Foot orthoses after ankle fracture
Posted , 2 users are following.
Hi there,
I need some feedback and expertise on the use of foot orthosis after severe ankle fracture 5 years ago.
Here’s my story. I'm 30 years old. I've had a bimalleolar fracture following a wonderful episode of my ankle being severely crushed by a car. It might not be easy to recover from. It was more than 5 years ago.
About 1 year after my surgery with my ankle fixed with 2 screws, I started to experience sciatica and plantar fasciitis on my uninjured leg due to gait problems associated with a loss in dorsiflexion and mobility on my injured foot.
About 1 year later, they removed the screws.
Over the years, I've been prescribed foot foot orthoses and physiotherapy by doctors (podiatrist and orthopedist). After that, physiotherapists suggested me not to use the orthoses and, instead, work on dorsiflexion exercices. Of course, since they advocate for physiotherapy, which, I believe tends to be a lot more physiological and multi-dimensional perspective than the medical system of prescriptions.
I’m still doing exercices. However, when I try more intensive work of dorsiflexion, the pain tends to get too strong to keep it up which makes me believe it can’t get any better. I lost about 5 to 10 % in dorsiflexion.
I used the foot orthoses for about a few months in total and it did not seems to relieve any or most of the pain. In the end, I never used them extensively since it did not seem to help with the pain at all.
Years goes by and I sort of adapted, doing exercices, treating the sciatica with the use of pressure points and always concentrating on my walking pattern. I sort of got used to the pain, it did not bother me that much ever since.
About 2 years ago, I also started to get SI joint pain on my back. I'm still doing exercices to relieve the pain today which also does not bother me much now. However, the pain still persists and I’m starting to believe that, despite all my efforts, the pain might be getting worse which is worrying me a bit.
I just had an appointment with a foot specialist orthopedist who could only, again, suggest me to wear foot orthoses and exercices to treat the plantar fasciitis which I don't think is a bother at all compared to the other pains.
I'm starting to think that my body can't adapt to my ankle instability and mobility and that I might have to wear foot orthoses for the rest of my life.
Yes, I might be very stubborn about not wearing foot orthoses but I still cling to hope I can live without it because doctors can't even tell me if I can or not adapt to the injury, they seemed quite inexperience and don't seem to do any sort of study on long time rehabilitation at all.
So now I'm trying to reach out.
I'm wondering if anyone has any idea how I should proceed? I'm willing to start wearing foot orthoses on the long term. And I could live with it indefinitely. Just another mourning to live with I guess.
I'm just wondering if wearing foot orthoses could be temporary and could ultimately rectify my walking pattern and maybe relieve the pain on the long term. But I'm quite skeptic.
I feel like doctors prescribes foot orthoses because that's basically all they are trained to do : treating actual symptoms and prescribing. They don't seem to convince me in any way to actually wear them even if I ask them about the potential outcomes : they only tell me that it's gonna treat the pain symptoms.
Plus, they seem to be strangely associated with the foot orthoses industry. It's a money system like another. I don't know if they profit directly but I would not be surprised.
I'm sort of an active person, I keep doing cardio since i was a teenager. I'm also an occasionnal runner. I care about being able live without foot orthoses and running freely.
On the long term I prefer my body to adapt to the injury than to the foot orthoses, which I feel is a life handicap.
I heard stories of people adapting to worse injuries than mine without any sort of foot orthoses. I wonder if it could be a similar story for me.
However, it seems like my attempt to correct my gait is starting to create balance problems and create complications, ence the sciatica and SI join pain that still complicates my daily activities.
Anyone lived or heard of similars stories? Did anyone used foot orthoses temporarely after a severe ankle fracture to correct gait and lived without it after? Are there people who wear foot orthoses permanently but are still fully active and well?
Thanks for reading and for any feedback
0 likes, 3 replies
lilliewil j82083
Posted
I had/have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis that caused loss of range of motion in both my wrists and ankles when I was growing. I can't do push ups or any other exercises that require me to put my hands down flat (downward dog for yoga I have to modify) and push up as my wrists don't flex enough. Same with my ankles, I was never as flexible as most other people in the ankle joints. All I can say is growing up, I adjusted but I was never very athletic.
I also broke my left ankle 20 years ago and lost even more flexion, and my right ankle 5 months ago and the right ankle has more dorsaflexion even while recovering than the left one I am seeing what I can get back on the left as I go through PT for the right.
I have had issues with plantar fasciitis and other problems also due to the arthritis. I'm not sure if harmed my gait that much but I know over time, I was having increasing back and hip pain. My mother also had curving of the spine, herniated disks and now has SI joint dysfunction and I am built just like her.
So I started seeing a very good chiropractor who took xrays and saw similar issues with my back, plus the uneven gait (due to a short leg, most people are like this). With his treatments, these things improved dramatically, my spine is in much better shape and I started walking better. My chiropractor also focuses on atlas orthogonality which aligns the atlas and fixes the short leg issue with this and other adjustments. Having the ankle issues that disrupts your gait wears and tears on the hips and back and this is where a a chiropractor can help, especially as you get older.
I also get regular massage, do yoga and weight lifting that focuses on leg and core muscles and these have helped alot.
What I'm saying it don't necessarily assume the issues are just because of the ankle as mine weren't entirely and see if some alternative therapies can also improve things. Even if the issues are due to a permanently damaged ankle, doing some of these things can help overall as well.
Fair warning, alot of orthopedic doctors aren't crazy about chiropractors and vice versa but I've found both have their places.
I have used orthodics before but didn't notice much difference/help and it got annoying trying to keep up with them with various shoes. What I found helped better are good shoe liners (Superfeet), getting good tennis shoes from a running store where they examine your gait and get shoes to suit it, and shoes like crocs when doing alot of walking not using tennis shoes.
j82083 lilliewil
Posted
Thanks a lot for the feedback and all the advices. Very helpful and encouraging.
You reminded me about the use of shoe liners which I stopped wearing ever since I started to forget about it... I intend to start wearing them again soon which might help a lot. I'll ask about tennis shoes next time I go to the store.
I do Yoga too since about 2 years ago. I might try weigh lifting; I’ll make some research about that.
Also, I did not mention that I used the services of chiropractors and also an osteopath maybe 20 times in total over the years. However, they did not seem to help much even after several consecutive treatments.
In the end, I feel like they are in the business of the eternal temporary fix. I'm quite skeptic about that too. In total, I’ve seen 4 of them and they all seem to tend to push people to get quick regular treatments in order for them to run their business. Again, maybe it’s because I did not meet a very good one after all. Right now, my insurances does not cover my treatments. But I might try back in the future. Maybe I should ask for references for a good one and ask for a treatment 1 time per month and see if it helps on the long term. How often do you consult your chiropractor?
Thanks again
lilliewil j82083
Posted
Right now, I see my chiropractor once a month or so. For the first year, it was every 2-3 weeks until I could go 4 weeks. It can be very difficult to find a good one that really helps, I know I was really doubtful of the several I saw until I found this good one that has helped me tons. Mine aligns the atlas with a machine he has for it based on xrays/personal calculations, along with adjustments that help keep the atlas and spine aligned (ex. psoas muscle adjustment, neck adjustments even nutritional issues). I recommend asking others and reading online reviews to see if you can find a good one. Massage can help too. I know, it's terrible insurance doesn't cover these things when I have found they help more than regular doctors and prescriptions. But for me it's been worth it my chiropractor has worked out a payment that I can better afford.