder why your doctor hasn’t had you in physical therapy. It just seems logical since you were basically immobile with that foot for so long. I noticed that the muscles get weak very quickly. They also seem to strengthen quickly.

It seems that you and I are at almost the same place in our recovery time-wise. I too have the soreness and really can’t resume normal every day activity. It’s too much on my feet. Your incision is long so I’m not surprised you are having pain. I know that at one point my doctor said the pain I was experiencing was normal and part of the healing process. I hope that is the case with you.

One thing that I’ve read is that if we don’t stretch our foot/feet prior to putting weight on them after long periods of rest (especially getting up in the morning or the middle of the night) the plantar fascia gets reinjured. You may want to do a minute or two of stretching before getting up and perhaps start stretching regularly and see if that helps. It should definitely help with regaining flexibility in your foot.

Of course I’m not a doctor or licensed professional and none of what I’ve done to help in my recovery is ever meant to replace advice given by your doctor. Perhaps you can ask your doctor about physical therapy.

I’m going to add a new post to the blog with some exercise resources I’ve found. Hopefully they will be helpful to you. I hope you’ll keep in touch, Artie. We can go through this together.

On August 8, 2008 I also had a fasciotomy on my left foot. My scar is 3 1/2 inches long as my surgeon intended to release the fascia and also release the tibial nerve through the same incision. He ended up releasing the fascia , but not the tibial nerve. There were varicose veins wrapped around the nerve and he removed them instead of cutting the nerve.

I had a splint for about 10 days and had virtually no pain after the stitches and the splint were removed. Then came the hard cast for four more weeks. The cast pressed against my incision and was somewhat painful even after they added foam pads to cushion the area . My instructions while the splint and cast were on was to keep my foot elevated higher than my heart and absolutely no weight bearing activity on this foot. When the cast came off they gave me a boot. I was told to wear it and try to move into regular shoes as I could. No physical therapy or stretching exercise was recommended.

My recovery was going so well at this point that I could envision complete recovery in only a few days not weeks or months! Unfortunately after resuming two or three hours of more “normal” activities for several days the problems returned. The inside of my foot began to swell and the pain returned. I can elevate and ice my foot for several days and there is noticeable improvement. But the pain and swelling return every time I walk or stand for more than five or ten minutes or after wearing any footwear other than my loose fitting slippers.

I’m becoming very concerned. After nine weeks I seem to be back to square one. My next doctors visit is two weeks away and forget any help from him if not face to face in his office.

I’m not sure if I have re-injured my foot or if this is part of the normal healing process. Maybe you or someone reading your blog have had a similar experience or have suggestions.

After two years of dealing with this problem it is getting very old. I sympathize with all of you that have gone through this.

Thanks!

Artie