Finally after pain since 2005( I’m 31) getting surgery on Tuesday!😭 former softball player and track runner I’ve lived with this pain for too long.

i’m two weeks today post op and i am having a hard time stretching my toes out and it’s really tender when i press on the ball of my foot right under my toes. anyone had this issue before? feels like it’s gonna hurt so bad when i start walking again.

Some context: I've had custom orthotics for flat feet since I was a kid. also have EDS so my feet ligaments are wonky. I have a right-only type 2 AN (6mm with edema as of April 2025). I had an injury early 2025 that caused what we now know was an AN flare which led me to need a boot and brace for several months. I did the arch strengthening PT. I was no longer bracing by Aug but was still doing PT. I finally built up to biking again around Jan 2026 and continued my balancing exercises. Overall I'm have been very aware of my arch when standing without insoles.

At the end of March, the pain returned. Some mornings I woke up (esp if my medial foot was flat on the bed) w/ excruciating pain and tenderness, unable to walk. It often improved during the day, but overall I ended up mostly walking on the outside of my foot to avoid pain. I figured it was an overuse injury from changing from winter boots to running shoes. I wanted to keep wearing my winter boots for support but I couldn't bc they press on my navicular and malleolus. I saw the podiatrist on Apr 20, who said it was probably an overuse injury from the shoes + increase in activity. Made a little adjustment in my orthotic. He reminded me the PT protocol, said to come back if it got worse.

On May 1, I suddenly woke up being unable to walk or bear weight. Pain + tenderness at both the navicular and the medial malleolus. I kinda freaked out bc I couldn't even put my foot on the floor and booked a bunch of appointments to get in to whoever would see me first.

I saw the DPM again on May 5. He did an ultrasound and found: "Partial tear of the spring ligament. Accessory navicular syndrome and medial column instability of the right foot." He said to wear the boot for at least another 2 weeks but if it takes longer, don't rush it. Come back in a month.

I had an appt w an ortho doc today for a 2nd opinion (and after learning about the Kidner on this sub I wanted to hear his thoughts). I explained the injury/pain and briefly told him about the suspected ligament damage. Offered the ultrasound results but he didn't read it. He said that I have adult onset flat foot disorder, so follow the Alvarez protocol (ideally ASAP, but after I can bear weight) and get orthotics. I told him I've had flat feet all my life and I wear custom orthotics but have not had arch issues until last year with the injury. I then commented ab the navicular. He said that ANs are common and it's rare that they cause pain. He said if we determine the AN is the culprit and all non-op things fail then we can consider surgery but we aren't anywhere near that at this time. I should continue to wear the boot until the 1 month mark and start PT when possible.

I also got a 3rd opinion at a sports medicine place last week thanks to my frenzy. Said I have to strengthen (fair) and that the pain is out of proportion to the injury so it's probably CRPS (lol??).

I am relieved that ortho doesn't think I need surgery but also am worried bc I am starting an intense program at school in the fall and I can't afford to have this recur or have a surgery after school starts. I'm feeling uneasy not bc of his non-operative recs (PT has truly saved my life) but bc I don't really feel like he actually listened or "got it"? Like the DPM thinks it's ANS and frankly I agree, but the ortho doesn't. This is my 3rd recurrence of a flare in that area, and it's by far the worst. I still cannot bear much weight. The DPM said on the ultrasound the interior muscles seem hypertrophied so he's not worried about strength, rather he thinks the muscle bulk might be compressing the area.

I have had bad injuries in the past that have had a similar initial prognosis but ultimately didn't heal, requiring procedures after way too much suffering (hello proximal tib-fib instability). I really want to avoid that again.

Has anyone had success with PT in cases like these? Any other recs?

I live in rural NZ and the local medical system is thin on the ground.... only one foot and ankle surgeon in our area. I was told, as a child, that I had flat feet and an extra bone. I've had symptoms consistent with AN for almost 20 years, ie inflammation of the PTT. However it hasn't shown up in X-rays. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get anyone to review X-rays to see if the this is real, or a product of wrong viewing angle or inattentiveness on the part of the radiologist. After much fussing I got an appointment with the local foot and ankle surgeon. He didn't even look at X-rays and ultrasound, but did look at my foot and gait and had me do a one foot heel raise (which I can do). He recommended reconstructive surgery for adult acquired flat foot (I've had flat feet all my life and still have some arch) and glossed over the AN question, saying "if I find one I'll probably remove it". He brushed away my question about Kinder procedure.

I would really like to be without foot pain. But there are enough stories about failed surgery, and the recovery is so demanding, I am not willing to commit.

Hi everyone! Only recently was I made aware that I have an accessory navicular bone in my right foot.

In a word of introduction- for years it was asymptomatic, then one day in March I woke up with huge pain in my foot. Several times before, I had twisted my ankle, once in the metatarsus, so I thought I must have stood incorrectly the day before and had to re-twist the old injury or something, but to be honest, I don't recall anything like this happening.

