Plantar Plate Repair with Osteotomy - Recovery

Are you in a boot? How long before you can walk? Any info would be helpful. Thk you.

How are you doing? Are you walking yet, how many weeks? Thank you.

i am still wearing the same shoe that provided post surgery. Had pins and stitches removed at week 4. Now on week 5 and not allowed to bare weight on toes. If i am up and moving about for any length of time, my foot and toes become swollen and my "repaired" toes looking as if they have separated. Then when swelling goes down, they appear better. Not sure if this is normal throughout healing process?? I just am hoping that or all deems worth it once healing is complete. Still unable to drive per doctors orders!

Thank you! Feel better and I am praying for a speedy recovery for you. Please keep in touch with progress. This surgery scares me, but I hate living in pain.

Hi am not doing good unfortunately the toe where the rupture was was partial dislocated they straightened it and I now have arthritis I have pain if on my feet more then a hour I have pain under the big toe where bone was removed its one of the small muscles there and the big toe looks like it's drifting over the second toe now so am wearing a spacer am due back to see the surgeon next month looks like more surgery for me am very dissapointed as I had hoped I could get back running and hill walking

Hi there, I had a completely torn Plantar Plate of 2nd metatarsal, my toe would completely dislocate when I rose onto the balls of my feet. A real problem when you are a competitive ballroom dancer! I had no choice but to have surgery or stop dancing forever. At 2 weeks post surgery my surgeon sent me to a rehabilitation podiatrist. I had an hour appointment each week where she manipulated my foot in ways I would not have thought possible that soon after surgery. I was given exercises which I did every hour of every day. I also had a bunion correction on the same foot. This rehabilitation is the answer!!!!! Amazing what it accomplished. 3 months out of surgery I am dancing again, only in a small heel practice shoe but dancing almost better than before. The amount of range in movement of my toe is the same as my good foot. Yes there is a bit of pain at the end of an hour lesson but that is to expect and I am sure will subside. I am now 4 months post surgery and the pain is becoming less and less. Early rehabilitation is the answer. I have no doubt,

Thank you, you are the only one with any positive results. I have been scared! How long before you could walk. I am having it done June 1st and hope to be back to work September 1st. Any inpput is helpful. Thank you so much!

Hi there, I had the surgery on 17th December and had a surgical shoe on. I was on crutches for 2 weeks and did not put any weight on it. I had my stitches out at 2 weeks and then started rehab once each week for 4 weeks. I still had the surgical shoe on but could weight bear and didn't need crutches anymore. I went back to work on 30th January but had to have one more week off as I work in a school and was on my feet too much. I returned to work one week later and have been good since then. I put my foot up after work for as long as possible each day to help with swelling. Please look into rehab if it exists where you live because I can see the difference. Alternatively ask your surgeon when he takes out the stitches, what exercises you can do to help recovery. Many years ago I had bunion surgery and couldn't dance for 18 months after and had no rehab. I had so much more pain. It really does make a huge difference. It is so nice to feel the strength in that joint after being so fragile. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis concentrated mainly in my feet, so I knew I had a battle for recovery. But I did absolutely everything I could to ensure a positive outcome. You can do it too!!!

thank you so much. I work in a school also in the library. shelving books .

Good Luck, I wish you the best and hope all goes well for you!

HI! I have been doing physical therapy since week 4 and i am week 8 now. Doc had given me permission to drive and walk as much as pain will allow. I drove a little and walked around the house mostly a day back. Granted it was way more than I have done before but my feet feel like they are on fire now. The ball of my feet also hurt as does my toe. I am worried that this indicates nerve damage? Or is this a normal part of recovery?

Is this something any of you experienced during recovery?

Hi there, I was in normal jogger shoes from 6 weeks. Yes expect pain definitely! even now 4 months on in bare feet I can get some pain. Until about week 12 I had limited feeling down the toe it was quite numb in places. This has disappeared now just as the doctor said it would. My doctor said that I will know if I have done too much if I am limping the next day. So Yes I dance and it hurts ( not too much) but I recover well. He said to expect pain, it will decrease over time and that is definitely what is happening. I guess just do all your exercises as much as you should be, don't miss any and let your hard work pay off very soon.

I so appreciate your quick response. This forum is wonderful.

What I forgot to add in my haste is that i have burning pain.

The burning sensation is worrying me. Have you experienced any burning pain?

I didn't have burning pain when I was resting. But when I was walking at 8 weeks I did have pain. I would describe it as burning pain - yes. Definitely wasn't sharp pain, just constant pain. This became less and less each week. There was a huge difference between 8 weeks and 12 weeks. It seems as I reached 12 weeks there was a big improvement. I have a small battery operated massage device (from a sports shop). I put vitamin E oil on the scar and run the massager over the scar and under my foot right down through the plantar fascia area as well. I do this every night. It helps keep the scar soft and stops it tightening up. The scar is quite faint now. It also helps with any pain and the rehab podiatrist said that it's important to look after the plantar fascia as well. I didn't have any advice and I really want to pass on my experience in the hope it helps someone!

Thank you anita36402! Thank you for sharing your experiences. I am so happy to learn that you things got a lot better by week 12. That gives me hope. The burning pain went down finally. My physical therapist thinks that I just overdid it. I was very worried about nerve damage. I will massage my scar more frequently.

Oh that's wonderful news. Best wishes for a recovery that just keeps getting better!

hi!

sounds like I had almost exactly what you gad done 5 weeks ago. what exercises did you start to do that helped you? my foot and toe have had so much swelling since pin removal. im not able to walk correctly unless Im walking on the outside of my foot. I cant seem to get any answers from my doctor and its frustrating.