Heel Spur Surgery Risks

Risks for Invasive surgeries

Common Complications to Invasive Surgery:

infection
bleeding
post treatment pain
extended healing time
nerve damage
post-op change in the structure of the treated foot

One of the more common complications of fascia release type surgeries ( EPF included ) is that the arch may fall more. It is therefore recommended that arch support be used after an invasive surgery.

There have also been several peer reviewed journal articles that suggest that release surgery should NOT be performed on people with flat feet. Paper number 184 at the 1996 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons stated that the lateral side of the arch dropped 2.6 mm in surgeries where only the medial band of the fascia was cut, this could possibly result in lateral arch pain after surgery. The medial side of the arch was observed dropping 4mm. This indicates that the release surgery creates additional stress on the lateral edge of the foot.

It should be noted that, with any invasive surgery, a nerve may be cut during surgery or inflammation from surrounding tissue may put additional pressure on the nerve. This could result in loss of sensation ( numbness ), pain and/or tingling in the foot. It is not necessarily permanent damage.