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Post op Peroneal tendon surgery week 5 questions

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dcelmer14
dcelmer14

Hello foot & ankle friends;

I am curious if any of you had also had peroneal tendon surgery; I am currently post op starting 5 weeks and let's say it's been fairly painful and a lot more intense than I was prepared for. The surgery went well, the first 2 weeks I was basically bedrest and in a splint/wrap. Then after 2 weeks the stitches were removed, lets just say I was not mentally or physically prepared for how large the incision was and I almost had a breakdown in the drs office. Ekk! That being said, I was then put into a hard cast for 4 weeks, I have 9 days left of the hard cast and from there I believe I am put into a walking boot for 6 more weeks with PT. 

My question is this; 5 weeks post op is it still normal to have numbess, tingliness and a lot of pain? Also I am still not able to put weight down on the ankle. The dr. confirmed that this is all normal due to the fact that this was a major surgery but I still have worries. My concern is the dr puts me in a walking cast and I really can't walk, what am I going to do? I also have nightmares of PT and how painful it is going to be. 

For a little reference I played college soccer and I am a runner, and I want to do everything possible to get back to where I was before the injury.

Thank you for all the info.

Signed post op concerns Danielle. :-)

1 like, 233 replies

233 Replies

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  • Irene1992
    Irene1992 dcelmer14

    Posted

    I realize I am 2 months late on this post lol, but I just found this. How are you both recovering? I had peroneal tendon surgery 04/25/14 and then had to have another tendon / ankle stabilization surgery 04/22/15 and now I will be getting a 3rd and hopefully final tendon and stabilization surgery by March.. I get my exact date next week or the beginning of the week after (waiting on insurance to approve this surgery) i have had ankle pain and peroneal tendon subluxation since 2009 and then finally figured out the issue after 5 years. I had visited multiple doctors and then finally after arguing with a doctor to let me see a foot and ankle specialist (they didn't think I needed to see one) and my first visit with the foot and ankle specialist I was informed it was peroneal tendon subluxation and required surgery.
    • Irene1992
      Irene1992

      Posted

      Sorry, it posted before I was done. I remember being in a lot of pain both times and my ankle still swells and has the same symptoms as when it first started so I am going on 7 years of ankle pain sad I hope this isn't the case for you and you are doing well!
  • todd62219
    todd62219 dcelmer14

    Posted

    I also have to get peroneal tendon surgery? how is the surgery? do they give you a spinal tap to make you numb from your waste down? if so is that terrible?

    • jen44842
      jen44842 todd62219

      Posted

      I had the surgery just over a week ago. Mine was a general anesthesia (sedation so you sleep thru it - but coming out of it was easy and didn't have an "anesthesia hangover"wink and a block from the knee down. The block was awesome because it kept it numb and wore off gradually so I could keep on top of the pain with the pain meds. The block actually lasted almost 24 hrs.

    • chrissybut
      chrissybut jen44842

      Posted

      I also had surgery on 18 August and had the pain block.  It lasted over 24hrs which was great.  I am still taking some painkillers.
  • Thompson16
    Thompson16 dcelmer14

    Posted

    Hi

    I am going to be having this surgery soon. Have had pain and been on crutches for a year after an injury . It took a long time for other tissue damage to subside and for the peroneal tendon issue to be identified. It only shows up in ultrasound comparison with good foot.

    Just wondering how everyone is doing now .. Are you able to walk / run normally etc

    When u got home after surgery could you make it upstairs ?

    Any tips and info welcome

    Thank you

    • jen44842
      jen44842 Thompson16

      Posted

      I just had the surgery a week ago and the stairs are not fun. Haha! If you have awesome upper body strength and a strong other leg, you may be able to do the hop up. I have crawled up (and down most of the time) the stairs for the past week. 

      It did make cleaning the stairs a necessity, so that's a good thing! wink

       

    • Thompson16
      Thompson16 jen44842

      Posted

      Thank you for replying , hope you are doing well . What exactly did you have ? My tendon problem is where it wraps around under the outside of the foot / sole- where as from what I read most issues seem to involve the ankle ?

      Wondering if this makes any difference ? 

