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Peroneal Brevis Tendon Surgery - Post-Op

Posted , 24 users are following.

Donna_92597
Donna_92597

I’m ten weeks post-op from Peroneal Brevis Tendon surgery, and had been healing fine and progressively getting better. I haven’t re-injured the foot or ankle, and PT has been going smoothly with no problems at all.

The past few nights however, I’ve been waking with incredible aches at my incision, in the middle of the night.  It’s not tender to the touch, but extremely achy. It goes on for several hours, and nothing seems to help... I’ve tried ice, elevation, and massage. I’m surprised because I didn’t expect this, and wonder if others have experienced the same? It’s really disheartening to be two-and-a-half months out, and having an entirely new pain. 

0 likes, 55 replies

55 Replies

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  • letdolphin
    letdolphin Donna_92597

    Posted

    Hi -

    8 days post op.

    Bought a Dr Lounge wedge to keep foot elevated.

    This is on my right foot and surgery took about 2 hours. I go back in 7 days to get the stitches out and get more details as to what exactly the Dr had to repair (as right before surgery he said the MRI looked a little worse than he was expecting). I know to expect a hard cast for 2 weeks (have appointments every 2 weeks). Any ideas on when they MIGHT allow me to drive? Thats the worst part of all of this for me 😃

    Thanks

  • letdolphin
    letdolphin Donna_92597

    Posted

    Hi -

    8 days post op.

    Bought a Dr Lounge wedge to keep foot elevated.

    This is on my right foot and surgery took about 2 hours. I go back in 7 days to get the stitches out and get more details as to what exactly the Dr had to repair (as right before surgery he said the MRI looked a little worse than he was expecting). I know to expect a hard cast for 2 weeks (have appointments every 2 weeks). Any ideas on when they MIGHT allow me to drive? Thats the worst part of all of this for me 😃

    Thanks

  • Herculiz
    Herculiz Donna_92597

    Posted

    Hi all,

    I had my peroneal brevis tendon repaired on May 22, 2020 and I'm so relieved to find this forum on the pain and recovery that I was not expecting! I have had a terrible time with pain in recovery, and I haven't had a good nights sleep since my nerve block wore off on the 22nd. I was in my original cast for one week. It was supposed to be two weeks, but the cast was so tight around my ankle that I went back to my surgeon and he took it off...and put on a new one. I wore the second cast for 18 days. So I was in a non weight bearing cast for nearly 4 weeks. I had my cast removed last Thursday, June 18th and I already had a boot from my original injury. Doctor told me to wear the boot all the times except when showering or when I take it off to move my foot up and down to practice getting some ROM back. BUT, I am in so much pain while wearing the boot that I only wear it for 2-4 hours per day. I experience a lot of pain when my foot is at a 90 degree angle, as it is when in the boot. Did anyone else experience this? I also have so much bruising on the top and sides of my foot (left ankle). Is that normal? I want to thank everyone, especially Donna for writing in this forum, because I really needed to know that I wasn't alone. I've been so depressed while healing. At least now I know the shocking/electric waves of pain are normal. Though they keep me up at night. If anyone still pays attention to this forum, please respond. No one else understands the pain and despair (mostly due to sleep deprivation) like y'all do.

    • Heykimbo
      Heykimbo Herculiz

      Posted

      I had surgery on 9/15/2020. I had several repairs. Large (old) avulsion fracture fragment removal (from

      fibula), anterior talofibular ligament repair with bone anchor graft, peroneus brevis repair with graft. my brevis tendon is what caused so much pain and it still is. I was in a surgical splint for 1st week, then they removed it to look at the site and placed it back on for another week. At week 2 I got stitches out and a boot but was still NWB. Dr said i could take it off if i was just sitting around but just to keep it wrapped with an ace. He also said to do gentle up and down movements. I was excited to get the stitches removed because i swore i was feeling a stitch tearing everytime i slightly moved my ankle inward even a little bit. Most of the time I did not wear the boot because they fitted me wrong and my boot was too big, and everytime I wore the boot it hurt and made my ankle throb more. I just went back Monday (postop week 4) and was told to start 50% weight bearing when possible (few steps here and there) but mostly stay off of it. Also started PT this week and it is pure freaking hell. It hurt so bad.

