Angela Godfrey developed pain in the back of her foot, close to her heel, which became severe and debilitating.
Angela, a 54-year-old PA in investment banking, explains her search for a diagnosis and successful treatment at the London Foot and Ankle Centre.
About two years ago, I started to get pain in my right foot, next to my heel under my foot in the soft tissue. It was a bit of a mystery because there was no fall or injury to trigger it – the pain just developed one day and quickly worsened. It became an all-consuming, pulsating throb and my foot never felt comfortable for long – it always hurt and after a while, my back started to hurt too.
The first surgeon I saw said I should have surgery, but didn’t really explain what would be involved, nor did he seem very confident that it would work. I wanted to try other approaches before going down that route. I tried orthotics in my shoe and physiotherapy. I would also massage my foot by running a ball over the arch and that provided some relief, although only temporary. I had a cortisone injection and that did block the pain, but only because it made my foot numb.
You get to a point where it takes over your life. I was forever propping my foot up on the desk, using ice and the massage ball to relieve the pain and taking ibuprofen every single day. As a friend once said to me – ‘foot pain is bad pain’.
I didn’t feel confident in the first surgeon I had seen, so I did my own research online and found Martin Klinke at the London Foot and Ankle Centre. An MRI scan showed that I have an extra or ‘accessory’ peroneum bone, which is located on the outer edge of the foot, just past the heel. Only a minority of people have this accessory bone and for many of these, it does not cause problems. But in my case, the accessory bone was growing into the tendon, making the tendon very painful, inflamed and even starting to shred it.
Knowing this made me realise – no wonder I was in so much pain. This extra bone is small – about the size of a five pence coin – but it was causing a lot of pain and damage.
I had my surgery in January 2013. Mr Klinke explained that he would remove the accessory bone and repair the tendon. After having been in so much constant pain, I found the recovery from surgery quite straightforward. I spent one night in hospital then went home wearing the Aircast boot. For the first two weeks after surgery, you need to keep your foot elevated as much as possible. I took three weeks off work, but was certainly ready to go back after that as I was starting to feel a little stir crazy.
It has been really important to build up the muscle strength I’d lost during the two years before surgery. I’ve been working with a physiotherapist on calf stretching exercises and balancing on one foot at a time. I continued to wear the Aircast Boot to and from work for six weeks after surgery.
It is now four months since my surgery and it still feels incredible and wonderful to be completely pain free. It makes me realise how, before surgery, foot pain had taken over my life. I am so glad that I followed my instincts to seek a second opinion and found Mr Klinke. Opening up the joint showed that the accessory bone had started to shred the tendon. Left much longer, the tendon could have ruptured and that would have made it much more difficult to repair and recover.
I would also say to others – don’t put up with foot pain. Seek a professional opinion sooner rather than later and be prepared to try different options and get a second opinion if needs be.
