Ankle Replacement Surgery
Posted , 196 users are following.
I would like to estabish contact with anyone who has undergone ankle replacement surgery and reflect a ittle on the aftereffects and the longer term prognoses for recovery and mobility.
Having undergone such an operation about 9 months ago I am currently coming to terms with a less than welcome (and certainly unexpected) imapct upon my life and mobility.
Issues such as lack of mobility, excessive swelling and cronic pain from the ankle itself but also from the toes and lack of sensation and feeling in parts of the foot are those I am facing and would like to know how other poeple have fared, both in the short and longer term.
16 likes, 848 replies
Momto4 Ultraboxer
Edited
I had my TAR on 1/20/20 . Mine might be a little different as I was born with Bilateral club feet. My pain has been be coming worse, over the last 2-3 weeks. To the point I've had to start taking pain meds again. The inside part of foot the pain is crazy. My first two toes are still numb. Parts of the under part of my foot are numb. Now I'm dealing with the skin all over my foot and ankle peeling. They shaved my ankle, so that's still swollen and painful. I'm regretting this entire surgery right now, especially since the pain has become so bad its interfering with me sleeping now. I'm 6 weeks out tomorrow, when is safe to say the pain will become tolerable? No more feelings of electrocution and just a feeling of being or becoming normal again?
LDT Momto4
Edited
Hi
I would suggest you talk to your surgeon. When I was 6 weeks out with my TAR, I had no pain and I started to step on it, to my great dismay as it actually damaged the whole thing. Should have stayed off it for at least 12 months.
Maybe with your Bilateral club feet it is indeed different and thus normal to have so much pain 6 weeks out, but I doubt it. I also never had any numbness whatsoever.
I hope all is okay and that you get some relief. Pain breaks down all the walls of resistance and makes you a miserable person.
Regards
Leon
coljc Momto4
Posted
Hi it was 5 months before I got ease up on pain I am 8 months now and was to get screw out before lockdown but have to wait again for that. I am still hobbling but hoping if screw might make a difference. it seems they are right about wait 6months and a year really if that can make a difference.
donna18009 coljc
Posted
hello!
I also had to have a screw removed - but it was from my partial fusion BEFORE my tar
having the screw removed helped me be able to walk heel to toe barefoot without feeling the screwhead in my heel
I am 2.5 years post tar. Ive had improvements all the way up to the 2 year mark. mine will never be "normal" because of the partial fusion beforehand but i am happy to be mobile and up and about Good Luck!
coljc donna18009
Posted
Thanks for reply.. I also had part fusion before but the pain from this TAR started after 3 months when I started weight bare but also think the screw was causing pain. Just wondering when your pain eased significantly after TAR so you could walk normally or without pain?
thanks.
donna18009 coljc
Posted
wow loaded question! I do wish I had kept a journal. In hindsight that would have been helpful to others. I pretty much always have pain when walking now, but there are times, moments, if you will, when I do 'forget' I had it done but those are few and far between. dont get me wrong, Im not miserable, by any means, I am mobile, I work 35 hours a week keeping 2 rambunctious little toddler boys occupied, I work in my yard and I paint on the weekends, but there is always a degree of pain- Ive just learned to live with it
It was 6 weeks total non weight bearing in the bed for me - then I used an i-walker (knee crutch) for another 4 weeks as I returned back to work - I was DETERMINED to make this work - began weight bearing slowly with quite a bit of pain at first, crutches were a must for probably another 3-4 weeks. As I began PT the pain was intense . during all if the previously mentioned time I was elevating and icing at intervals during the day and in the evenings after PT and after coming home from work - and mind you Im still having pain and taking pain meds during all of this but ramping them down along the way. I continued with PT til they said I had reached my maximum capacity. I do have arthritis in my joints so as I sit still it stiffins quickly and I must work it out and loosen it up a bit before standing - so the more I keep moving the better off I am. haha I try not to sit much but standing in one spot for very long does the same thing as well sometimes i feel like the fusion part of my ankle is whats causing the pain - because I am trying to stand or move in a way that my new ankle wants to go but the fused portion doesnt allow it to any longer - does that make sense? Ive never found anyone who has had a fusion first and then a TAR . so very nice to know you - hope we can continue to share!!
kathyRNafterTAR Ultraboxer
Posted
I"m 2 weeks post op total ankle replacement and just yesterday started with incredible intermittent shooting nerve pain mostly shooting though big toe. When not shooting kind of a constant annoying pins and needles. I am still in a cast. Did anyone else experience that post op?
