“Can heel pain be treated surgically?”
Lately, I have been experiencing a sharp pain in my heel on my right foot. I have diabetes. Will I need surgery to correct this pain?
27 Answers
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Not always. It’s very hard to assess what is causing your heel pain without more information. I would encourage you to seek out your local podiatrist and get down to the point. Pain does not always equal surgery.
Not necessarily. The vast majority of heel pain symptoms can be successfully treated with conservative (non-surgical) treatments. Heel surgery should be a "last resort" treatment option, and especially because you are diabetic. Consult with a Board Certified Podiatric Surgeon who is Board Certified by the American Board of Foot & Ankle Surgeons.
With any pain, especially when diabetic, it is best to see a specialist for a thorough clinical evaluation. Your pain could come from many sources including nerve entrapment, inflammation of soft tissues, an area of high pressure, foreign body, etc. Any person with diabetes should be seen ASAP if they are having pain or problems with their feet.
Only after proper evaluation and conservative care has been attempted
Majority of heel pain issues do not require surgery. If it is heel spur or plantar fasciitis which is most common will likely be treated with NSAIDs, steroid injections, stretching, orthotics ect. Only if issues do not resolve with conservative therapy after 6 months or so will surgery be discussed
Need an eval.
Hi, you don't necessary need surgery first for heel pain, physical therapy, icing, stretching, and there is injections also. Sometimes due to diabetes the nerve pain can become worse DM neuropathy or if there is any herniated discs in the lower back area. If all fails then you can look into possible having surgery, but that might not help either, depending on if its pain due to neuropathy from diabetes or lower back disc herniations. Hope this helps.
Usually no you do not need surgery for heel pain. This is well treated in the clinic with physical therapy, steroid injections or other ways to fix it.
Not always there is conservative treatment call that should be exhausted before the topic of surgery is broached.
Heel pain is secondary to many conditions, The most common is plantar fasciitis, whereby excessive weight or bone-foot structure ,flat foot/high arch that places excessive stress on the plantar fascia//muscle tissues that hold the arch in a suspended position, The excessive repetitive stress contributes to the painful symptoms One simple solution is to wear shoes with a custom made orthotics or OTC soft cushion..
85% of heel pain is treated conservatively, but it depends on the cause of the heel pain, as heel pain can be associated with many causes such as arthritic spurs, inflammation of the heel cord, neurological causes such as back conditions or inflammation of nerves to the foot, and, of course, stress fractures of the heel or a growth in the bone of the heel. In the end, some need surgical intervention, but it most don’t. It all depends on the cause.
Surgery is an option but only after conservative care fails. Go see a podiatrist to be evaluated and to discuss treatment options.
The good news is 9 out of 10 people will get better without surgery for heel pain regardless of having diabetes. There are many non surgical treatments that will help you prior to any surgical intervention. Starting with a good diabetic shoe and insert along with stretching can relieve your pain. This can be taken care of with a foot doctor visit for evaluation.
Often this could be treated successfully with conservative treatments
Dr. Jay Mermelstein
Podiatrist (Foot and Ankle Specialist) | Primary Podiatric Medicine
Mount Vernon, NY
You need an accurate diagnosis before you treat your feet. Diabetes especially if not well controlled is an added risk factor. Most heel pain can be treated without surgery.
No. See your Podiatrist
Most heel pain is caused by a condition called plantar fasciitis. Plantar fasciitis rarely needs to be treated surgically. The plantar fascia becomes tight over time, and gets inflamed when there is excessive activity or non supportive shoes are worn. Typically, addressing the tightness with stretching, with stretching exercises, physical therapy, or by a device called a night splint; combined with rest and antiinflammatories (ie. Icing, topical anti-inflammatory medication, oral anti-inflammatory medication, or cortisone injection) can relieve symptoms fairly effectively.
His ally is no surgery. Stretching, icing, NSAIDS, even injections. There are surgical procedures as well ..... as a last resort!!!
The pain you are experiencing can be due to many different causes. This type of pain is most of the time treated with non surgical conservative care.
It can be handled surgically, but usually resolves with stretching.
Could be diabetic neuropathy which surgery would not fix. Could be plantar fasciitis which if conservative treatment fails then surgery could help.
No. 95% of heel pain can be treated very successfully without surgery.
Almost all foot and ankle conditions have multiple options for treatment ranging from conservative to surgical. There are many factors that help make the determination as to whether surgery would be necessary.
In my practice, it is rare to perform surgery for the most common type of heel pain, Plantar Fasciitis. 99% of the time I am able to resolve the problem conservatively if this is the diagnosis. However, there are other diagnoses that could cause heel pain. Your Diabetes may or may not come into play. But being Diabetic, you should never hesitate to see your Podiatrist about the pain, as there could be something more serious happening. The worst thing would be for you to end up having an amputation because you ignored the problem. Make an appointment with your Podiatrist immediately
Pain in the heel can have several causes. I recommend you make an appointment to be evaluated by a Foot and Ankle Surgeon (Podiatrist) so a diagnosis can be made and the appropriate treatment can be started. Being a diabetic, you should be evaluated on a regular basis
Not necessarily. Most heel pain can and should be treated non-surgically. See your doc about support, physical therapy, stretching, and orthotic options.