      I feel a weird pulling in my ankle when i roll it inward right where the anchor is placed and then that tearing of a stitch feeling again right where i initially tore the brevis tendon-so right where the repair is. My Dr gave me a cortisone shot in there thinking maybe it is swelling aggravating it? Im scared that I will feel this forever. The tearing sensation is painful. The other pulling feeling feels like what i can best describe as a spring in my foot-I know its not but that the only way i cann describe what it feels like to me. That one isnt so much painful as just annoying and im wondering how its going to feel after i start walking and repetative motion of the foot. Has anyone else experienced this? If so does it go away or get better? I too have started to feel depressed. Not only are we confined to our houses anyway, but i lost my job too. I have lost all motivation. Today I asked the PTA how long in general with this surgery hiw long it wouod be before i can walk on my own again. She laughed at me- out loud.. That just made me lose all hope and discouraged me even more. The pain after PT is relentlous. I cant take any NSAIDS so Im stuck with just tylenol. Do you think i should ask for pain meds for days when i have PT? Please let me know if anyone has gone through the same thing??

    • LovesGoldens
      LovesGoldens Heykimbo

      Posted

      You had several major repairs done in surgery, and I'm sure you're going to have some additional pain and problems than most of us have. As if our problems aren't bad enough!

      I had Peroneal Brevis tendon rupture, a small fracture in my cuboidal bone and a damaged ligament that was repaired during surgery on August 14, 2020.

      I'm a little past the 9 week mark and still having lots of pain and swelling.

      The pulling, tearing sensation when you move your ankle sounds like what i felt for a few weeks. It's not as bad now and i think that's partly due to scar tissue growth at and around your incision site. If your therapist isn't doing any massage on your foot/ankle, ask your Dr if he can add that to your PT order. Scar tissue growth begins soon after surgery and in foot/ankle surgery, scar tissue is a common problem and causes increased pain and loss of mobility - something we definitely don't want when we're already in pain and have lost ROM. If your Dr won't add scar tissue massage prevention and treatment - Google it and do it yourself. It's somewhat difficult for us to do because of our lack of flexibility, but it MUST BE DONE. Even if scar tissue isn't causing any pain now, I assure you it will become a huge problem eventually.

      I've had many setbacks during my rehab and I think that's the most frustrating part of the recovery. Anytime a change is made by my Dr or PT, I have major pain increase. These changes are progress of my recovery but they cause me to do increased weight bearing, increased walking, and had me stop using walking boot and start using soft ankle brace.

      Therapist said this is normal. When you begin adding more use of your foot you'll always have increased pain until you adjust.

      Your PTA is a jerk for laughing at a legitimate question.

      Wearing my walking boot also hurt, especially around the incision. I took a 4x4 gauze pad and folded it in half and taped it over my incision. It helped me a lot by putting some padding around my most tender spots.

      FYI, I can't take NSAIDS either. I've done tons of research about natural anti-inflammatory options and the one that's mentioned most is Turmeric. I've used it in the past for back pain and other injuries. It really does help. Amazon has a big selection and many supplements can be returned if you're not satisfied. Try Turmeric and be sure you choose a product that has over 4 star reviews. You'll find many to choose from that have high ratings.

      I've also found that Aspercreme (topical NSAID) helps my foot pain quite a bit. Yes it's an NSAID but it's not as bad for you as oral meds since you'll be using it on a small area. DON'T use heat with Aspercreme! Follow instructions exactly.

      I've been very depressed, more so since I learned how long this pain and swelling is going to last. I've also been unable to drive because my right foot is the injured foot. Not driving is very hard and I feel like I'm going crazy being stuck in the house and having to ask for a ride to Dr and to get prescriptions.

      I sympathize with you, as I'm sure you have more pain than others on the forum.

      Try to hang in there because it will get better. That's the only thing that keeps all of us going and pushing forward even with awful pain. BTW, i have oxycodone for pain and it doesn't help even a tiny bit.

      Good luck.

    • Heykimbo
      Heykimbo LovesGoldens

      Posted

      image

      Thank you so much for replying to me. My pain has gotten a little better and im now putting more weight on it. However, I ran into a road block. Im still having that tearing pain feeling about 1 1/2-2 inches below my little toe on the outside edge. Last weekend i noticed there was a bruising right there where the pain is. My Dr wasnt open so i showed my PT when i went in and she said to see if i could send the dr a picture at least because she didnt like the way it looked. Drs office said that he wanted to see me and examine instead of looking at pictures. He told me to stop all PT and "stay off of it" until

      we get an MRI. He didnt really offer any explanation other than maybe it was a ligament that was not detected that need repair-like suggesting he may have missed it!! This is crushing my soul to hear that i have come this far and might have to redo eveything again. MRI is backed up so i cant get in until 11/6. In the meantime Im worried that all the PT i suffered through is going to be for nothing since i cant continue. I really wanted to be walking by Thanksgiving.... By the way the Dr gave me Tramadol for at night when its really painful, but it doesnt really do anything. For the most part i can deal with it now woth just tylenol, ice, rest and an occasional alcoholic drink:) I was actually surprised how much a glass of wine can help!! (without tylenol of course). i will

      keep you informed on the outcome of my

      MRI and try to attach a pic of my bruising.

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