i recently feel down a flight of stairs and broke my calcaneus. im an waiting for the swelling to go down so i can get surgery. can anyone who went through this let me know whats to expect? will i be able to have my plate removed once the bone heals? will the cartridge grow back? please let me know
I Broke my calcaneus in three pieces on 03/17/2010 fell off a ladder at work from 10 feet. They did surgery on 04/02/2010 delotid is a very good pain killer for after surgery and ask not to be on a medicine pump where you give your self the meds by pushing a button every eight or ten minutes fall asleep no meds and a lot of pain the worst experience I had thus far even worse than the fall. Do not keep your foot up all the time let it dangle off the bed every now and then. Every time I stood up after keeping my leg up for so long it hurt very bad all the blood rushing and get up and around several times a day after surgery or your body will start to get fatigued very fast. Also take a laptop to the hospital they have WIFI and I played alot of Poker and Facebook and netflix streaming movies helped pass the time Good luck I hope this helps
hey, thanks Ninthman. had all that, im like 14 days after surgery and im in so much pain i dont know what to do. do you have that burning sensation near the area they did the surgery? do you know if they will remover the hardware they put in? , also, i have no feeling in the area around the foot that was operated on. why is that? do you know? any help would be really comforting, im like so lost here
Hey Wonnderboy Glad to here the surgery went well. Yes I have the burning sensation it will go away with time remember they moved alot around down there and seperated skin from bones just keep it clean. I was told typically the hardware will stay unless down the road my tendens rub against it or range of motion is effected but it can be removed down the road if you wish. They cut several nerves going in the numbness is normal I spoke to the doctor and my brother who fell 80 feet after surgery it took 15 years before he got most of his feeling back I have been told the feeling you recover within the next 2 years is all the feeling you will recover.
Now that I have answered here are a few things that might help. Get out of bed on you crutches or wheel chair several times don't get depressed I did it is not worth it get out and do things man the pain of getting up and moving around goes away.Get off the Pain killers asap I quit mine about 3 weeks after surgery. I am 7 weeks out of surgery and in therapy you may have been told to keep your foot 90 degrees do it or more. It will make therapy much easier point your toes towards you shin as far and as much tolerable and keep lotion on it bind your toes up and down. In therapy they will do it and man it hurts pick a spot on the ceiling and breath deep it feels much better after they stretch you out also ice ice and ice did I mention ICE frozen peas work well or buy several reusable ice packs. I am still swollen around my ankle when you wrap your foot I was told in therapy to tight at my toes and looser as i moved up to my ankle. Most of your pain is going to be in your ankle I am now putting 10 lbs of pressure on mine it's slow and frustrating
sorry so long I try to explain this to everyone around me but it is hard for everyone to understand it is such a small bone they don't understand it feels good to talk about it to people that are going through the same thing GOODLUCK wonderboy any more questions don't hesitate Later .
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I am 15 months out, no surgery. I was to swollen and blistered for surgery, so they decided to wait 6 months and see. I doubt I will be having it any time soon.
It takes about a year to heal. And will keep healing longer than that. I was active around 4 months, but still had pain, and put it up alot. Around 10-12 months the pain started getting better. It had gotten better before that, but that seemed to be some what milestone time for me.
Get in physical therapy and do it. Unfortunately this is a life changing event, but people do keep going.
Keep it elevated. toes above the noise. I mean really elevated. I slept on two pillows, and had two under it in my recliner tilted back. I disagree with the person who said to let it dangle.
Most people are non weight bearing about 12 weeks, some less. You may want a compression sock at the point. I wore mine until month 11. I had a wheel chair, broke other leg, then cane, and walked without anything. There is over lap. I would strive for wheel chair free day, then walker free, ect.
This is something where you are going to have to be tough and determined, if you want to get any where. I had the attitude, what else you going to do? Got no choice.
My foot would turn purple when it was down, then go back to white. This got better when I started walking.
Feeling will come back over the months, with lots of weird sensations as it does.
