i've had flat feet since I was a kid. One of my feet has caused many problems. it's always been as flat as a pancake. I had my achilles tendon extended as a child and there was talk on reconstructing my arch in that foot. My parents decided against it then as the recovery time was so long and, i guess, back in the 80s, this was harder surgery.
Fast forward some 35 years and I still have ongoing problems, not helped by an ankle fracture in the same foot which has put more pressure on it. Right now I am being tested for tarsal tunnel syndrome and a carceal stress fracture. I'm starting to develop osteoarthritis in my knees due to my feet.
Longer term, the doctor has suggested surgery to reconstruct the arch in my foot. I need to do more tests - I'm due for an MRI and a CT scan - to see exactly what might be done so not 100% sure what will be involved. But I do understand it's quite a big op and it'd involve quite a long recovery until the bones heal.
Doctor was thinking now is a good time to do it to prevent more arthritis developing in my knee and in other joints later and because the older I get, the harder it is for the bones to reknit which means the recovery is harder.
Has anyone done this surgery? If I knew things wouldn't get worse with my feet, i.e. this is the worst it'd get, i wouldn't do the operation. It's not THAT bad yet. But I'm terrified I might end up disabled with arthritis and needing knee replacements in 10 years. I'm a very active person normally and the idea of losing that prematurely is scary. But also terrified of doing this operation too!!
Definitely will be getting a 2nd opinion but any personal experiences or additional knowledge from this group would be super helpful.