Tired of Plantar Fasciitis Pain? A New Minimally Invasive Treatment Could be the Answer.

If you're reading this, you are likely all too familiar with that sharp, stabbing pain in your heel. That first step out of bed in the morning can oftan be be excruciating. You’ve probably tried it all: stretching, icing, new shoes, expensive custom orthotics, physical therapy, and injections.

For lucky patients, these treatments work. But for a significant group of people who don’t respond, the pain becomes chronic, lasting for months or even years, and severely impacting your quality of life.

If you're in that group and have lost hope, there is an advanced, minimally invasive procedure you need to know about: Plantar Fasciitis Embolization (PFE). This safe and effective treatment is showing incredible promise for providing long-term relief where other methods have failed.

What Is Plantar Fasciitis Embolization (PFE)?

To understand the treatment, we first need to understad what's happening in your foot.

In chronic plantar fasciitis, the pain isn't just from a "tight" or torn ligament. The root of the problem is often a chronic cycle of inflammation. This inflammation triggers the growth of tiny, abnormal new blood vessels (a process called angiogenesis) in and around your plantar fascia.

These new blood vessels cause trouble. They bring with them a network of equally new and highly sensitive nerve endings. This combination of abnormal blood flow and new nerves creates a "hotspot" of inflammation and pain.

Plantar Fasciitis Embolization (PFE)—also called Transcatheter Arterial Embolization (TAE)—is a non-surgical procedure that targets this root cause.

It's performed by an Interventional Radiologist, a doctor who specializes in using medical imaging to perform minimally invasive procedures. Here’s a simple breakdown of what happens:

1. Tiny Entry Point: The doctor makes a tiny puncture, about the size of a pencil tip, in an artery in your leg.
2. Guided by X-ray: Using live X-ray guidance (fluoroscopy), the doctor navigates a very softt, thin, flexible tube, about the thickness of an Angel Hair pasta, called a microcatheter, to the small arteries in your heel that are feeding the inflamed area.
3. Blocking the Vessels: Once in place, the doctor injects microscopic embolic (blocking) agents. These particles flow into and block only the tiny, abnormal blood vessels. The main, healthy arteries are left untouched.

By cutting off the blood supply to the "hotspot," the inflammation cycle stops. The abnormal vessels and the sensitive nerves with them disappear. This breaks the pain cycle and allows your plantar fascia to finally heal naturally.

Is It Safe and Effective?

This is the most important question, and the data is very encouraging.

• High Efficacy: Multiple studies and clinical practices report that 80-90% of patients who undergo PFE experience a significant reduction in pain and improvement in function. Many patients report that the results are long-lasting, providing relief for years.
• High Safety: PFE is considered a very safe, low-risk procedure. Because it's minimally invasive (no large incisions or stitches), the risks associated with open surgery are avoided.
• Quick Recovery: Most patients walk out the same day and can resume light, normal activities the very next day. You can typically return to full activity and exercise within a week or two, which is dramatically faster than the months-long recovery from surgery.

The most common side effects are minor and temporary, such as bruising or soreness at the catheter insertion site.

PFE vs. Surgery: The traditional surgical option, a "plantar fasciotomy," involves cutting part of the ligament. This can have a long recovery (up to 3 months), carries a risk of nerve damage, and can even change the structure of your foot. PFE is increasingly seen as a much safer and more effective alternative before considering surgery.

What Is Used To Bock The Blood Vessels and Is It Dangerous?

This is where the treatment gets even more advanced. You may have heard of imipenem/cilastatin as a antibiotic. So what is it doing in a foot procedure?

Researchers are always looking for the safest and most effective embolic agent to use. Recently, studies have explored the "off-label" use of imipenem/cilastatin as a temporary blocking agent.

Here’s the idea:

• When the antibiotic powder is mixed with a contrast (dye) agent, it doesn't fully dissolve. It forms tiny particles that are perfect for embolization.
• These particles are just the right size to flow into and block the tiny abnormal vessels causing the inflammation.
• In addition these particles are temporary lasting long enough to be effective but then dissolve and don’t cause permanent blockage of blood vessels increasing the safety of the procedure.

Other different temporary blocking materials are being studied for these purposes including Lipiodol, a special oil derived from poppy seeds made into an emulsion called LipioJoint as well as other dissolvable temporary particles.

This is a new and developing area of the treatment, but it shows how doctors are continuing to refine the procedure to be as safe and effective as possible.

Am I a Good Candidate for PFE?

This procedure is not a first-line treatment. You are likely a good candidate for PFE if you:

• Have a confirmed diagnosis of plantar fasciitis.
• Have had chronic pain for at least 6 months.
• Have failed to find relief from conservative treatments like rest, physical therapy, orthotics, and steroid injections.
• Want to avoid the risks and long recovery of open surgery.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PLANTAR FASCIITIS EMBOLIZATION TREATMENT, OR TO FIND OUT IF YOU’RE A CANDIDATE, CALL OUR OFFICE TODAY AT 212-991-9991. YOU CAN ALSO BOOK AN APPOINTMENT WITH DR. GOLOWA THROUGH OUR WEBSITE.