Also exercise your toes, pull them back and hold them, if they don't back on there own. I pull on the bottom of the tops, pulling back, and pushing on the knuckle, to straighten it out. If yours are a problem, do this alot. Not sure if you need to wait until weight bearing. I didn't notice the problem until after I was.
thanks, ive been non weight bearing for already three month. apparently i did major damage to my muscle tissue on my heal, doctor said it may take a long while for it to heal, he suggested trying some type of sneaker that would take the pressure of the heel, so im still looking for a solution
I fractured my calcaneus on 12/15/09 and had surgery on 12/23/09 where they installed a plate and 9 screws. I was fortunate, I split my subtalor joint in half and the doctor had two large pieces to work with rather than multiple. The back part of my heal was crushed, but the back part of the calcaneus takes care of itself - or at least mine would. The joint repair is critical. I had no soft tissue damage. Before surgery I read this board and it scared the poooop out of me. I stopped reading it. The reality of my situation was too much for me to handle.
I fell into the hands of a capable surgeon who had been performing approximately 1 calc fracture repair a month for 10 years. He was very knowledgeable and gave a very good picture of what to expect and recovery times. If I ever had a question I called his Physician Assistant and they got back to me immediately. You should expect the same from your doctor and if you don’t receive this you should find a new one. Depending on the extent of your calc fracture will depend upon your recovery. I will outline my recovery. At the 6 week mark, I received a walking boot and was instructed that over the next 4 weeks I add 20% body weight each week. A physical therapist can show you how to do this once and you don’t have to go back until you graduate from the boot. At 10 weeks he didn’t like the x-rays and told me that if I was a teenager that my fracture would have been completely “bridged”. He said come back in 2 more weeks, but I could start wearing the shoe full time at home, but in the boot while in public. After the 12 week (graduated into shoe full time) mark I started physical therapy. When you get the shoe it is important to understand you will be “walking” like a peg legged pirate and it will hurt a lot. At the 6 month mark I started getting lateral movement without screaming pain. At the 8 month mark I still have lateral pain and I went to see him like he advised. I am having 2 kinds of pain – joint pain and tendonitis pain. The joint pain will fade over the next 1.5 years and at that point be what it will be. The tendonitis is caused from the screws and I have another surgery scheduled to take them out at the year mark – provided no noticeable progress occurs between now and then.
To answer or second some of your concerns. I would keep my foot elevated and iced. Even at 8 months out I Ice my foot nightly as it helps keep the tendonitis and joint pain in check. I was able to stop taking pain killers daily 1 week post surgery and off of them completely at the 2 week mark. Ibuprofin is what I was on for months. The purple/red leg is normal. Massaging will help get the swelling out faster. Of note - I received a compression sock first, then a compression sleave when I was granted a shoe to wear. I found that there is a point where you will want to stop wearing the compression sleave as it applys too much pressure and causes tendon rubbing against the screw. You will have to figure when you don't need the sleeve to keep swelling under control.
Some patients lose sensitivity on the left side of the foot (my doc said 20% of patients) and this chance increases if you are a smoker. My doc won’t perform a calc fracture repair if you are a smoker as it increases healing time and chances of infection both of which are major factors. I would also evaluate your diet, that will help more than you know. Nutrition should be found in the foods you eat, not in the supplements you take. I think many people are confused on this issue – I was. I purchased the book “Eat for Health” by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and love the way I feel by following its principles. I believe your outcome can be good if you set yourself up for success by eating right, resting, physical therapy, and keeping a positive attitude no matter how bad it hurts – it will get better.
Good Luck – hopefully this helps you and others searching for information on Calc Fracture recovery.
The Following User Says Thank You to neumannbruce For This Useful Post: Carbonfiber139 (07-01-2012)
I used a tennis shoe that fit my ankle and didn't rub it in a bad way. New is probably better as it will feel cushy v.s. an old sneaker in the closet that has seen use. I used a nike.
