The next tentative step

In December 2010 almost a year since first seeing my GP and after waiting for four months to get surgery on the NHS I decided I couldn’t wait any longer. I was in real, serious pain now, just wearing socks or tights restricted the mobility in my foot and gave me pain. The cold weather only exacerbated the problem and I could no longer wear the open toed flats, which allowed more movement across my foot. I was limping quite noticeably and my knee and hip had started to hurt as my entire gait was thrown out of sync. So I made the move to look to pay for my surgery. Luckily whilst researching the options I found something called cryo injection therapy where a small probe is inserted into the foot and the nerve is frozen over two separate three-minute periods. This high intensity freezing kills the nerve and allows it to die back past the scar tissue, the body breaks the dead nerve down and over a three to four month period new nerve grows back but importantly it grows back without the painful scar tissue. I couldn’t believe that my home city actually had a clinic offering this service and within a week I’d had my initial consultation and the procedure done. Unlike surgery I didn’t need crutches, I didn’t have stitches, there was no air cast for at least two weeks and I could be back on my feet after just 24 hours. I honestly can’t believe that this procedure isn’t offered on the NHS. Imagine being an employer and losing a key employee for at least two weeks and then upon their return them being virtually immobile? And the cost? Well it was a two thirds of the cost of surgery.