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Plantar Fasciitis

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Surgery

Surgery is usually not needed for plantar fasciitis. About 95 out of 100 people who have plantar fasciitis are able to relieve heel pain without surgery. Your doctor may consider surgery if nonsurgical treatment has not helped and heel pain is restricting your daily activities. Some doctors feel that you should try nonsurgical treatment for at least 6 months before you consider surgery.¹

The main types of surgery for plantar fasciitis are:

Plantar fascia release. This procedure involves cutting part of the plantar fascia ligament . This releases the tension on the ligament and relieves inflammation.
Other procedures, such as removing a heel spur or stretching or loosening specific foot nerves.

Experts in the past thought that heel spurs caused plantar fasciitis. Now experts generally believe that heel spurs are the result, not the cause, of plantar fasciitis. Many people with large heel spurs never have heel pain or plantar fasciitis. So surgery to remove heel spurs is rarely done.

For more information on making the decision about surgery, see:

Plantar Fasciitis: Should I Have Surgery for Heel Pain?

WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise

Last Updated: July 14, 2011

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.