Also it should be noted that I"m 3.5 months post op Adult Flat Foot Deformity repair and lengthening Achilles Tendon surgery with 6 screws a plate and 2 staples in my foot. No weight bearing since Feb surgery - went from 1 cast to the new one.
Thanks for any nerve pain experiences/remedies you can share.
Deedles kathyRNafterTAR
Posted
wow Cathy, did you have all that surgery on the same foot/ ankle ? if your getting pins and needles in a cast you need to get it checked ASAP to make sure its not too tight. if its ok , after all that surgery you need to take care you dont develop CRPS so discuss adequate analgesia with a doctor with a special interest in pain. maybe neuropathic modulators are indicated. Good luck
mary91995 Ultraboxer
Posted
Dear Ultraboxer,
I am so sorry to hear about your TAR. We are trying to find answers about TAR and make the same decisions you have already made. My husband was in a bad accident and broke both his legs at 65. He has cysts and osteoarthritis. It has been a year now and walking is unbearable. He would like to eventually ski again. Are these things possible? May I ask which ankle replacement you had and where you had it done? Was it a Wright infinity/prophecy, a Star or some other type? Was your replacement as a result of an accident or osteoarthritis? Do you mind disclosing your age and health (I understand why you wouldn't want to)? Is it getting any better?
I wish you the best on your recovery.
karen98804 mary91995
Posted
my surgeon liked the wright infinity for purpose of interchangeable parts in the case of on failing down the road, the entire joint does not have to be replaced. I'm 63 and just had this done 5 months ago
steve88230 Ultraboxer
Posted
just wanted say i had my TAR five months ago . surgery went well very little pain. I can say the pain I had before surgery is gone . the one issue i am having is the incission is not healing well . i dont really have pain ,mostly numbness in my foot . can not start physical therapy until foot heals. The TAR feels good ,no pain and hope to get into physical therapy to say it was a complete success. I will say that i may have been moving around a little to much ,which did not help the healing .
janet62961 Ultraboxer
Posted
I am curious first as to the type of hardware they placed? i am having one tomorrow using the Zimmer Biomet Trabecular Metal total ankle. I understand many procedures use a front incision while this one uses a lateral (side) incision. It might be helpful to compare your current situation/outcome with someone that has had the same procedure.
stu59561 janet62961
Posted
Please let me know how your surgery went. I'll have the same Zimmer TAR surgery later this month. Did you have much pain? Have you started walking and doing PT yet? Thank you
karen98804 Ultraboxer
Posted
I also have wright infinity ankle replacement. I was in a motorcycle accident at age 20 and have had hip and knee replacements all on the same leg. the arthritis got so bad and still riding, I opted for the replacement instead of fusion. I am 5 months post OP and still have numbness on top of the foot as well as decreased dorsi flexion. I have sharp pain when trying to increase the dorsiflexion and wonder if that's normal? some stories I hear people are having no pain, but I feel like it's not healing correctly although my surgeon states it is. Apart from only about 7 degrees of dorsi flexion,(plantar flexionseems fine) burning on the outside of the fibula running up the side and the swelling (I have damaged veins due to a blood. lot from the hip replacement so I expect that) I am curious if any one else experiences these issues or will it still get better with time? was there anything that helped get over the hump per se'
philipat7 Ultraboxer
Posted
I had my ankle replacement surgery Nov 20, of 2020. After 3 months post surgery I told Dr I was still having pain but not knowing what to expect thought everything would improve as he kept telling me how wonderful the xrays looked. Pain continued to the point where the pain would at times be so bad I couldnt walk. After going back and forth to the Dr 4 or 5 times and hearing the same thing, I made an appointment with another Dr at the same clinic. 3 days later my Dr called and informed me they had set me up for MRI type xray with and without contrast. Results showed blood was pooling in my ankle which indicated stress fracture. Went in for second surgery in June to put more screws in ankle. 6 weeks out and it still hurts. I pray this helps however at this point i wish I had never had ankle replacement BS surgery..