Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome Support Group

New here.. I am 33 years old, a single mom of a (almost) 3 year old son. I am a nurse (hence the RN in my name)... I have been doing Labor and Delivery nursing for 11 years. I just changed jobs to a desk job as an High Risk OB Case Manager to get off of my feet! I have had plantar fascitis X 13 years... had surgery in both feet, multiple ( I can't even begin to count) cortisone injections, night splints, orthotics, platlet therapy injections, shock wave therapy.. you name it, I've tried it. Just got DX with TTS now in both feet. Am schedule to have nerve condition tests to see how bad it is... started taking Lyrica for the pain..hopefully it works, because taking Vicodin all the time sucks. I REALLY hate my feet.. I am in constant pain, I had to leave my job to get a desk job, hoping it would help..and they STILL hurt. I REFUSE to give up... I am still working out, walking... just dealing with the pain. I am still young, and don't want to live like this! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am glad to find a community that others are going thru this as well.. it seems that some people think I am making it up, that it really doesn't hurt. Sigh... I hate this!! Thanks for listening!

Alli

As for the TTS, it depends on what is causing the TT. Mine is supposedly a space issue. They say I have a muscle that is too long that should stop up at the calf and actually travels down into the tunnel, crowding out the veins and arteries and causes the press = pain. But TT can be caused by nerve issues, cysts, veins, etc. The EMG/NCV is something you should do but just know you can still have TTS and have a negative on the nerve test. Frustrating!

thanks for the info. I did have a positive nerve test, which I was actually quite happy about. Didn't thing I'd be happy about bilateral nerve damage, but it's actually a relief to know that there IS something wrong with my feet. That there IS a reason for them to hurt all the freaking time. And I'm not crazy or delirous about the pain. Ya know? So I'm on Neurotin, it helped probably the first 2-3 weeks, and now it seems like it's not working.. although I'm not up to the 600 mg BID like she wants me up to. I tried to take a larger dose at first and I was a ZOMBIE at work. Not good!! So we'll see where this TTS journey goes.. I really DON'T want the surgery. Seems like an awful recovery, and NOT a guarantee that it even works. So that is my LAST resort. Ugh. Glad to have found others with TTS and understand how much this SUCKS!!

Alli from New Mexico

I assume you are speaking about a nerve conduction study/EMG (electromyogram). Just because this test was negative does not mean that you don't have nerve compression causing tarsal tunnel syndrome. First, there is always the possibility that the test was done incorrectly as this type of study is dependent on sepcific protocols. Secondly, while NCS/EMG is often the most prescribed test, there remains controvery as to when or if it should even be used, even for established diagnoses like carpal tunnel syndrome. In fact, this very issue was the topic of a recent panel at the American Society for Peripheral Nerve meeting in January. The reasons for why the test may be are quite involved and beyond the scope of a single post. Thirdly, many physicians treat tests and not patients and there are many like you who test negatively and still have pathology. Hope this helps.