Complications from ankle fracture, any clues of what to do?
Posted , 2 users are following.
Hi everyone,
I've had a bi-malleolar fracture about 10 years ago and I've had to deal after with chronic pain on the other leg after rehabiliation mainly due to a loss in dorsiflexion, feet imbalance and an abnormal gait. I'm still dealing with sciatica, plantar fasciitis, and Greater trochanter inflammation on my non-injured leg only. I've consulted physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths and orthopedists over the years but they don't seem to be able to help much every time. Right now, the pain is tolerable with daily exercices i'm doing to deal with all thoses problems. I'm currently trying new exercices to try to make my feet muscles to work better and hope it helps on the long term. I'm wondering if anyone had any suggestion on how to approach this? The pain is not bothering me much but i'm still searching for new ways to help deal with it. Should I worry about those problems or are they just something I should just accept as they are? Can those leads to complications in the long term (sciatica, plantar fasciitis, and Greater trochanter inflammation)? I've also got a small persistant lower back pain when I lay on my stomach which is not a big problem but still a symptom. I've been prescribed customized insoles to correct the feet imbalance and wore them for at least 3-4 months in the past and it didn't seem to help at all with any symptoms. I'm now wearing semi-rigid insoles and good running shoes and it seems to help with the plantar fasciitis (I have High arches so it seems like part of this problem). Should I give customized insoles another go? I don't want to have to depend on those all my life and they never seemed to help at all. I think it's best for me to adapt to my ankles and feet instead of my body adapting to insoles.
Thanks for reading and any helpful advice!
0 likes, 5 replies
barbara66703 j82083
Edited
I was informed by podiatrist that High arches is usually a issue as we age the arches begin to fall and the fatty tissue in the bottom pads of feet also decrease causing PF. and usually when PF begins we also roll our ankles in each step putting more strain on the arches. the walking gate also deteriorates.
to address your PF get hard arch supports for all shoes. purchase new shoes all old shoes are worn to old gate w/PF before new hard insoles used.
next advice for PF is to purchase rocker shoes by MBT they are online. these will improve your walking gate, take pressure off the feet and realign the ankle, knee, hip, back issues. this is the most important part to practice a better walking gate. working on only a strong heel to toe gate.
The tochanter inflamation in hip is from osteoarthritis. Is that the greator tochanter or smaller.
In most cases you may need THR surgery. This will take away a lot of imbalance / pain in your hip caused by the ball joint because it is not round anymore but worn unevenly and the cushion around the ball joint has warn unevenly too causing additional pain in lower back and hip stressing the greator tochantor which needs to be repaired before more damage occurs.
See / osteoarthritis ball joint hip pain.
simple remedy .. is request for a Xray of hip express the the ball joint pain your experiencing . A simple X-Ray can ID the damage in this case and referral for THR.
These are the techniques and process that worked for me . Not everyone is the same. After both hips replaced and above PF techniques were applied, I have very little pain and improved my living standards and mobility.
Sending healing blessings your way.
j82083 barbara66703
Edited
Hi barbara! Thanks for the advices. What you are describing seems to fit my problems. I think my accident caused a permanent loss in dorsiflexion (about 10%) and a loss in mobility that i'm not sure I can fully recover from with physiotherapy. I will look for rocker shoes and other types of shoes that might help. I'm actually wearing running shoes designed for high arches (sketchers) but i'm not sure that they are ideal. I forgot to mention that i'm only 37 years old and relatively active so, from my current understanding, I think any orthopedists would probably recommend that I postpone any surgery options as long as my pain and discomfort are tolerable since there's no guarantee that a single surgery will fix it for me for more than 10 to 15 years according to current studies. I'm actually scheduled to see a physiatrist and thinking about consulting another orthopedist. I hope I can find a ways to recover ankle mobility and develop a better walking pattern. I'm reluctant to see another physiotherapist since they all seem too focused on dealing with specific symptoms which doesn't help much on the long term. Youtube channels can help a lot with that.
Thanks again. Hope your health keeps improving
barbara66703 j82083
Edited
Also biggest issues is arch support. not the drug stores, not the podiatrist customs but hard type made by 'Walk Fit'. see on line. these support your feet don't sink down like others , helps hold feet in proper position to stop damaging the arches and stop PF.
It's missed by most people how important it is to walk in rocker shoes improve gait or rolling ankles other gait . plz see online the importance of a good walking gait and the difference in arch supports that helped eliminate my painful PF and long lasting arch injuries.
j82083 barbara66703
Edited
Thanks again for the advices! I recently purchased new rocker type shoes that were highly recommended for ankle problems. However, PF is not my main worry.
For Greator Tochantor chronic pain, i'm currently trying need exercices and hoping it will help on the long term. Do you have any tips on how to best deal with it before resorting to surgery? I'm currently staying in shape with regular cycling and walking consciously (correcting my walking pattern) and I tend to avoid spending too much time standing up. Are there types of stretching I should avoid? Are there exercices that fits best with GT chronic pain due to feet imbalance and walking pattern?
Thanks again!
barbara66703 j82083
Edited
With my greator tochanter pain unfortunately was a small fracture unseen thru xray or cat scans. not til surgery was the fracture found and repaired with cerclage wiring system that bothers me now as metal fragment freying into tissue from the cable wire . finally after several years of complaining about GT pain. And now 5 years later after cerclage repair I need surgery again.
sorry I dont have any quick fix for you. We are all different and THR is good to restore mobility and improve lifestyle. Yet it can be disappointing when complications continue to cause issues for years. I am not going to have surgery again.. just learning my limitations and coping mindfully.
Sending healing blessings your way.