Cartiva - Has anyone had it?

Not sure about the first question..in regards to your feet both being tired... & achey I am guessing that you have rested up after surgery ..so think about the stress put on both of your feet before surgery.... wichever foot had the implant and the other "good" foot are both recovering .. give it time..

Hi lorjie, I wanted to update my recovery since I am just one week ahead of you.. I can relate to your impatience I was hoping to be to be able to walk with out as much discomfort by now & I also have to elevate & ice often. My Dr. said to give it 6 months.. so I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will continue to improve although I am disappointed. I am a hairstylist by profession and am still in the boot at the salon & using a barber stool .. at home I can fit in a pair of slip on Merrell shoes & I whear them on errands.. I completely understand how you feel and I hope that we can both be able to report improvement through the coming weeks and months... take care

Oh, wow. Being on your feet all day must be hard! Six months? Well, I guess we have no choice. My swelling is finally going down to a point that I can notice it. I wear Vionics casual shoes, which are OK and Brooks' newest running shoe because it "rocks" at the toe. Comfortable. I just bought 3 pairs of dressier shoes - two from Earth and one from Taos. Very expensive, but they too have the rocking motion at the toe and higher arch. I try to go for a walk every day as that does seem to help speed up the recovery, but I am still icing 2x a day. I'm also in PT and doing toe exercises. I feel a bit more encouraged but am still mad my doctor told me to expect a "quick" recovery! Let's keep each other posted and thanks for posting this!

The more post I read the more I’m about to change my mind about having this done. I’m a runner, I was planning to have this done in late sept, early October and resume running in January. My doctor also told me it was a quick recovery! But I’m not seeing any post that are saying that!!!! 

Just being honest, I had the procedure in October 2017. I still have pain in foot, can do treadmill, but not pain free. Running on any uneven surface, no way. Very long recovery and not sure you will be ever be totally pain free. Its not the magic bullet that the company touted. Its probably the best implant out there though if you are trying to get out of pain and avoid fusion.

 

Hi Kenny, I just wanted to reply to your post & tell you that I just came from my 8 week post op visit with my Dr...no this is not the quick recovery that I was hoping for..& I may never be any better than I was prior to my surgery..my Dr said that it's to soon to consider the surgery a failure & I was told to give it 6 months... I will keep updating all of you ... but right now I'm really disappointed & keeping hope that I will have some improvement... take care

This is so frustrating!!! Why does the company make such big promises? And it seems like the surgeons are going with the info that the company is putting out. I really want to run. I’m not in serious pain yet. I’m between stage 2 and stage 3. I was really hoping this would be a good option with a 2-3 month recovery😞 

Thanks for the reply and info. This is most certainly frustrating! I’ve been to 3 doctors with 3 different opinions. Was excited about the implant that the last Doctor suggested. Now I just don’t know what to do! 

Hello Lorie. I had the cartiva implant surgery, bone  spurs removed and arthritis cleaned out on my left foot on April 9, 2018, so I am 16 days post op.   The surgery went well and I was sent home wearing a platform shoe.  I only took pain meds @ 2 days post op and used ice on it and  kept my foot elevated as much as possible. I  had been using a steerable knee scooter to get around the house.  They allowed me to bear weight on my heel only @5-6 days post op. I had my stitches removed yesterday and they covered  the area w/ steri-strips.  I was instructed to continue wearing the platform boot/sandal until I see the surgeon at the next office visit 4 weeks from now. I am a nurse and work in the office setting and he said I could return to work when I feel uo to it. He also said I can gradually  resume driving. 

I noticed that a lot of the people on this forum say they were instructed to exercise their toe and work with physical therapy right after surgery. I did have one visit w/ physical therapy before the surgery who gave me a list of foot exercises to do post op but had been instructed by the surgeon's staff NOT to wiggle  my toes or move my big toe where the cartiva implant was placed until today.  

When attempting to move my big toe it is very stiff and I am very limited on my ROM. I can hardly move my big toe at all. I will start doing the foot exercises hoping that will help things. I realize I am still early in the recovery process. 

I noticed you mentioned feeling a "bump" on the bottom (the ball of foot).  I noticed that as well yesterday the first time I was allowed to bear weight on my entire foot.  I realize you are further post surgery that me...I just hope it eventually goes away.

Were you ever instructed to work w/ a physical therapist...Are you feeling any better now. 

Have you returned to work yet????

Hi Kelley, I am 9 &1/2 weeks out of surgery.. I to feel that bump on the bottom of my foot.. I had my left foot done. I was told to start bending my toe as soon as I felt comfortable with it.. I had a nerve block in my leg so it was about 2 days after surgery before I started to bend it carefully... I am unfortunately not recovering very quickly & I have read that many have had much more successful results... for now I am just trying to find a shoe that I can get into & walk around with out any discomfort... I will start some PT for "gait" training this week & I am hoping to get some relief.. good luck to you.

The swelling on the pad of your foot might be why you are in pain.  Try buying dancer pads.  I ordered mine from Amazon.  They make a big difference when walking.  I'm almost 4 months out and that pain is gone.  It takes a long time for swelling to go down...can be up to a year for it to totally disappear.  I bought Easy Spirit sneakers 1/2 size bigger than I normally wear and wide rather than normal width.  I bought them as soon as the stitches came out and they helped a lot.  I still use them when  need to walk a lot but finally back into my normal Go Walk shoes.

 

Hi Debbie,

Thanks for the response...I am only @ 2 1/2 weeks out from my surgery so I am still just wearing a type of platform protective ankle boot/sandel and was told to continue wearing only this until I see the Dr. at my next office visit in @ 4 weeks...I hope he will allow me to advance to tennis shoes by then-I'll just have to wait and see. I will look into the dancer pads you mentioned when I am allowed to wear shoes. I am slowly advancing my walking each day and I am not in pain w/ walking...it just feels abnormal like I have a growth /or swelling at the ball of my foot below my left big toe.

I guess I just need to be patient!!! 

Although plenty people are having cartiva that are bone on bone, it is sounding more and more like they are not getting the relief from pain they hoped for, myself included, although I had 2 surgeons and one podiatrist tell me they thought I was a good candidate for cartiva. I am starting to think once you are bone on bone joint probably too damaged to get the pain relief, IDK. Mine is better than before the surgery but definitely still having pain at joint site now and I wasn't for first 5 months after the surgery

If I had known that this was such a hit or miss surgery.. I would NOT have gone through with it!

Did you take it slow after surgery?  I noticed on the facebook group some people pushed their limits quickly after surgery and went back to yoga.  My surgeon told me I could return to yoga or zumba as long as I always had sneakers on, yet others were told by their surgeons the could walk immediately and push through the pain.  I'm at 4 months and doing so well. I had bilateral cartiva done on 1/2/18.  Now I'm a little worried that you were good and than worsened at the 5 month mark.

Hi Debbie, myself personally I took 3 weeks off work and elevated and iced.