It’s much too early for me to know if the cortisone shot has worked. I’m gradually building my my mileage and I’m only at about 17 miles/week. So far so good, but the true test would be when I get up to the 30-40 mile range for several weeks in a row.

I’m afraid I don’t know have any solutions for if the pain returns, but I have already come to terms with myself and if it does return, I’ll stop running.

My Ortho did mention Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy as a possible treatment. This would break up the bone spur without requiring surgery. It is expensive though and since it’s considered experimental, insurance doesn’t usually cover it. I think you need about 3 treatments and would be looking at a total cost around $20K.

The last resort would be actual surgery which I don’t think is worth the risk…at least not right now.

I wanted to check in on your insertional tendinitis problem. I ran for 30 years and started having this foot problem. I had a total of 3 cort shots over a 2 year period and a mixture of that and stopping running for 6 months finally healed (sorry for the pun) my problem.

So, finally 5 months ago I started with walking and worked my way up to 3 miles a day 6-days a week.

Only now the insertional tendinitis is back with a vengeance. I’m pretty much out of options as easy as a shot.

Have you found anyone anywhere that is the go to person for this problem?

I had plantar problems a decade ago and found a surgeon that knew a less-invasive way to fix the problem and that worked great. Now, I’m think I may need this kind of thing for my tendinitis. So, I’m just starting my research.

I was also concerned about weakening the tendon so I decided that the one shot is all I’ll do. If my heel starts to hurt again, I’ll stop running.