swollen ankle

Thank you. .I'm supposed to go back to work..but idk if I will make it just kinda scared but they told me I could sit n work for a while if needed

Ty..yes your foot will feel alot better. .mine doesn't hurt until it swells up..but yes u have a long way to go all I can say is take your time n don't rush it. I'm 4 mos post op n barely getting to walk but ib had some bones that didn't heal very fast good luck and God bless

Hi Bohemia

it is very early days for you 

keep going girl,  it does get better (just not tonigh

the recovery process does feel as though we make three steps forward and two back but we do progress and we do recover

Sleep well Bohemia

Hi Mishe, thanks hun. Just another busy week taking it's toll on the old foot lol Bella's knowledge re the anatomy of the foot and tendon information is very interesting and makes sense of my concerns of today that my foot was leaning to the right and possibly turning out slightly. I've got my xrays coming up soon so I will post on here with the results. Must try and sleep now, ni night.

Hi Bellapupina

It sounds as though you are having pretty horrific expereince with your surgery.  It may be that the technique of the procedure differs from country to couuntry.  I am assuming that your surgery was done in the US or Canada since youa re qoting costs in $,  or was it Australia?

I am absolutely amazed that the consequences were not discussed with you prior to operation as they seem to be pretty big to say the least.  I can't judge my recovery yet as I am only just approaching 6 weeks so I am still in a boot but I dont think I lost any movement or balance of my foot (I take the boot off when in bed and I started 'illigal' exercises without weight bearing to speed up my recovery and it seems to me that my foot has all the movement it should have but I have not walked on it yet so the time will show if I am right).

To tell you the truth,  it does sound all pretty wrong and if I was you I would be seeking second opinion

Hi Mishe, yes I am in Australia. The foot dropping to the outside was very noticeable after I began walking and brought new shoes. Within 2 months the soles has worn down the soft rubber, just below the little toe area on the shoe. So I thought maybe I had developed bad walking habits when by bunion was there, so made a conscious effort to walk straight but with pain and more swelling when I increased my daily walking. I sent to a sports store where you walk on a machine that shows your walking pattern and videos you walking. The man said when I stride with that foot, the hole ankle collapses and the foot rolls to the outside. I'm afraid we cannot help you with what we have here. On my last visit to the  surgeon, he said he had done what I requested, repaired the bunion and the foot is straight. As far as he was concerned he had fulfilled his job and that was the end of it. The swelling will go down and so will the pain in the toe by the massive screw. It may be ok for the sedentary folk in their later years, but for a middle age woman running her own business and being active, I'm afraid it is not a good outcome at all. I am having acupuncture done next week, as the injury site is in the middle of many acupressure meridians, and may be a blockage that can be cleared. Between the toes are many lymph nodes. And if these are removed or damaged, this may be the cause of swelling in many patients. Hopefully I will find this out soon.

My surgeon did the bunion but he also shortened three bones in my forefoot as this was necessary to rebalance the foot

it is a bit bigger surgery but it is meant to assure that the whole foot works well

It was all done through a number of tiny cuts so the external healing was quick and safe.

The bone healing is obviously much longer.

I cannot have an opinion here but it does not sound right and for that reason I would seek second opinion but you need to be careful as specialist often will not criticise their colleagues.

If you are in Sydney I would be happy to recommend a brilliant and very caring specialist

Hi Bella, I'm really interested in your obseervations and experience as a massage therapist because I can relate to some of the balance issues that you are mentioning.  When I am out walking doing shopping and walking on a hard surface although I'm weight bearing on my left foot and left side of the body, I'm using crutches too but I too feel that my right foot tends to lean outwards slightly and my calf aches too, I thought I was imagining it that my foot seemed to turn out slightly, because no one else has mentioned this on here to my knowledge, but I'm now thinking about what you mentioned re the tendon between the big and second toe. It has felt very tight in bectween my big toe and second toe and I know that both toes had surgery but that area feels very tight and sore as does the top of my foot... I'm doing gentle massage and gentle excercise even when my foot is raised, and I'm using vit E45 cream and lavander.  I presumed that it would be the metal plate that prevented the foot from being flexible and the need to wear flat shoes ( I do anyway) but it would seem that your theory re the tendon makes sense. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

The tendon between the toes is usually either elongated or not touched at all as far as I was explained and both those options cause pain

Elongation means cutting it slightly but not all the way through

Sometimes it is a zig zag cut

I do hope Bohemia that you are favoring the side of your foot to avoid pain rather than having balance difficulties

it realy worries me as my other foot is already only partly functional so I am hoping for smooth recovery and improvement rather than the opposite

Hi Bohemia, the calf pain was what prompted me to look into the cause, and going through my many text books found the perineal tendon is responsible for rolling the foot medially and dorsidlexion so if it is unable to do those movements, even if as others have suggested, is not completely severed, will be greatly impaired in its function. I had a client a while back whose surgeon cut this same tendon as the man had knee pain!! He had trouble walking and affected his hips and back too. So is a bit like pulling one of the guy ropes out from the tent, it collapses, as does the body!

Hi Bella, all makes sense. Now that I know that my foot is tending to roll to the right and turn out slightly I am doing my best to reverse this. But I will check it out next week when I have my xrays etc.

I have major left hip problems but this has gone on for years now. I have injections but it gets so painful that I can't sleep on either hip sometimes. So the weight brearing on my left side has been difficult too. I'm starting a new thread with something useful that I've found today, try and have a look later x

Well said ty