Question
About a year ago, my husband fell off of a ladder and shattered his calcaneous - heel.  He had a plate and 11 screws put in.  One year later he is still in agonizing pain,  He is ok in the morning, but by 11 am he can barely walk.  Almost any type of shoe is uncomfortable for him.  He is seriously considering removing the hardware.  Do you think that this might help alleviate his pain?  Also, if he does remove the hardware, will he then permanently weaken his heel bone (this is my main fear)?
Thank you for your time.

Answer
This Chicago, South Loop & Elmhurst Podiatrist of AnklenfootCenter.com says.......

Dear Elizabeth,

The pain in his foot/heel, that your husband is experiencing sounds like post traumatic arthritis of the joints of the calcaneous. This pain is exaggerated by increased weight and activity. If your husband is overweight-he needs to lose weight ASAP. He also needs to reevaluate his activity level(for example if he is an electrician and travels and stands a lot)and possibly decrease it or modify it.
It is not usual for screws to hurt -unless if they go into the joint, or if they have moved.
If the calcaneous is healed, the screws and plate can come out. An x-ray should be able to confirm this.
He probably will need some kind of special shoes with comfortable orthotics/orthoses-whether he has additional foot surgery or not.
Go get at least one surgical opinion from a podiatrist who is Board Certified in both Foot and Ankle surgery-He/she will be able to give you the best options.
If the original surgeon said he would be pain-free,then go to another Doctor for an opinion.
The podiatrists of AnkleNFootCenter.com are specialists in these kind of difficult cases.
We are located in Chicago & Elmhurst.
Hope This Helps
Good Luck!

Dr George Tsatsos & Svetlana Zats
Podiatrist Chicago 60618 & Elmhurst 60126 Podiatrists
Board Certified in Foot and Ankle Surgery & Orthopedics
New South Loop Location-Chicago 60661
AnkleNFoot.com
Runnersdoc.com
BabyFootDoc.com

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