📌Learn more about Bob Baravarian or request an appointment: docsfootankle.com

Your plantar fasciitis treatment is not working because you may not have plantar fasciitis. Every month spent treating the wrong structure is another month the nerve becomes more sensitized and harder to treat.

In this episode, I'm going to walk you through why this misdiagnosis keeps happening, how to tell which structure is actually driving your heel pain using three diagnostic questions you can answer right now, and what needs to change if the nerve is involved.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The heel pain misdiagnosis that keeps patients stuck for months
1:12 Why plantar fasciitis and calcaneal nerve entrapment feel identical
2:04 How stretching and cortisone make nerve entrapment progressively worse
3:13 Why the plantar fasciitis label shuts down the diagnostic process
4:27 What I keep finding when patients arrive after months of failed treatment
5:23 Three questions that tell you which problem you actually have
6:39 What two or more yes answers mean about your next step
7:03 Why nerve pain becomes harder to treat the longer it goes unaddressed
8:28 One position change tonight that reduces first-morning heel pain


❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Can nerve entrapment feel exactly like plantar fasciitis?

Yes. The calcaneal nerve runs alongside the plantar fascia, and when compressed, it sends pain to the exact same location. The distinguishing signs are a burning or tingling quality and pain that extends toward the inner ankle rather than staying in one tight spot.

What happens if calcaneal nerve entrapment goes untreated?

The nerve becomes progressively more sensitized. Pain can spread, intensify, and become harder to treat over time. Patients who finally get the right diagnosis after a year of treating the wrong structure are significantly harder to treat than those who get there early.

How do I know if my heel pain is the nerve or the fascia?

Look for burning, tingling, or an electric quality to the pain, and check whether it extends toward the inner ankle. If consistent plantar fascia treatment has failed after three or more months of real compliance, nerve tension testing and ultrasound imaging are the right next steps before any more treatment.

📱 RESOURCES
Website: docsfootankle.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/la_foot_ankle_surgeon/


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ABOUT DR. BOB BARAVARIAN, DPM

Dr. Bob Baravarian is a Board Certified Podiatric Foot and Ankle Surgeon and Fellow of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, based in Los Angeles. With 25 years of experience and more than 25,000 procedures performed, he is one of the few surgeons to hold both foot surgery and reconstructive rearfoot and ankle certifications through the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery.

Dr. Baravarian serves as Chief of Podiatric Foot and Ankle Surgery at Providence Saint John's Medical Center and has spent a decade co-developing the metal-free bio-integrative fixation technology behind the Ghost Bunionectomy. He advocates for the least invasive solution that actually resolves the problem, not the one that is easiest to administer.


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