The "late recovery period" - Foot Problems Message Board

janewhite1 · 05-03-2008, 01:52 PM

I had ankle arthroscopy 4/19. So last week the surgeon said I didn't have to see him anymore. I can walk normally and comfortably for several blocks at a time, for the first time since last fall. I have permission to ease back into sports, as long as I wear ankle protection.

Still, things aren't... quite as they should be. I'm pretty sure what I'm experiencing is normal, just wondering how long it's likely to go on.

One thing is that my calf muscle is undersized. Right calf is 15 inches around, left is, after a month of exercise, barely 13 and a half. I know, it'll grow back. But when?

I still have occasional pain at the site where the scar tissue was removed. This I'm not sure is going to pass, and the surgeon couldn't promise it would either. Still, it's much less than it was before the surgery.

The other biggie is that everything else hurts! My peroneal muscles are constantly sore, and when they cramp, I get sharp pains behind the ankle, in the peroneal tendons. When I walk, my heel aches, my sole feels funny, my arch hurts. Never all at once, just "Hey, I'm your arch, and I hate you for making me do my job" Then, a little later, "I'm your heel, what's with this stepping on me business? That's not fair!"

Any hints?

emmie54 · 05-03-2008, 04:20 PM

Jane, I will watch the responses closely as I am feeling everything you are. My arthroscopy was 2/13. The only positve is that my joint is moving better and the joint pain is less. but I am disappointed at the level of pain I still have everywhere else.(not to mention the stress fracture I am recovering from). My main issue is peroneal pain. I've already had both repaired in the past so I am especially not happy about that. My heel pain is fairly recent. Do you think that our newly moving joint is putting stress on areas that had not been stressed due to the improperly functioning joint?

I'm seeing my doctor Thursday. I'm going to try to ask some pointed questions and hope he has more time for me than the last two visits when he was running like a maniac.

janewhite1 · 05-03-2008, 04:36 PM

My peroneal tendons (or something behind and below the malleolus) started to hurt the week before the surgery. I think it was because I'd been using their muscles to hold my foot unnaturally stiff when I walked, and muscles hate prolonged strain with little movement. I couldn't even walk down stairs normally, my foot wouldn't dorsi-flex [bend up] that far, so I would plant my heel on the edge of the step and just rock off it. I actually got rather fast at it.

(I got the splints off, and 3 days later, after one easy PT session, had more range of motion than I had since I don't know when.)

I'm not too concerned about my peroneal pain because it eases when I rub the muscles. The best spot on me is a few inches below the head of the fibula, ie upper calf on the outer side. Just annoying that it keeps coming back. If you've had serious problems with them, though... Well, see what doctor says.

I think the heel and arch pain is just because I'm doing a normal amount of walking these days, (that is 10 times what I was doing on a good day Before), and my foot isn't used to it. I think maybe some of the joints in my foot got a little tight.

Had the same problem with pain elsewhere in the foot when the doctor did the diagnostic cortisone injection. It was like a donut--right around the injection, there was a circle, maybe an inch across, where I felt no pain, but everything else seemed determined to make itself heard.