Plantar Plate Repair with Osteotomy - Recovery

Thanks for your response Phoebkins. I was surprised they put me in a boot and let me bear weight right away. Heel only, but still. I was expecting to be non-weight bearing for some weeks. I do elevate it a lot, but I also have two small children, which makes it really hard to stay off it when they are home. They didn't give me any real limits, other than to rest if it feels like I need to. I worry so much that the surgery didn't work. I spent about 3 months in boot before the surgery in hopes my plantar plate would heal on its own. I just want to walk comfortably again.

Was your surgery through the to of your foot, or bottom?

Hi, ambceb - oh, my - I can’t imagine trying to care for two small children while recovering.  Bless your heart.  My surgery was from the top.  And I had been told I would be non weight-bearing for 6 - 8 weeks.   I had made enough progress at 6 weeks to move to a boot.  But I was supposed to use crutches with it for the first two weeks.  I quickly gave up on them as they hurt my shoulder.  I can’t remember How long I was in the boot before graduating to tennis shoes.  Best of luck to you!  Keep me posted on your progress.

Hi again Phoebkins, I have a question for you. I'm 10 weeks out from the surgery now and I'm supposed to be wearing shoes. Question for you - the ball of my foot still hurts and is sore when I walk on it. Do you remember having ball of foot pain and soreness when you started wearing shoes again? I'm still feeling worried that I'm not where I should be in recovery. It's so hard to find any information on what to expect. I told my doctor about this and he sort of shrugged his shoulders about it. Any pain resembling my pre-surgery pain freaks me out.

Hello, ambceb69158!  I had to go back and search some notes I took during my recovery to remember.  My surgery was December 1, 2016.  I was totally non-weight bearing until getting a boot January 11.  I graduated to Doctor-approved tennis shoes with orthotic inserts (which included a pad under the ball of my foot) on January 25th.  I was not allowed regular shoes until February 22 - and then only wearing one of those stick-on ball of foot cushions and only if not walking very far.  So that was 12 weeks until I was allowed  a regular shoe with a pad on the ball of my foot.  I have only in the last couple of months - over a year out from surgery - begun to wear shoes without a pad stuck to the bottom of my foot if I’m not going to be doing a lot of walking.  No, I’m only very rarely experiencing any discomfort in the ball of my foot - maybe for a while after I run - but I wear the orthotics for any athletic activity and wear pads if I’m going to be doing much walking - like at the mall.   My other foot has the same bad anatomy so I wear the same orthotics and pads on it hoping to prevent the need for surgery.  Did your doctor give you orthotics for athletic shoes?  Do you have pads to stick on the ball of your foot?  I think both have probably made a big difference in protecting my feet and keeping me from having much pain or discomfort.  I will say that I still have some discomfort on the top of my foot that had the surgery after I run.  I suspect it still swells just  a little and that’s the cause.  Let me know how you’re doing!  

Thanks so much for checking your notes! I should have kept some notes or maybe I should start now, so I know I'm making progress. I had every kind of metatarsal pad you can think of before my surgery, and perhaps naively I was thinking the surgery would fix me such that I wouldn't have to worry about the pads anymore. Anyway, I am wearing an insole with metatarsal pad today and it feels much better with it in. I went into a regular shoe at 9 weeks, so earlier than you, but not that much earlier. The doctor did say I could take naproxen for swelling and that seems to help, so maybe I just have a lot of swelling on the ball of my foot from the trauma of the surgery and that's what I'm feeling. I was excited to see you say you run. The surgery must have been very successful for you if you can run! I'm still at the stage where I can't imagine being able to do that.

Hi

I am 9 weeks post surgery tomorrow and have been searching the internet tonight because I am panicking that my foot feels as painful as before the op in the same place.

I feel like I have a hot marble in my foot, possibly even worse than before I had it done.

It’s interesting to read the different approaches from people and what they’ve been told. I was told to be off my foot for 2 weeks then had another 4 weeks in the strange heel weight bearing shoe. I wasn’t doing much walking at all in this phase as the shoe was messing my hips up due to being ‘off level’. 

