Question
hi, july 07 hurt my right foot while playing tennis.  airborne came down and thought i twisted ankle. went to the dr. right away.  turns out somehow the injury after all said and done is at the bottom of the foot.  plantar f-something.  foot Dr. gives me a shot. nasty.  never recovers right.  have had orthodics for a month. adjusted well except the injury is very apparently not gone!!  Dr. gives another shot after a month w/orthodics 5 days ago 4/01/08. very nasty-don't know why so painful when a dentist shoots into the mouth not nearly as painful.  anyway, i want to know if he could possibly shot into a NERVE because there is another pain now.  If he shot into the nerve can this cause permanant damage?  have you ever heard of this happening?  I can not touch the area w/out wincing and when i do gingerly it weirdly tingles up near my toes. i feel it all the time now where the original pain faded in and out before.  I am so upset that this is a new by product injury.  I never ever had issues w/my feet before.  he said i could do the treadmill after 1 day but i decided to let the anti-inflammatory shot do its thing and skipped it. even the orthodics now seem to irritate it. I have not yet played tennis because this just doesn't feel healed.  now w/the shot which i was assured should get rid of the leftover pain in conjunction w/expensive plaster made orthodics i feel worse w/a possible new complication!!!  i made them take an mri in dec/jan. because it felt like something worse but the results showed nothing and we continued this course.  I've bought shoes from redwing stores etc. as i said i have never had foot problems before and was assured that this was the usual protocol.  i am very freaked out about the shot-i did not feel like this after the first one.  the way it feels i am fearful of my vacation at the end of this month.  please tell me if a shot could be given in such a way as to worsen a condition.. this is not a gotcha for my Dr. i just want an opinion because he is one of those hard to talk to Dr. i gave this a week and he told me i should feel fine in a day and would probably NOT need a shot before my vacation. he is closed today but i called and told him my concern on his machine. its been 5 days and extremely scary and frustrating.  help. thanks  j.

Answer
Hi J.,

So it is likely an injury of the plantar fascia. I'm assuming that the MRI was OK.  If you had a shot and developed pain in the toes there has likely been irritation of one of the nerves, likely the medial plantar nerve.  This can happen with an injection.  Nerves will repair over time but it could take several weeks or even longer.  If your Dr is not communicating I would see someone else.  Anything that irritates should be discontinued for a while.  That includes orthotics, shoes etc.  Ice the heel 3 times per day for about 10-15 minutes.  Try getting a soft silicone gel pad for your shoes in the heel area.  If it does not resolve see another podiatrist.

Also, you may want to have another dr look at the mri and potentially repeat the mri.  It has been a while since the injury and I would expect some improvement.

Sincerely,

Marc Katz, DPM
Tampa, FL
Advanced Podiatry
www.thetampapodiatrist.com
www.tampacryosurgery.com


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