Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
i broke my heel bone the other day. I'm less than a week into this process and i feel that the dr s don't give or don not have that much info so I'm looking online. i stepped off my surfboard onto the sand and heard and felt a crunch. she i got the cat scan it showed my heel bone with a fracture an a few floating pieces in the heel area. as of right now i can wiggle my toes and move my ankle in the splint it only hurts near the inside of my heel . all the legiments and tendons are fine. they have me on pain killers at the moment I'm keeping it elevated a lot. and i haven't post pressure on it since the incident. i guess what I'm wondering is where do i rate in a fracture or broken heel bone the drs scheduled surgery to clean it out with a scope on dec 7th. also is there anything i can do now holistically to help the recovery move quicker ? any thoughts would be appreciated.
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Hi! I broke my foot on sand also. Jumped off a rock at the beach and landed on packed sand. Broke the calc in half. They did the surgery 5 weeks later. I have 3 screws in my heel now. Don't know if the doc told you but this is no walk in the park. If you've looked at the message boards on calc fx surgery, this is a very difficult injury. I broke mine July 27 and am just starting to walk. So you have a long road ahead of you. When I met my OS, he said, "Well, the good news is, you won't be permanently disabled. The bad news is, this is a very bad injury and very painful. You will be seeing a lot of me over the next year." And that has been very true.
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Oh, also--ice and elevate. Eat healthy. DON'T SMOKE. Not just because it's bad for you in general but because it may cause you to have postop slow healing and even infection. The stats are very bad for smokers with this injury because of the poor circulation in the feet. Anything you can do to improve circulation to the feet. In retrospect, I have been very bad about keeping up on my general physical condition--my flexibility and upper body strength is not what it was before the injury. I would maintain those as much as possible. I have resistance bands and dumbbells but haven't used them as much as I should have.
As time goes on, your mental health may become an issue. A lot of people report becoming depressed. It's constant pain, boredom and dependency on others--a really rotten combination, especially if you're used to being active. Beware of that and keep yourself mentally active however that works for you.
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tvkendall
i broke my heel bone the other day. I'm less than a week into this process and i feel that the dr s don't give or don not have that much info so I'm looking online. i stepped off my surfboard onto the sand and heard and felt a crunch. she i got the cat scan it showed my heel bone with a fracture an a few floating pieces in the heel area. as of right now i can wiggle my toes and move my ankle in the splint it only hurts near the inside of my heel . all the legiments and tendons are fine. they have me on pain killers at the moment I'm keeping it elevated a lot. and i haven't post pressure on it since the incident. i guess what I'm wondering is where do i rate in a fracture or broken heel bone the drs scheduled surgery to clean it out with a scope on dec 7th. also is there anything i can do now holistically to help the recovery move quicker ? any thoughts would be appreciated.
did you find if there is anything you can do to help the healing along. it may sound funny but i meditate concentrating on the heel . any advice or tips on what you found to work or not work would be appreciated. i hope to surf again. so its taken you almost 5 months to begin walking? where did you get your surgery, mine is at kaiser zion with a Dr Page. know of her?
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tvkendall
i i feel that the dr s don't give or don not have that much info so I'm looking online.
at the moment I'm keeping it elevated a lot.
It needs to be elevated alot, really elevated, toes above the nose, or as close as you can. I slept with it on two pillows and had two pillows on my recliner.
My first appt after getting out of the hospital, was bad, he mentioned last resort of cutting it off to get on with my life. The week before I sat in my recliner, and didn't elevate it in bed, or if I did one pillow. Then I took the elevation serious, and next visit went great.
At this point it should be elevated over 23 hours a day, with going to the bathroom the only time its down.
It is best to read up as much as you can. But you have to realize the articles are written to sensationalized, so to speak. There are alot of varations in this injury. Probably the big differences are how many pieces, and did you wreck your subtalar joint.
I guessed from reading your post, you were from CA. Ha.
__________________
Heelie since 09
The good thing is, no one asks me, to help them move anymore.
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Quote:
Originally Posted by califmom1
checking on you...how'd your surgery go?
i did good. just laying up now. its a tough injury thats for sure. the dr put in 2 screws and i asked dr page at kaiser zion on a scale of 1-10 10 being the worst how was it? she said it was a 3. and also i should gain at least 50% of my heel mobility back. what do you think? its pretty depressing though. i went from surfing all day everyday to doing nothing, i just surf in my mind now and watch videos. so surfing again motivates me to get back and healthy again. how did you hurt yours and how is your recovery going?
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Jumped off a rock at the beach and landed on packed sand. I had casts on for 8 weeks after surgery on Aug. 24. I am walking now--no crutches or cane--and doing PT 3x/week plus exercises they have given me to do. They tell me to do them 2x/day but I do them 3x. My ankle and foot are very stiff from 3 months of immobility and the muscles atrophied. Walking hurts every step I take but I just push thru it. The doc says I am ahead of schedule. My doc is Charleton at USC. I plan to be walking without a limp by Feb. I was hiking 3x a week and working out twice a week before my accident and I want to be doing that again. I feel like a wet noodle at this point and am very annoyed with my lack of ability.
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
i hear ya, this injury really keeps in perspective of how much walking means. well I'm glad you are ahead of schedule. keep it up and push through it the long term goal is way important. you WILL be hiking again maybe a little slower and maybe on less of an incline but because you are walking and set realistic goals for yourself i think you will make them. i feel that way about surfing as well. i will do it again!
