DD8 has foot sole pain, knee pain etc - what to do? need suggestions

[LaurenK]

This was caused by strep for me. It went away with aggressive steroid treatment.

[rowingmom]

This was caused by strep for me. It went away with aggressive steroid treatment.

Which symptoms are you referring to, please.

[Hopeny]

Just an update, I decided to try to see if DD could get any pain relief so I took her to my Orthopedist. My thinking is I can treat both the Lyme and the symptoms too. Turns out per Orthopedist that heel/sole pain is extremely common in the 8 y.o group because the heel bone is not fully formed and there is tension between the achilles and the plantar. Orthopedist showed me x-ray and it was all right there. He said also DD has flat feet which could be painful too. He said not 100% sure it is this problem and not Lyme (Bart?) causing this but in view of Lyme he is sending DD to Physical Therapy. PT told me she has another patient the same age, same issue. Apparently the bone fully forms around 10/11. So we are also doing PT, not sure yet if it is helping, and am getting DD shoe implants for the flat foot issue. Continuing to blast away at the Lyme et al. If this PT helps I will be very happy.

[NancyD]

I had foot pain for 30+ years. Also had flat feet and a heel spur. I had expensive orthotics made for me, used a foot brace at night to stretch my foot, did PT, and finally had two surgeries (one for plantar fasciitis and one for the heel spur). Everything helped the foot pain for a while (even the surgeries) but the pain kept coming back...

 

Until finally I was diagnosed with, and treated for, Bartonella 2 years ago. I, too, had 3 negative Bartonella tests. It was only after treatment with Doxy and Rifampin that the foot pain FINALLY went away.

 

While I don't regret doing the orthotics, learning how to wear comfortable shoes, using the foot brace at night, and PT, I do regret having done 2 surgeries (with up to a year of recuperation for each surgery). If only I knew the foot pain was due to Bartonella and could be treated with abx! I now have nerve damage in my foot from having the heel spur removed.

 

The point I'm trying to make is -- don't ignore the foot pain and don't rule out Bartonella just because you got a negative on the PCR test. If I had just listened to my podiatrist I would never have finally discovered the real cause of my foot pain.

 

Just an update, I decided to try to see if DD could get any pain relief so I took her to my Orthopedist. My thinking is I can treat both the Lyme and the symptoms too. Turns out per Orthopedist that heel/sole pain is extremely common in the 8 y.o group because the heel bone is not fully formed and there is tension between the achilles and the plantar. Orthopedist showed me x-ray and it was all right there. He said also DD has flat feet which could be painful too. He said not 100% sure it is this problem and not Lyme (Bart?) causing this but in view of Lyme he is sending DD to Physical Therapy. PT told me she has another patient the same age, same issue. Apparently the bone fully forms around 10/11. So we are also doing PT, not sure yet if it is helping, and am getting DD shoe implants for the flat foot issue. Continuing to blast away at the Lyme et al. If this PT helps I will be very happy.

[red]

I had foot pain for 30+ years. Also had flat feet and a heel spur. I had expensive orthotics made for me, used a foot brace at night to stretch my foot, did PT, and finally had two surgeries (one for plantar fasciitis and one for the heel spur). Everything helped the foot pain for a while (even the surgeries) but the pain kept coming back...

 

Until finally I was diagnosed with, and treated for, Bartonella 2 years ago. I, too, had 3 negative Bartonella tests. It was only after treatment with Doxy and Rifampin that the foot pain FINALLY went away.

 

While I don't regret doing the orthotics, learning how to wear comfortable shoes, using the foot brace at night, and PT, I do regret having done 2 surgeries (with up to a year of recuperation for each surgery). If only I knew the foot pain was due to Bartonella and could be treated with abx! I now have nerve damage in my foot from having the heel spur removed.

 

The point I'm trying to make is -- don't ignore the foot pain and don't rule out Bartonella just because you got a negative on the PCR test. If I had just listened to my podiatrist I would never have finally discovered the real cause of my foot pain.

 

Just an update, I decided to try to see if DD could get any pain relief so I took her to my Orthopedist. My thinking is I can treat both the Lyme and the symptoms too. Turns out per Orthopedist that heel/sole pain is extremely common in the 8 y.o group because the heel bone is not fully formed and there is tension between the achilles and the plantar. Orthopedist showed me x-ray and it was all right there. He said also DD has flat feet which could be painful too. He said not 100% sure it is this problem and not Lyme (Bart?) causing this but in view of Lyme he is sending DD to Physical Therapy. PT told me she has another patient the same age, same issue. Apparently the bone fully forms around 10/11. So we are also doing PT, not sure yet if it is helping, and am getting DD shoe implants for the flat foot issue. Continuing to blast away at the Lyme et al. If this PT helps I will be very happy.

As a certified orthotist with 37 years experience and one who has a speciality in foot biomechanics and treatment of all foot pathologies and also a person with bartonella I have a unique perspective on foot pain. Whereas your Orthopedist may be correct that your DD (does that mean daughter?) has flat feet, how her pain manifests itself may tell you more about wether it is bart or mechanical (although it could be both). When my bart is flaring (exp. during herxs) the pain is almost indescribable as well as unbearable. And it sure is not like plantar fasciitis. But usually the rest of my body is hurting also. If she is experiencing muscle pain elsewhere in the body as well as her feet then you are looking at bart. I can guarantee you that if I went to an orthopedist or podiatrist they would tell me my foot pain is a result of extremely high arches. I think you mentioned knee pain and in a flat footed young person knee pain can be quite common. So good orthotics might be good for her even if she has bart. As for me I not only have soft tissue pain but my bones ache something fierce when bart is flared. Actually the bones "seal" that is quit growing in a female when the hormonal changes occur which is especially easy to note with a female. I see plenty of 15/16 year old young women/girls with flat feet and knee pain. Their bones are sealed and quit growing but they still have pain due to very flexible feet.

Red

Edited August 18, 2012 by red

[Hopeny]

Yes Red, correct DD is darling daughter, she is 8. Thank you all, am definitely continuing to aggressively treat Lyme. I am considering that galaxy test too, considering adding rifampin and abart. She slready has 3 (4 if you count Myco) other co infections so it would be entirely merciful if she was spared Bart...I found a bullseye on my 3 year old today, heartbroken again but at least this time I guess we are fortunate that it was early

[philamom]

Yes Red, correct DD is darling daughter, she is 8. Thank you all, am definitely continuing to aggressively treat Lyme. I am considering that galaxy test too, considering adding rifampin and abart. She slready has 3 (4 if you count Myco) other co infections so it would be entirely merciful if she was spared Bart...I found a bullseye on my 3 year old today, heartbroken again but at least this time I guess we are fortunate that it was early

Just wanted to mention - it is suggested you be off abx when running the bartonella test by Galaxy. And, they also recommend a triple draw (which I know is quite hard on some of our kiddos). Just thought I'd share in case you didn't know.

Sorry to hear about your 3yr old

[Hopeny]

I spoke with our LLMD and he highly recommended Galaxy too, even though he is in NY and can't order it, except we have the abx issue which is just not an option now. I took her off Doxy for a week because she was having very blurry eyes and she started to tank. Can't imagine a month off at this point in time, but I am hoping maybe in the spring. We also discussed Rifampin anyway, without the test. DD has had lots of psych issues - OCD, suicidality, no self esteem, etc - also has PANDAS. Myco, and hetero MTHFR 677T. It's so complicated it's hard to say Bart or something else.