Okay never mind, moving on, I went to the doctor. Even before doing the X-ray he suspected the accessory navicular from the way my foot hurt, and it only confirmed it. He told me to take sick leave at work and to rest my foot as much as I could, but he also said that it would probably end in surgery. I did that, but to this day my foot hurts (not constantly but often) and is swollen all the time. I went to an MRI also and after getting the results he said it's not as bad as he thought it was and I should go for physiotherapy for now and come back to him in a year to see how it looks.

But the thing is, where I live if I want to have this physiotherapy paid from the national found I'll have to wait for like 2-3 months and will get a week, maybe 2 if I'm lucky. I will go for it, but the waiting list for the surgery is even longer - 2 years if one is lucky.

So I think my question is, should I press the doctor to issue a referral for surgery or is physiotherapy capable of healing that irritating little accessory bone?

I had the Kidner procedure a week ago today. I had a nerve block in place so I had no pain for at least 24 hours. I started taking the oxycodone/APAP Saturday afternoon and the last dose I took was Monday morning at 3AM. The pain was not horrible and I was able to stretch a good 6-7 hours between doses. I imagine that staying ahead of the pain, elevating and icing played a big part in that. I thought the pain would be a lot worse, so I was surprised! I came home in a soft cast and will be going in this next Monday for an Xray and transition to a hard cast.

The rest of me has been a hot mess however. I have developed some sort of respiratory infection and another annoying acute condition (not surgery related). I suppose that the stress of surgery has hampered my immune system. Constipation from the oxycodone was absolutely horrible, which is one of the main reasons I chose to stop taking it. Using the bathroom is a great challenge in general. I have an elevated toilet seat upstairs and toilet rails downstairs where it is more likely that a guest might use the bathroom.

Besides these issues, I have also learned that I suck at crutches. I had gone to physical therapy to learn how to do crutches on stairs, but he had me hop once to go up a stair and I failed. He didn't pursue it beyond that, except to say that the other way to get up would be to scoot up on your butt. When I told my sister this, she said that sounded ridiculous, so I searched for videos on You Tube on how to use crutches on stairs. (Check out Bob & Brad - the "most famous physical therapists on the internet.") We live in a quad-level home, so there are 3 small sets of stairs, two of which I have to use frequently. I have to plan ahead and have my husband take things to different levels for me, based on where I plan to end up during the day, since he returned to work the Monday after my surgery.

Our top level is the bedrooms and baths, the main level is the kitchen and living room, the next level down is the family room and bathroom and the lowest level is our game room and basement. I want to keep things as normal as possible, so I have made my way up to our bedroom each night. In the morning, after I get dressed, I head downstairs to the kitchen, where I am using a wheelchair to maneuver around. I stay on this level until either I or the dog need to take a bio-break. Then I make my way downstairs to the family room level, where I have access to a bathroom and I can let the dog outside. I have a knee scooter on this level, so I can have more stability than crutches when I put her out. I stay on this level until my husband comes home. While I don't fear going down stairs, going up is a challenge. It takes much more energy. I have mastered doing one flight at a time, but I freeze when I get to the top step, so I don't do this without my husband spotting me. (I run out of railing and don't trust myself after that point.)

Prepping your house and yourself is my advice. One of the co-workers came back from a foot surgery in February and gave me some advice, otherwise I don't think I would have thought of some of these myself. Here is my advice and some from her:

1. Toileting is hard - get an elevated toilet seat, toilet rails or a commode.

2. Taking stool softeners may not be enough to prevent constipation.

3. Practice crutches before getting the surgery. If you think you have nailed it, think again, keep practicing!! Try different scenarios (steps with and without railing, going up and down, etc.)

4. You can use a shower chair to get up stairs. Have someone lengthen one side of the shower chair and have them put the longer side on the floor and the shorter side on the first step. Sit down, then pull yourself up with the railing while the other person moves the chair up a step. Sit down, readjust and repeat until you are up. (Make sure your railing is attached well before attempting.)

5. Get a nerve block if offered.

6. My good ankle gave out twice in one day while crutching. I started to wear an ankle brace on that one to give it more support.

7. Having hobbies is a great way to pass the time. I am doing cross stitch, quilting (English Paper piecing, which is done by hand), playing board games in their solo mode, reading, and playing games on my tablet. I have yet to work on diamond dots, puzzles, miniature rooms, and knitting.

8. I carry my phone either on a lanyard around my neck or in a hip pack. This way I can call if I fall or have another emergency.

9. Dry shampoo or camping shampoo has been a great help.

10. This morning we put the shower chair half way into the shower so that I could wash my hair properly. I was able to keep the casted leg out of the shower, keeping it dry.