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Just the gel soles. I am supposed to have one of my screws removed at some point soon and I think I'll figure out the shoe thing better then. The screw has really started to bother me this week; I think the swelling is finally going down. I am finally able to keep the foot down for about 45 mins at a time before the swelling drives me crazy and I have to elevate. That's a huge advance as I'm sure you'll appreciate. So far I can only fit into a pair of Nikes and a pair of laceup short boots; all my other shoes are too tight. Can't wear my Uggs at all because the ankle won't bend enough to get them on. Very annoying. I wear a compression sock all the time and that helps a lot.
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Here is hoping that all goes well with you. You did not give a lot of info about your break but here is what I have learned since severly fracturing mine on 9 Nove 11.
Heel fractures are the pits. Sompe people have simple fractures that can heal without surgery. A lot of people have to have the surgery. I have a severe comminuted calcaneus fracture and a fracture of the cuboid. I had 6 hours of surgery and I have a plate, screws, pins, and artificial bone.
The surgery is very complicated and serious. I hope you have a heel block which will help much with the pain. You will be non-weightbearing for some time. You will have lots of swelling and dif types of nerve pain. My foot burns alot on top.
Little by little things will get better. It was a slow process so you will probably only see changes if you look from week to week at first.
The doc says that this injury is most of the time a life changing event. I am hoping that it isn't but I will tell you that it is a long road.
Listen to your doc and do all the he/she says. Eat a good diet of calcium/protein......
stay off the foot and let time take care of it. Don't rush anything......goodluck
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Quote:
Originally Posted by guinivere
H Sompe people have simple fractures that can heal without surgery. A lot of people have to have the surgeryk
My calc and talus were smashed, but I was to swollen to have surgery. So its not just people with simple fractures, that don't have surgery.
I am doing ok. I do wonder if I would have been better off, if I had the surgery, or if they operate to much. Surgery could happen some day. I have been walking for over 2 years now though.
__________________
Heelie since 09
The good thing is, no one asks me, to help them move anymore.
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
I did not mean to say that the only people who do not have surgery are those with simple fractures. People with simple fractures do not have surgery and many people who have diabetes and other health conditions do not have surgery. As far as my surgery went, my doc said that mine was so bad that a lot of docs would not do surgery (meaning that the liklihood of it being positve for what was at risk was not worth it), but she knew that I was active and was going to give me her best shot.
She said most surgeries were over in about 3 to 3 1/2 hours and mine lasted 6. She was picking shards of bone out of the ligments in the upper shin and my cartilage was loose and laying under my foot. She told me to imagine picking up a glass vast and smashing it on a floor. Then trying to recover all the pieces and put them back together. That is also why I have artificial bone because all the pieces were not recovered. As far as not operating because of swelling, Most calcaneus surgeries have immense swelling. My doc says that if the foot is not operated on in the first 8 hours it will have to wait until days 8-14.
I was operated on the 17 of Nov. I broke it on the 9th. I saw the dr two times and had to weight 8 days before my surgery could be accomplished. I hope every one recovers nicely. At the beginning the dr told me that would probably face several more operations down the road. I am not sure what is going to happen but at this time I am feeling that all is going well with me. I am trying to be positive (which is a hard thing to do when you are an active person like myself---) I think we should not be argumentative or corrective on this site.......
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
thanks so much. I'm 4 weeks in and 2 weeks after surgery. i only had a small fracture with a couple pieces floating around int there. no cartilage or ligament damage. it seems from reading most these posts that I'm pretty lucky. its still tough as you said. sitting around kinda suck. but i found something out yesterday that may be helpful . i rented a knee walker from knee walker.com and it lets me get outside a bit . yesterday i had a pretty awesome day and i think it was cause i got outside in the sun. i took a book to the mailbox and sat for about 30 mins . i think the sun and fresh air helped tremendously . please get outside and get some fresh air, and i truly recommend the knee it helps so much. with much aloha,
tony
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Tony, yes it does help sooo much to get outside! When you get your cast off, one thing I found was VERY helpful too was swimming and putting your foot on the bottom of the pool. This was when I was PWB, working on ROM and very afraid of walking. Putting a little weight on when in water helped me test it out and it was great, flapping the foot around in the water was wonderful, and the exercise of swimming felt fantastic. Also when I got out, a lot of the dead skin came off on the rag towel I brought for it and I felt like I was getting something done that way too. Disgusting but sooo nice.
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Quote:
Originally Posted by califmom1
Tony, yes it does help sooo much to get outside! When you get your cast off, one thing I found was VERY helpful too was swimming and putting your foot on the bottom of the pool. This was when I was PWB, working on ROM and very afraid of walking. Putting a little weight on when in water helped me test it out and it was great, flapping the foot around in the water was wonderful, and the exercise of swimming felt fantastic. Also when I got out, a lot of the dead skin came off on the rag towel I brought for it and I felt like I was getting something done that way too. Disgusting but sooo nice.
ha so funny. i can't wait for that moment. that as funny you say that i was thinking of the poll yesterday. my complex has a pool plan on utilizing it a lot. how ya healing today? its kinda interesting, i don't really have that much pain. i have it from time to time. i really feel meditating helps as well. i really concentrate on my foot. i go to the dr s tom (wed) hopefully to get the hard cast . one step closer to healing. its all about the small things.
aloha
tony
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand?
Today is a pretty good day so far. I'll be baking and running errands--I will be hurting by the end of the day. Have to concentrate of every step to ensure the weight is balanced.
Did PT yesterday and had some real progress--was able to do an exercise that I could not do last week. My therapist is going to measure my ROM tomorrow and fax it to my doc for my appt. on Thurs. Gotta say, I sure hope my insurance picks up the cost of these PT appts--they are $224 per session! Yikes!
Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand? 
Re: Calcaneus (Heel Bone) Fractures.. where do i stand? 
