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Disks Rupture In Back, Constant Pain At Incision Site, Plantar Fasciitis. Done Surgery. What Is The Cause?
18 months ago I had 2 disks rupture in my back. I had surgery to repair the disks and to remove the fragments that had broken off and stuck into the surrounding nerves. Had a few other odd things done in the same area due to malformations since birth. Now I have almost constant pain at the incision sight which is not relieved by Aleve or Tylenol in high doses. I also woke up from surgery with a pain in my heal (like a bruise) that had intensified to the point of not being able to walk or stand for longer than about 15 minutes at a time. Ortho doctor said Plantar Fasciitis but it is worsening instead of getting better after 10 months. I'm at my wits end with being in pain and being restricted in what I can do. Any ideas as to what may be causing either issue? Best of all, I lost my insurance due to the back surgery so I have none. Thanks for any clues you may be able to offer
Fri, 23 Aug 2013
Hi, thanks for writing to HCM.
Constant pain at the operative site always indicates infection unless proved otherwise. So a detailed examination and appropriate investigations are necessary to establish a diagnosis of infection.
Regarding Plantar fascitis - use of soft heeled foot wear, self massaging the involved area, reducing the body weight & use of analgesic antiinflammatory medications will help. Intractable pain due to plantar fascitis can be effectively dealt with a local steroid injection at times.
Hope this information is helpful. Good day
Constant pain at the operative site always indicates infection unless proved otherwise. So a detailed examination and appropriate investigations are necessary to establish a diagnosis of infection.
Regarding Plantar fascitis - use of soft heeled foot wear, self massaging the involved area, reducing the body weight & use of analgesic antiinflammatory medications will help. Intractable pain due to plantar fascitis can be effectively dealt with a local steroid injection at times.
Hope this information is helpful. Good day
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Hi
Thank you for your question.
Constant pain at the incision site 18 months after surgery can come from either underlying infection or spinal instability. Infection always is one of the differential diagnoses when there is persistent pain. Given the course and the duration of your back pain, though infection can not be ruled out, I think spinal instability may be playing a role. What this means is when the first surgery was done some part of bone was removed to free the nerves and relieve compression. This over time can lead to increased mobility between the vertebrae particularly when more part of the 'facet joints' (joints between the vertebrae) is removed during surgery. I think this more likely is the cause of your pain given the fact that you also had few other things done for malformations. My recommendations are-
1 Standing Xrays of your spine
2 MRI of the spine
3 Try physical therapy
4 Medications like tramadol or cymbalta under supervision of a doctor
5 Epidural injections if none of the previous options is helpful.
Shoes with soft heel padding are advisable for plantar fasciitis. Analgesics prescribed by doctor for back pain can will also reduce this pain to some extent. Local injections of a steroid and local anesthetic solution in the heel is sometimes needed to control pain.
Hope this is helpful. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Thank you for your question.
Constant pain at the incision site 18 months after surgery can come from either underlying infection or spinal instability. Infection always is one of the differential diagnoses when there is persistent pain. Given the course and the duration of your back pain, though infection can not be ruled out, I think spinal instability may be playing a role. What this means is when the first surgery was done some part of bone was removed to free the nerves and relieve compression. This over time can lead to increased mobility between the vertebrae particularly when more part of the 'facet joints' (joints between the vertebrae) is removed during surgery. I think this more likely is the cause of your pain given the fact that you also had few other things done for malformations. My recommendations are-
1 Standing Xrays of your spine
2 MRI of the spine
3 Try physical therapy
4 Medications like tramadol or cymbalta under supervision of a doctor
5 Epidural injections if none of the previous options is helpful.
Shoes with soft heel padding are advisable for plantar fasciitis. Analgesics prescribed by doctor for back pain can will also reduce this pain to some extent. Local injections of a steroid and local anesthetic solution in the heel is sometimes needed to control pain.
Hope this is helpful. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
I find this answer helpful
1 Doctor agrees with this answer
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