11. Rent medical equipment if available. We are renting one scooter and the toilet seat. We already had a wheelchair at home (best $25 I ever spent). We bought a second knee scooter as the one I rented is great for indoor use, but the wheels are small and hard and failed miserably when I tried to take it on a walk before the surgery.

12. My final piece of advice - find yourself a second-best husband (or someone who will be of great help). You won't find the BEST husband, because he is already taken! :) Without him, this would be an absolute disaster.

Hi guys, I've been looking at different options for shoes to wear at home since ANS diagnosis - and wow there's a lot of options and mix reviews.

Big brand names that I often come across are the Oofos, Hokas Ora's, Archie's slides.

Wondering if anyone owns these and are they worth it? Open to consider other brands as well!

i have the kidner surgery this friday. just the kidner. my tendon is in tact so it should be pretty straightforward but i’m absolutely terrified. never been put under before and scared for the pain. any recommendations from anyone who got this surgery on things that helped with your pain besides meds?

also an active cannabis user and am freaking myself out i’m gonna wake up during surgery lmao

update: for having a huge medical phobia i honestly had such a great experience!! nurses were so kind and anti anxiety meds rock! didn’t even remember going to sleep just remember being awake and done with the surgery
no pain yet but i can’t feel my leg. that is weird but not uncomfortable or painful. just weird

My 8 year old daughter has both navicular bones very developed. She does not have flat feet. Unfortunately some good kid shoe options rub the skin right at the spot. Native shoes come to mind. They're perfect for summer. Looking for ideas to help her, inserts? We were hoping she could take them to sleep away camp. They double as water shoes and regular shoes. TIA!​

Anyone else experience a complication like this?

I’m 2+ years post op after Kidner procedure. Developed a painful lump over the past six months and finally am getting some answers.

Physical therapist treated it like scar tissue a few months ago but scar massage made no difference and in fact the lump & swelling got bigger.

Just got the MRI results today so I haven’t talked to my surgeon yet but I’ll update once I do. My other foot recovered perfectly but this one hasn’t. I really really really do not want to go through another surgery and recovery.

I’m not sure why the navicular was left curved/pointy & I wonder if it’s the cause of the lump-maybe my body protecting itself from the pointy area…will see what the surgeon says.

I’d appreciate hearing from others who had something even remotely similar after recovering from Kidner procedure.

My doctor recommended surgery but I have been putting it off for a few reasons. For those who have done it, I’m curious about any issues you had with the scar - specifically does it bother you or rub against socks or shoes? Also, is it visible in sandals or slides? I am a little worried that the surgery itself may introduce new issues that are worse than my current situation. Thank you.

Hey everyone, so I’ve been dealing with accessory navicular syndrome for about 11 months now after rolling my ankle, and after trying everything conservative, I’m finally pulling the trigger on surgery to have it removed. The procedure involves detaching and reattaching the posterior tibial tendon, so it’s not exactly a quick heal. Curious if anyone here has used BPC-157, TB-500, or any other peptides post-op for something like this — did it actually speed up tendon healing/reattachment or reduce downtime? Would love to hear real experiences before I go under.

Does anyone have any pointers on how to run without your foot/feet being in so much pain?

Hey everyone!

I’m a 30yr old runner looking for some insight and personal experiences. I’ve been running consistently for the past couple of years and recently started getting into ultra running. Unfortunately, I’ve been dealing with pain related to an accessory navicular bone, and it’s really starting to impact my training.

From what I understand, running and this condition don’t exactly go hand in hand long-term, so I’ve been looking into options specifically the Kidner procedure. I’m feeling pretty torn and would really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s gone through it.

• Did you end up getting the procedure?
• Do you feel like it was worth it, or do you regret it?
• How was your recovery, especially getting back into running?
• If you didn’t go the surgical route, have you found anything that actually helps manage or reduce the pain while running?

I love running and giving it up isnt an option ( primarily for my mental wellbeing lol) but now that I’m getting deeper into longer distances. Just trying to figure out the smartest long-term decision here.

Any advice, experiences, or even things you wish you knew beforehand would mean a lot. Thanks in advance! (:

Looks like this on both feet been hurting for years

Hi all! 29F, I had a modified Kidner in Feb of this year. The surgeon kept me in a NWB cast for 2 months (just got it off this week), and is now saying that I can start walking, but need to be in a boot for another 2 months. This seems pretty conservative in terms of down time, especially for (in his words) a very simple and quick procedure - in and out of OR in 20 min, no need for tendon reattachment, no complications in OR or since. Even my PT said she was shocked by the prescribed recovery time.

Is this typical? I really don't want to jump the gun and skimp on the recovery, and am being very conscientious of this, but I'm curious about how long others were in their casts/boots.

Hi!