At my 6 week check I was told to walk normally in trainers (not told to wear any cushioning pads/orthotics) but no impact sport. I also have been told to stretch the scar regularly which I am doing.

So my big concern is that I have been wearing trainers for nearly 3 weeks and my foot still really hurts. I am so worried that it hasn’t worked but there’s hardly any information on the internet about what to expect......

I’ve called the consultant’s secretary today and asked to be called back but I’d love to know if others have experienced this pain and that it will improve?!

All I want is to be able to walk pain free and get back to playing badminton regularly when the season starts in September. I’ve missed the majority of this season following the injury in November.

Phoebekins - have things improved for you?? 

Thanks

Julie

Hi Julie, So good to hear from you. I am now 3 months out from my surgery and still having ball of foot pain. My doctor thinks it's scar tissue, so I'm going to physical therapy and getting scar tissue massage. My pain is so much like my pre-surgery pain that I was sure the ligament was still torn. I hope the scar tissue massage will help. Your post sounds so much like what I was feeling at 9 weeks out and what I'm still feeling now. Hopefully, things will improve for us both!

Hi

Thanks for replying even though I found your reply depressing! 3 months post op and still the same pain 😩......

A break would have been easier and much quicker to heal.

As your PT said that you can exercise on it without causing further damage or is it just too painful for you to be able to do that?

Julie

Hi Julie,

I still hope the result of my surgery will not be depressing, although, I admittedly have been very scared that I will not be able to walk without pain again. It really is so hard to find out what feelings are normal recovery and what feelings indicate that there are problems. I was so afraid that the ligament was still torn as the pain I feel is like walking on the bone or walking on something hard. And the feeling is right at the joint where the ligament was repaired. My surgeon performed a couple of clinical tests and he thinks the ligament is holding like it should be and isn't really sure why I'm having so much pain, but his best guess is scar tissue and I'm massaging it like crazy and the physical therapist is using tools to try and work it out.

With respect to exercise, the physical therapist said I can walk on it and walking might even help the scar tissue if I can keep a normal gait. If it's painful enough that I change the way I walk - put weight toward the outside of my feet, then walking won't be any good for it. That said, I can do other things. I can go to the gym and ride the bike, do weights and squats. Walking seems to be what causes me the most pain.

What did the consultant say when you called? You're still earlier than me, so maybe it'll just take a bit of time to resolve your pain. Do you feel any improvement from before the surgery? Fingers crossed all is good.

A break would have been better - no doubt. Ligaments and tendons are worse.

Hello. Could you let me know about the ice machine. Do you buy or hire it!  How long is the recovery. I am trying all I can to avoid surgery but have been in pain the whole of this year and cannot  seem to heal the tear despite wearing a surgical boot for 7 weeks 

Thank you 

Hello

Did you have top of foot surgery 

I have been in a surgical boot for 7 weeks and it does seem to be healing 

Terrified of the operation?

Await to hear from you. 

Thanks 

Hello again

Could you let me what you were wearing until you had a boot at six weeks !

Yes, my surgery was through the top of the foot. If you seem to be healing in your boot that's great. Much better than surgery.

Hi, Patientholland!  I was wearing a bandage for the first 6 weeks.  Was on a knee scooter or crutches and not allowed to shower.  Thank goodness for REI camping bath wipes!

As for the ice machine - I bought one because it was also handy for my husband’s knee.  I just googled therapeutic ice machines and read reviews.  

Re: my recovery - scroll up to see my reply to ambceb 2 months ago for my timeline.  My particular injury would not have healed without surgery.  I wore a boot for about 6 weeks to see if it would heal on its own even though my doctor said it wouldn’t.  And it didn’t.  So I continued wearing the boot because the pain to walk without it was too great and scheduled the surgery.  I religiously followed the doctor’s post-surgical advice and had an excellent outcome but my foot will never be like it was before the injury.  I can, however, walk without pain and do everything I want to do - except wear heels!  Best of luck to you.

Was your tear bad? Did the surgical boot work?