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The most common type of heel pain we see in our office involves inflammation of the plantar fascia (i.e. plantar fascitis). The plantar fascia is a tendon-like structure on the bottom of the heel that extends from the heel to the toes. Patients often note that heel pain is more severe in the morning when they first step out of bed. Sometimes the pain will go away after a few steps. As the problem progresses, the pain will last all day. To understand your heel pain and treatments, one must first understand how we heal. Injury initiates the healing process. The first stage in the healing process is called the inflammatory stage. It is marked by inflammation and new blood vessel growth to the injured part. We must go through the inflammatory stage of healing in order to get well. When the heel pain does not improve, the inflammatory cells become less active (senescence). This is when acute heel pain (fascitis) converts to chronic heel pain (fasciosis).
When fasciosis is unresponsive to conservative, traditional heel treatments, then surgery may be the only alternative. There is a cutting edge technique to heel relief through the use of radiofrequency waves. The use of radiofrequency waves allows us to create a "cool" burn to the fascia, creating inflammation and a new blood supply to the injured fascia. This 'renewed' inflammation, in effect, converts the fasciosis back to fascitis and puts the patient in a more favorable position to heal. The surgery is effective 92% of the time.
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