Recovery Times - Foot Problems Message Board

dinkles · 06-21-2008, 11:54 PM

After reading many posts here tonight (can't get to sleep as foot is really hurting tonight), it seems the average length of recovery is 4 months to 1 year. Is this the norm for most all foot surgeries. I haven't seen any posts about plantar fibroma excision and am wondering if my recovery will be about the same as say a bunionectomy of 4 months to a year. Wow, this is so NOT what my doc said. Of course, he said 3 weeks and I'd be back to normal walking, and I am now 4+ weeks and nowhere near walking normal. My leg still feels like a limp noodle and I have pain in my foot with every step I take. As others have said here, we get more informative support and reliable information from others here than we do our docs.

chic43 · 06-22-2008, 07:40 AM

I'm sorry dinkles....I wish doctors would tell you the truth! It just makes it even more frustrating when you aren't at the level the doctor told you that you would be at. I actually yelled at my doctor in regards to this. I had a bunionectomy with osteotomy and was told by not only the doctor but by other people that by 5 weeks I would be in shoes and walking and feeling great with no pain or issues. Not true. Even by 7 weeks I still couldn't fit any kind of shoe on my foot let alone walk normally on it. All I could think was that I was incapacitated for life.

You are right in thinking that it will take AT LEAST 4 months to get through most of the healing process to where you start noticing some positives, and more than likely up to a year to finally get the result you are supposed to have.

I am 5 months post op and still have pain issues in the toe itself. It feels like bone pain, but I don't know for sure. All I know is that it hurts.

dncergrl53 · 06-22-2008, 08:23 AM

My doc said to elevate as much as I could for a full 8 weeks until the bone heals. I am nearly 3 weeks post and I find I can walk around the house for about 20 min a few times a day. I have no pain, but can feel swelling after awhile when I walk and that is when I stop. Then I lay down and put my foot high in the air (straight up) and I can feel the fluid drain from my foot. Then after a few hours I do it again. I did not bear weight at all for the first 2 weeks. Then I built up slowly and gently starting with just sitting and putting my foot on the floor. I can walk barefoot and gently flex the foot or wear my sandels with stiff, rocker sole. I wonder if people do too much too soon and that lengthens their eventual recovery time. I also sleep with my leg up on this platform I rigged up so that my foot is higher than my head. I have to say, my foot has been very happy.

debbie g · 06-22-2008, 10:21 AM

it takes monts to recover. swelling can take up to a year. hang in there.