Rehabilitation after ankle fusion
Posted , 56 users are following.
I had an ankle fusion 14 weeks ago and after 12 weeks in plaster, progressed to an aircast boot. The surgeon told me to walk around the house without the boot from 14 weeks, so I've just started doing that, but am finding I have lots of pain in the foot - below the toe and along the left side of my foot when I attempt to walk and roll through the foot. Am walking with crutches now without the boot, and trying to roll through the foot as much as possible, hoping that the muscles will relax. The hospital told me very little about what to expect at this point and haven't referred me for physio so I'm feeling a bit lost. Is this foot pain normal? (I don't have pain in the actual ankle, it's just everywhere else, including my opposite hip and knee too!).
3 likes, 150 replies
margie41357 tessa98714
Posted
Yes this pain is normal and it gets better as the muscles and tendons strengthen. I'm 18 weeks and the side of my foot still hurts and my plate pinches when I rock thru, so plate will removed in one month. I walk with a cane or walker. Very slow and hurts more if I go unaided. Good luck!
Margie
tessa98714 margie41357
Posted
Thanks, it's reassuring to know that the pain is normal and to know it gets better eventually! I've now been in contact with the hospital who told me to stay in the boot for a bit longer as it takes time for the muscles to strengthen. I'm just surprised about how long it's going to take to get back to 'normal', and how little they tell you about this stage before you have the op.. Good luck to you too and thanks for your reply.
irene8989 tessa98714
Posted
I had my operation in Nov 2016 and my cast was removed in Feb 2017. Been walking on my moon boot eversInce . Went to my doctor on the 28 April 2017. And he told me it's time to walk without the moonboot. I tried it for about 2 days Omw was it painful. I'm back in my moonboot and I don't know what todo. The pain is still there everyday, and my foot is swelling alot when I don't elivat it.
tessa98714 irene8989
Posted
Sorry to hear you're still in your moonboot. I spoke finally to someone at the hospital and they said to ease off the boot slowly. So have maybe one or two hours with the boot off, then have the boot on for 2 hours, etc. and slowly build up the time without the boot to let the muscles and tendons build up. I'm trying that now - doing a couple of hours without the boot with one crutch, then putting the boot on when it gets too much. The muscles in my foot all feel very sore but hopefully they'll get stronger. Fingers crossed! and good luck!
margie41357 tessa98714
Posted
I am at the stage of walking in cam walker boot. I am going to try the shoe and no boot but I thought I would start gradual with my crutches or walker for support until it gets stronger. I know it will hurt as my plate is right up against the bone Nd won't let my foot go past 90 degrees. I will have thatout June 6 yuck, I hate the thought of surgery again but it must be done. I think the slow approach to let those muscles adjust and strengthen will be less pain but prob take a bit longer.
Good luck!
Margie
yawa07876 tessa98714
Posted
Hi Tessa,
It took me a long time to be able to stand weight on my foot. Some of that was because of nerve damage, but as others have mentioned it also takes quite some time to just get used to it again, loosen things up, etc.
I would recommend seeing if you can get a physio referral. They can help you understand what's normal at what stage, but also have techniques for doing it in a way that may be less painful. And more important, they can help you in gait monitoring because if you start trying to overcompensate for the loss of ankle motion, you can mess up your knee and/or hips.
You mentioned fusion with an internal rod. Do you know what type/brand was used? In my case, I have two rods for complete immobilization. There's one vertical rod through all of tibia, talus, and calcaneous, and the other one is a horizontal rod running the length of the calcaneous and locking into/through the vertical rod).
I bring this up because you specifically said some of the pain was when bending the foot or trying to roll through the foot. Maybe it's just getting used to it as already covered. But in my particular case I had a similar pain which continued fairly long term. I went back and got xrays done when bending the foot and we found that one of the screws going through the talus had its tip sticking out just enough that it would punch into the midfoot navicular bone when trying to bend the foot. Once the surgeon was sure the bone had fully firmed up around the rods I went back in for one more surgery to get that screw removed.
yawa07876
Posted
Sorry, I just realised that first sentence could be confusing. It would have been better worded as, "It took me a long time to be able to tolerate weight bearing on my foot. "
tessa98714 yawa07876
Posted
Hi thanks for the advice. Yes I think I'll try to get a physio referral as I notice that i feel quite lopsided after so many months of being on crutches then walking with the boot, and am indeed getting knee and hip discomfort on the other side. The foot pain is still there when I walk but it's reassuring to know that this is to be expected and will hopefully get better as things loosen up. I'll ask the surgeon to check the xrays next time I go back too. Thanks!
yawa07876 tessa98714
Posted
"and am indeed getting knee and hip discomfort on the other side."
Since you're just now starting to walk without the boot, I would guess this may actually be boot-related. I was almost 2 years from the initial accident to recovery and had a boot on a lot of that time. The height mis-match between the boot and regular shoes was part of the issue, and just the un-naturalness of the gait while in the boot. Getting a shoe that matched the sole height of the boot helped.
But nothing was like the day I was finally able to get rid of that darned thing forever! :-)
marian01540 tessa98714
Posted
margie41357 marian01540
Posted
I here you I'm 19 weeks in the boot. Chiropractor really helps with the adjustment of the hips! Yes I can't wAit to throw away the boot!!!
Margie
lors23 tessa98714
Posted
I am 7 weeks in the boot and its driving me insaine i demented stuck in the house. I swear l am gonna burn the boot when l am.finished with it. I have been so depressed stuck in the house constantly. I am totally struggling with it. And l had 2 hip replacements and a knee last year and it was so much easier.
Lors
margie41357 lors23
Posted
Hang in there!
Margie
marian01540 tessa98714
Posted
I am starting to get around a bit more, slowly slowly, and need to rest after about an hour. Yesterday I vacuumed and mopped the floors, happy with that, however not much else got done. Have made an appointment to see Chiropractor on Friday maybe he can sort my right hip out. Left ankle in boot, I am afraid to burn my boot in case I need it again. I have already had 6 operations for my dodgy ankle hope this is the last one. Work are starting to ask when I am coming back, I will go back when I am ready. I don't want to go back fall over something and be back to square one. I do get down sometimes, when you feel like that phone a friend, read the post here. If you can drive, go for a drive, you don't have to get out of the car. Go through the drivethrough at Macdonalds and order a drink or an icecream.
Have a great week everyone.
coljc marian01540
Posted
Did you have fusion after failed replacement and what did that involve and when did you know TAR failed and how long for fusion to get better thanks