Beginning when I was about 12, I had problems with both feet. I could not run more than 20 feet
without extreme pain. My feet both pointed outwards. Flexibility was 10% or less in all planes.
My original orthopedic surgeon suspected a tarsal coalition, but x-rays, cat scans, MRIs all came
back negative. I went on a 5 year trek of over a dozen doctors of varying specialities, including
Dr. Emans of the Boston Children's Hospital, a podiatrist, neurosurgeon, chiropractor, and many
others. Some had no clue. Some wanted to cut me open and if they didn't like what they saw, cut all
the nerves to my foot right then. Dr. Emans put my left foot in a cast for 4 weeks to immobilize it.
During those 4 weeks, I felt NO pain whatsoever... I could EVEN UN! I cried when they took it off,
because it put me right back in my old predicament.
ANti-inflammatory meds.
Painkillers.
Orthopedic shoes.
I've been through them all.
By the time all the exams were done over the years, the results and films would of made a stack
about 4 feet high... Had one of the knife-happy nerve cutters not conviently lost most of them after
I told him where he could shove his scalpel. I've even gone so far as to have a bone scan, tested
for lupus, MD, diabetes, and arthritis.
Like you, the fact that I walk differently (my left foot still points out to the point of causing
knee and hip pain) has caused me no end of grief. I walk along the inside ridge of my foot, so
pronounced that you can see the results based on the tread-depth of my boots.
In January of 1992, when I was 17 my orthopedic surgeon decided a subtalar fusion was the best
option for removing the pain. It would not restore any of my flexibility, but I would be able to
live a more normal pain-free life. When he operated he found a large amount of hard cartilage in the
talar/subtalar area where the bones had never formed properly. This hard cartilage was cut out and a
pin was placed in to fuse the 3 bones together.
After the surgery I felt very little difference... Over the years however I've noticed an increasing
difference in the feet, to the point now that in 2003 at the age of 28, the difference is HUGE. I
just finished an 8 hour shift on my feet doing physical labor. My right foot is sore and stiff but
not bad. My left one..... .well, I wish I had a guilotine right now to just chop it off, because it
would be less painful. Every insurance coveraage I've had as an adult considers it as elective
surgery as I can still walk and function mostly normal. If I want to have it done now, I'm looking
at about $25k between the surgery and followups.. As well as another 3-6 months out of work.
I can honestly say that I know how you feel... I'm going through it myself. Right now my left foot
pain is so bad I can't even walk without holding onto something... My foot just won't support me.
I would suggest going to an orthopedic surgeon to be checked out. He was the closest to hitting the
right diagnosis, and has fixed my right foot well enough that he is now in my will in thanks.
I don't know why I keep settling for the jobs that I'd do... I guess I keep hoping that the next
time will be different, and I will finally be successful in having a normal life.
I wish you the best in your quest for a cure.
Master of all Photosohp said:My right foot sure has seen better days. In the old days we used to get along real well, and she
served me better than even the left foot. But alas, those glory days are over, and at the tender
age of 26, my right foot is officially forfeit.
These days, she aches non-stop. A hack podiatrist said I may have planter fasciitis, then told me
the solution was to take anti-inflammatory agents (he suggested ibuprofen). Yeah right. The second
hack podiatrist took an X Ray, determined there was nothing wrong, then said an orthopedic shoe
might solve the problem. No dice.
A year after the problem began, it is worse than ever. I now walk on the side of my foot, which is
already starting to make me bow legged on the right side. Favoring the foot, or correcting it
myself by walking differently, will only continue to damage the leg on the long run. My knee will
eventually feel the strain of being used at an awkward angle (it has already started to click),
and my hip probably will give out 20 or 30 years from now. And the left leg, now my favorite, will
soon feel the wear and tear as it is now used in lieu of my right foot for leg-related activities.
There is no solution to this problem. The ultimate conclusion is that the foot is forfeit, the
first casualty of what has always been an essentially fit body. Goodbye dear foot, you served
me well.
