Post op Peroneal tendon surgery week 5 questions

My life would be permanently worse had I not gotten the surgery.  I was debating on puting mine off till this winter to give it time to fix itself, But now I’m happy I just got it over with.  I would have another surgery again before I just lived the rest of My days not being able To trust my ankles stability.

HI ANGELA,

 I know this is directed at Danielle, but I am six weeks out of tendon/ ligament reconstruction ankle surgery. I was scared but not scared enough not to have it done.

?  I think most of the negative is from people right out of surgery and still in pain. Sure there is pain... its long and  hard to go through this. Get yourself lots of things to help you out. You are going to need people to help you, too.  And supportive people! 

  I was on pain pills for about 7 days, then Tylenol.. now just Motrin. I'm still quite swollen feels like right up to my calf but it has gone down some. Splint cast for 2 weeks, fiber glass cast for 5 weeks. I had the option of a boot *moon boot* or a brace. Opted for the brace. 

 Just take one day at a time.. its all you can do!

Good luck and let us know how you do!

Rose

 

Hi, I know your question was for Danielle but I figured I'd offer my insight for what it's worth. I had my tendon repair on June 16, 2017. Recovery was a bit rough as everyone had said. I was 3 weeks in a cast, then 3 weeks in a boot all non weight bearing. I slowly went to weight bearing in the boot after that. Unfortunately mine never got better. After therapy, steroid injections, another MRI and 2nd opinion I had another surgery 3 weeks ago on December 8th. This time they did a lateral ligament reconstruction. Apparently these can somehow be or get damaged during the whole process. So now I'm recovering from that. Ugh, I woulf say even though I ran into all of this it was worth I believe. I can let you know more when I'm completely weight bearing in the next 10 days. Good luck!!

Thankyou Tyler. You've eased some anxiety. My peroneal isn't even torn. Its completely disrupted. (fancy words for I managed to snap it in half). The brevis isn't much better. Not even certain if there is anything left holding it. The MRI technician wasn't sure. And the ankle stability is the concern. I enjoy my time in the saddle, and I cannot get 'up out to the tack' because the ankle will just roll over (which its done once already). no one can believe I'm able to walk and get around as well as I do. And there is no pain, because the tendon is torn in half. Therefore, no nerve endings...ugh. 

Thankyou for jumping in!!! Yes, more insight the better :-)  I'm super sorry to read that you had some complications. I certainly hope they got it all figured out this time around. One day at a time, right? Every day, you are one step closer...thats what I will keep telling myself. <gulp>

 

Hi Rose. Thank you for taking the time to respond :-)  This won't be my first rodeo, sitting around 'healing'. I broke my left leg 7 yrs ago, and remember, all too well....the boredom, the depression and anxiety. Always wondering if my life would ever get back to normal. And it did... 

I hope the pain isn't too terrible. I managed with my broken leg using advil (motrin) just fine. At night, I would take the fancier stuff to help ensure a decent sleep. I did learn that the reason we swell up with lower leg injuries is due to the fact the calf muscle isn't working. Its the 'pumper' to move fluids back up the leg. So, once you are allowed to start weight bearing and get that calf working, it may make a big difference to the swelling.  Cheers, Angela 

HI! I apologize for not getting back to you. My surgery happened Jan 3rd, and I was a stress mess before it trying to organize many things. Thank you for sharing! How are you doing now? How is the weight bearing going?

 

Hey Angela and everyone looking forward and back about this procedure.

Bear with me this is long but informative.

I know that you have already had your surgery and I hope it went well and that you are feeling better. Like you I was reading through the forums prior to my surgery. It was kind of depressing reading all the negative comments. The stories of unbearable pain and living life lying down for months was scary. So, i guess this is not so much directed at you since you are post op but to others who are looking for a more positive outlook.