thanks, ive been non weight bearing for already three month. apparently i did major damage to my muscle tissue on my heal, doctor said it may take a long while for it to heal, he suggested trying some type of sneaker that would take the pressure of the heel, so im still looking for a solution
Hello. Im sorry that I don't have much info to add to help. I just broke my heel bone on 9/11/10. I could sure use a friend. I don't think mine was too bad. I don't need surgery. I am in a bright pink cast for 4 weeks and then take it from there. I have 2 kids 2 dogs and a husband and live in a 3 level townhome so life sucks right now. Pretty much planted in the bedroom. Slowly getting very depressed... 8(
Hello. Im sorry that I don't have much info to add to help. I just broke my heel bone on 9/11/10. I could sure use a friend. I don't think mine was too bad. I don't need surgery. I am in a bright pink cast for 4 weeks and then take it from there. I have 2 kids 2 dogs and a husband and live in a 3 level townhome so life sucks right now. Pretty much planted in the bedroom. Slowly getting very depressed... 8(
Jenny Don't get depressed I broke mine back on 3/17/10 had surgery on 4/2/10. I too got very depressed with the painkillers and boredom not able to spend the time with Family. But you need to find things to keep you busy myself put on classic country and put puzzles together with my wife and 4 kids it is very relaxing and gave me time with my loved ones
Hi - how are you doing now? My husband (he's a SLOW typist, so I was enlisted) fell off a ladder on 8/11/10 and fractured his right calcaneus. He had surgery on 8/25 (three weeks ago) and is wondering when he can expect to start PT. How soon were you able to walk with weight bearing? He also whacked his shoulder and bruised the bone and says this hurts more than the heel. He can't seem to find a comfortable sleeping position (sleeping with removable boot cast) - any suggestions?
As for sleeping, you just go to suck it up. I slept with my feet on two pillows on my back for 12 weeks. Most people are non weight bearing for 12 weeks, but some start partial earlier.
I had to keep the boot on when I slept until around 9 or 10 weeks.
I started PT around 6 weeks maybe. ROM stuff.
PT is exteremly important, what he does in these next few weeks, will impact the rest of his life.
Hi - how are you doing now? My husband (he's a SLOW typist, so I was enlisted) fell off a ladder on 8/11/10 and fractured his right calcaneus. He had surgery on 8/25 (three weeks ago) and is wondering when he can expect to start PT. How soon were you able to walk with weight bearing? He also whacked his shoulder and bruised the bone and says this hurts more than the heel. He can't seem to find a comfortable sleeping position (sleeping with removable boot cast) - any suggestions?
I to fell off a ladder and broke mine in 3 pieces. I'm doing ok I still have pain and swelling after some activity but a little ice and elevate for a little while seems to help. I had surgery on 4/2/10 and my first PT was 4/29/10 just did range of motion , leg lifts and stretching. I was released for full weight bearing 7/15/10 now i'm sure it depends on how well you heal and how bad you fractured it. As for sleeping they gave me some sleeping pills I to had other soreness. but I can tell him to prepare for the long haul on the heal and do not rush it that will only make long term worse. I still walk with a limp and still have to stop frequently to rest.
If I ever had a question I called his Physician Assistant and they got back to me immediately. You should expect the same from your doctor and if you don’t receive this you should find a new one.
Neumannbruce,
That is probably the first thing every Heelie should be told.
Jenny,
Pride goeth before - and after a fall. You can do the stairs on your butt. Absence from normal interactions promotes depression. A simple game of monopoly with my family helped bring me out of the gloom. Remember to do normal things that are fun.
Hmruber,
You are fortunate. A spouse that is kept in the dark to 'protect them' usually suffers more from worry. Heelies, let do let those who love you in on your problems, its better for all involved. For elevating, a pillow wrapped around a 2" pipe works very nicely. A screw hook in the ceiling with a home made sling also fit the bill for me. Also, a "granny" pillow is good for getting into a comfort zone.
Tim
The Following User Says Thank You to tchair For This Useful Post: deborahrgoldman (05-16-2011)
Thanks, Zerk. I relayed the message to him. He's trying to keep positive. He hates not being independent, but time is passing and hopefully soon he'll start PT.
My husband has been going up & down stairs on his behind, although he'll do a few stairs with crutches. He gets around on the main level during the day in a small wheelchair because his shoulder still hurts from the fall and the crutches aggravate that injury. The skin on his heel was not broken and seems normal, but his foot will turn purple if he leaves it down long enough.
When was your injury? He fell off a ladder on 8/11/10 and is in a boot cast, but no weight bearing for now. He's coping and so am I, but it was a bad fracture. I wish we had hired someone to paint the house....
Re: calcaneus fracture HELP? 