      Surgeon is talking about going in with camera and attempting key hole ( whic would be better of course ! ) but probably the need for opening up once he can see better. 

      He says  ( 6 weeks in boot) 2 weeks non weight bearing , 2 weeks 50 % , 2 weeks gradually increasing to full weight bearing . Building up by 3 months to fair walking on flat / short distance...but 6 months for walking on unstable ground / long distance. 

    • marie00386
      marie00386 Thompson16

      Posted

      Well we had the same peroneal tendon issue as it was also my tendon that wraps around my foot and attaches to the bottom as well. Thanks for the time line your doctor gave you. I will see what my doctor says Tuesday and compare. Just really want to get back to work but spend a lot of time standing at my job.
    • jen44842
      jen44842 Thompson16

      Posted

      My surgery was for around the ankle  area this time.

      Last year I had a micro-tear on my other leg which sounds similar to where yours is. I only had to do a walking boot for 8 eights for that. I will do PT on both legs when I start, tho! smile

    • marie00386
      marie00386 jen44842

      Posted

      So when you got your boot you were able to start putting weight on it? That is reassuring. I just really want to be more mobile. Only 3 more days with this cast but who's counting. Lol

    • jen44842
      jen44842 marie00386

      Posted

      I didn't have any sort of surgery for that, just the immobilization. I walked everywhere with the boot. The idea was that giving it "rest" would heal on it's own, which it apparently did - the tear, anyway.

      I was actually in the boot again all summer leading up to this surgery, as well. Again, just to prevent much further damage (which would have been hard to do! ha!)

    • marie00386
      marie00386 jen44842

      Posted

      I wore a boot for 12 weeks to see if the tendon would heal with rest but unfortunately it did not work. I had been doing pt for plantar fasciitis before. Wondering if the pt made the tendon worse. No matter. I just will be relieved to put this all behind me.
    • Thompson16
      Thompson16 jen44842

      Posted

      I also wore a boot and did imbolisation and all sorts of physio 3 x per week ...from memory the boot was 8 weeks ..physio was months ......8 months post injury ( only went to dr 2 months after imjury ) it seems  the rest of my foot ligament and tissue damage all healed not painful can point foot etc - . Then with less overall pain I was able to pin point specific pain to the outside foot . They knew the points I indicated was where the tendon runs. With ultrasound they were able to pick up differences in the tendon L and R foot.

       

      It's possible that if I had identified problem , started physio and imobillisation earlier things would have been able to heal. The first couple of weeks are supposed to be key. I hard a crack and just thought I had broken a small bone so just struggled on as was very busy :-( 

      Eventually I saw many Dr's , physios , specialists etc ....I can't help feeling if they had relied less on xrays etc and really spent a long time on physical exams and explained to me the structure of the foot ...we might have arrived here a lot earlier. 

       

    • marie00386
      marie00386 Thompson16

      Posted

      So how are you doing now? Sounds like you had a lot going in. I like you ignored problems early on and continued to work. This all started with plantar fasciitis over a year ago and I continued to work on my feet 10+ hours per day. By the time i decided to deal with it cortisone shots masked the symptoms of the tendon damage further and the pt just did it in. Two more days until cast removal. I can't wait!!

    • Thompson16
      Thompson16 marie00386

      Posted

      I can walk unaided really - but it's painful and gradually builds up . I tape my foot every day and wear some orthotics which physio thought would help. I have onty worn lace up trainers for a year - no nice shoes ! 

      Good luck for cast removal - How long after Op will it be ? What exactly did the surgeon find / do ? 

      I am just sorting out when to book in ...

    • Thompson16
      Thompson16

      Posted

      Sorry I meant to say that although I can walk unaided a bit at home ( which is also recommended by my physio and Dr so as not to cause compensation probs from walking abnornnally with crutch ) I use a crutch outside all the time - just very % weight bearing depending on terrain and weather ! 
    • jennifer731
      jennifer731 marie00386

      Posted

      That is interesting, I was in PT for PF surgery I had in July when I somehow tore my peroneal tendon either late September or early Oct. Just had surgery for it on Friday.
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