I hurt my ankle back in Janurary of 2017 while playing soccer. I have always had problems hurting my ankles so it was no surprise. Well, I took about 3 weeks off after the injury. After that I felt okay going back to my normal fitness routine. For the next 11 months I played with pain in my ankle. I did this in fear of what an orthopedic would say. I did not want to hear that I needed surgery. It turns out that I did. Now I felt like I was fine playing with it hurt and the pain was only bad if I pushed hard. In the end I opted for the surgery on December 21, 2017. So, here is the info that I think people should hear. So, I woke up from surgery and once coherent my surgeon explained what happened. We knew it was a tear in the peroneal brevis tendon. He was shocked at how bad it was though. I had a complete tear that was 2 inches long and shredded like string cheese. There was fluid surrounding the area as well. He sewed it back together and since it was so bad he decided to attatch it to the peroneal longus for added strength. Now here is something I think everyone should know. As mentioned above the injury was pretty bad. There are lots of stories in this forum that are scary. Post op my pain level was low. I was not put in a cast but in a tall walking boot. I did not need the pain medication because as long as my foot/boot did not hit anything I was fine. I think the pain from hitting it against something was more nerve related than anything. Sleeping was probably the most difficult part. One week after surgery I went to get my stitches removed, man the scar was big. To my surprise my doctor told me I had to start putting about 50% weight when moving on crutches. He said I better do it even if it hurts a little because in one month the crutches were going away and a smaller walking boot and pt were to start. There was a little bit of pain for the first week of putting pressure but it went away quick. So, I'm almost 4 weeks post op and I am doing great. There is no pain when walking 50% pressure and I can actually stand normally with 100% pressure. My ortho told me that more surgeons are recommending this method of early weight bearing. It helps reduce the build up of scar tissue and reduces the time and pain experienced in the healing process. All I can say is that I have read through a ton of stories on this surgery. Only a handful had orthos that followed what mine told me. All of those cases had positive experiences with no pain and full weight bearing a month after surgery. It would seem that all of the negative experiences here resulted from not bearing weight for 6 to 8 weeks. I would recommend anyone getting this done to talk to their ortho about early weight bearing because I am seeing fantastic results. I will post an update on how successful/painful pt is when I start in a week. Oh, just to let everybody know I am a 36yo male, so I am not a young kid who heals quickly anymore.

Did they grind bone away to deepen the groove?

Thankyou SO much for posting this!! I am 2 weeks post op, and found the whole procedure to not be a big deal at all either! Pain has been minimal. A few of the shooting nerve pain episodes (which are more surprising than painful). I woke up in a splint, and yesterday was moved to an air cast. My injury is also bad. I completely ruptured the pereoneal, and the brevis was pretty much gone as well. In speaking to my surgeon yesterday, she informed that what she found inside was 'less than ideal', and she basically sewed everything together (also joined the peroneal and brevis together) and made what she called a 'tether' for me. Not sure what that means in the long run. But hopeful it means I will have more stability than what I had previous to surgery. I am thrilled you shared the weight bearing scenario. I have always said its very stupid that they don't want us to weight bear. So long as you are putting the foot flat down on a surface, within a cast or boot of stability, there is no way to damage anything!! The peroneal tendon and brevis tendon are outside stablizers! No, I won't walk on it, or try to hike my dogs, ride my horses etc. But the for the love of all thats good, I see no reason why I can't partially weight bear while I do some dishes. I am 46. 

Thankfully I did not have any bone grinding done!

Hi Rose. Do you still have pain from surgery. I’m still very achy at 3 months?

I too had Brevis tendon surgery; " braiding" of shredded tendon and then reattached with a screw. I originally was told I'd be 4 weeks in boot, 4 weeks in cast all non weight bearing and then 4 weeks boot with P.T. I just went to surgeon for 3 week post surgery check and stitches removed.  NO CAST! He said 4 weeks more of boot with "alphabet drawing" for 20 minutes a day with foot.  WOW!  He said he had just read article that it is better to start P.T. ASAP.  it helps strengthen tendon.  I was supposed to wear boot at night but it hurt so bad to wear the boot that I cheated and took the whole inside of the boot out of the hard shell and wrapped my foot in the cloth covered lining.  So far so good.  I go back to him in a few days and I'm really hoping he will say to walk on it. I'm very ready!  I also think that the problem others are having is the length of time in cast and boot.  I do have the pain.  At times very strong and also the "electric shocks"  I also have a part of upper thigh that has gone numb.  When I massage it my foot starts the electric tingles.  Good luck everyone and be sure to ask your doctors about this new method. I have a disabled husband so I had Meals on Wheels deliver our food.  Best thing I could have done.  

I didn't count my stitches. Its a big L shaped incision. (if you are brave, you can easily google and find photos or video clips of the surgery and see the incision they make). I recall that my splint was pushing on the incision around the ankle bone too. Worse, if I over did things during the day and there was some swelling. More than likely, you will not be asked to weight bare when you move into your air cast. Most likely, you will be told another 4 weeks of staying off that foot. I did not have any groove deepening done. Maybe thats the pain you are feeling? I have found this surgery to be annoying, but not overly painful. In fact its more painful now, that the splint is off, and the air cast is one. However, I have been quite active in my recovery and probably not doing myself any favours ;-)