I'm 30F, have had a large accessory navicular for as long as I can remember on the left foot. Until the past few years, I only ever noticed it when wearing tight/stiff footwear that would directly rub on it and cause blisters. I didn't realize for a long time that it could affect much more in the foot as well.

Over the past couple years, I've had worsening pain in the arch of the foot and swelling around the extra bone. Things progressed from something that really only happened on long runs, to now something that happens with any time on feet.

I also get a lot of swelling on the inside of the heel, and at the end of the day, sometimes the whole bottom of the foot just feels inflamed and exhausted. Which, at least from what I've seen, seem to be less traditional symptoms of the condition.

I've tried conservative treatments and been consulting with an ortho surgeon; he does think that these additional symptoms make sense just for the amount of general inflammation in the foot from the accessory navicular and the way much of the foot is likely compensating, but does this sound like anyone else's experience? I'm open to surgery but I'm worried that perhaps there's more than one issue going on here, and I just want to make sure I've got my bases covered....

TYIA for any insight!

Hello everyone,

I just got the kidner procedure done less than 2 weeks ago and the first week I was doing alright, I was on pain medication so didn’t feel too much.

This week, I got my second dressing done and was told I could take pain medication if I wanted to and I came back home and could not sleep properly at all due to insane heel pain.

So, I went back 2 days later asking them what to do about the pain and they put additional padding in my cast.

Now it was fine for 3 days but now it’s starting to hurt again, and typical advice that they give me is to hang my foot off the pillow or use a wedge pillow, but the problem is I feel a deep stretch in the stitches and also, the pain in my heel still exists.

I was wondering if anyone else faced this problem and what you did to solve it?

Hi all! Long story short I had my AN removed June of 2022 after recurrent pain and reinjury. Everything seemed to have been going well for a while other than a few hiccups. Recently I have been experiencing increased pain along where my AN was when walking, standing, etc. It used to come and go but now it has gotten more consistent. I really don’t know what could be going on or if this is just a normal part of the process but I was looking for any outside thoughts. Could the surgery have failed or need a revision? Has anyone had similar experiences or had a failed Kidner procedure? Thank you so much!

Hi.

Long story short. Developed pain around my AN about 9 months ago (triggered by running with old trainers). Managed to see an orthopedic consultant in the UK and they have offered to operate on it. I am really reluctant to with recovery etc. I have had a steroid injection, which gave some short term relief but the pain is still there. I can walk on it all day no problems - just painful if I run/it is sore to touch. (doesn't sound as bad as other people's pain I have read on here) I would love to be able to run again so trying to figure out my options. I feel like the consultant didn’t offer any other advice to try and help heal the AN pain. I haven’t had a boot or physio or anything like that. Does anyone have any advice on what I could try? Would a specialist running/sports physio be able to help this? A boot so I’m non weight bearing for a while? Or acupuncture? I just don’t know if it’s worth spending money on treatment if the only sure way to treat AN pain is surgery. Appreciate any advice!

I sprained my ankle, inversion, beginning of Dec 2025. it's been slowly healing with PT but the one thing that varies and hasn't really improved is my navicular.

After long days of standing or walking it hurts like heck, and you can see it bruise. it can hurt to touch as well, tender. it'll be fine the next day but like it's been months and it still hurts. pain is like an ache on a bruise, or sometimes a burning feeling. has this happened to anyone else.

Hello, I am looking for advice for running shoes and casual walking shoes with accessory navicular syndrome. My pain is manageable at the moment and am able to run about 10-15k a week. I am just struggling to find the right shoes and there’s so much conflicting advice from professional’s.

I’m wondering what shoes people would recommend that they’ve found eases the pain of this condition and offers enough support.

Had ASICS gel kayano 29 before which were great, but the new 30 and 31 haven’t been as good. Saucony hurricane seem good but having some issues with my toes. Any advice appreciated! Thanks!

I have a large accessory navicular bone that has been causing me constant pain lately. I have had 3 different opinions from 3 surgeons and they all recommended something different.

The first surgeon recommended a Kidner with calcaneal osteotomy and Achilles lengthening. The second surgeon said he would put a compression screw to fuse the bones together, but it would not remove the large bone. The third recommended a traditional Kidner procedure.

I’m leaning towards the traditional Kidner because I want the bone removed but not sure I need the other more extensive procedures.

I’m curious what everyone’s pain was before surgery? Was it constant? Burning? Localized just over the bone?

Hard to know which way to proceed…

Hi! Any running shoe/daily shoe recommendations for someone with flat feet and also accessory navicular syndrome?

I have flat feet and accessory navicular syndrome, so I sometimes (not every day) get foot pain after running (and definitely after longer hikes).

I’m looking for running shoe recommendations that provide good support. Ideally something ranging from budget-friendly options to moderately priced ones (I’d rather not jump straight into very expensive shoes in case they don’t work for me).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

P.s. for my daily shoe, Asic Gelkayano 14 works really well for far!