Radio Frequency Ablation for Plantar Faciitis

kscarlett24

Hi. I was wondering if anyone out there either has had radio frequency ablation done or knows someone who did to treat plantar faciitis? I have done physical therapy, wore a walking cast, rested, iced, massaged and strengthened, all to no avail. I still have pain, it just won't seem to heal. My podiatrist suggested this, saying it is a permanent solution and has an 85% success rate. But the idea of poking holes in my ligaments makes me a little nervous about it. I was hoping to hear from anyone who has some first or 2nd hand knowledge of this. Thanks.

appleshells

I have never heard of it but I suffer from plantar faciitis also. Interested in seeing if anyone has done it.........

smaihlee

Last time I was in the podiatrist's office I noticed a poster on the wall about the RF. It made it sound like the best thing since sliced bread but I figured it was for advanced cases like yours where all therapies had been exhausted.

I have experienced PF in both feet and have received cortisone injections with much relief (each one lasted a year+), though my podiatrist told me that if the problem persisted we would have to look at custom orthotics.

I know part of my problem is weight, and part of it is my footwear. I wear a women's size 12 wide, which is quite difficult to fit. I'm also just shy of 6' tall, so I avoid any type of heel for both the added height and discomfort factors. Adding an orthotic just didn't sound like an option that I wanted to pursue so I hoped the shot would last forever (ha ha).

I started having flare-ups again after I joined the gym and decided to look into self-treatment. I just googled it and found lots of interesting stuff out there! One of them involved an ancient Eastern method of "scraping" the foot using a bone wedge that looked kinda like my plastic pot scraper. You may have already tried this, but I have found the most success in rolling my foot over a tennis ball several times a day. It's one of those things that hurts really bad at first but then when you realize it's helping you are inclined to continue. I started out doing this in a seated position and then moved to standing as I could tolerate it.

Anyway, I am very curious about the RF also and hope that someone will chime in here, one way or another! Also curious as to the cost of this type of treatment :O

Docmahi

I dont have much experience with podiatry outside of seeing the occasional diabetic foot infection - but man why not go for it, seems like you have tried just about everything else, as general advice you should always ask your physician for references of people who have had the procedure, they are usually more then happy to provide

best wishes! If you get it post some feedback, I'm gonna have to go read up on it some more