Heelie weight bearing
 

I'm 3 months post op.My doc has me weight bearing the last 4 weeks,started at 25% I'm now up to 75%.Getting around the house the best I can on one crutch,for longer distance I use both.Still nervous about putting too much weight on it as the foot and leg are weak,also on the side of my foot that has the insission is still numb from the heel to my little toe.My large toe has very little movement in it too.My doc didnt seem overly worried,my p.t seemed more concerned.Anyone else have these prpblems?

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

Hi!
I am pretty much a new heelie too. I am only a few months ahead of you but will tell you what I know. I had a severely comminuted fracture of the calcaneus and cuboid. I feel 14 ft on to limestone. The injury was tramatic to say the least. I had six hours of surgery with a plate, 8 screws, and 3 pins. The doc told my husband that if it had been any worse they would have had to amputate and so I find myself very fortunate.
I was given poor prognosis for recovery but since I am a 53 year old never say never female, I would not give in. The normal for beginning to add weight is at 3 months and I, like you, was given the go ahead at 2 months. I think my doc added weight dif than your doc. I started at 30% body weight for 3 days, then 60 % (for 3 days), then 90% for 3 days, and on the 10th day I was at 100 %. It was very painful and mind you that this did not mean that I was 100% without any support from then on. I was in my boot and I muddled around the house at 100%. If I went anywhere, I always used my scooter, walker, or cane. I was told to let go of the boot and wear tennis shoes about 2 weeks after I was at 100%. Again, I was not 100% out of the boot but wore the tennis shoe and the boot as swelling permitted.

I had a lot of pain and like you sooooooo much numbness and inability to move my toes. Most of this is a nerve issue as they were cut during the surgery and it takes a very long time for them to grow back together and to become useful again.

I was a marathoner before the injury and so I was use to not giving in and to hard workouts. I pushed myself and did what I was told to do. There were times that I thought I just could NOT DO IT. Thank goodness that my husband was there as my support system. He helped with my workouts and exercises and when I would cry, he would talk through to the finish. We do have to push through to get better.

In March (I was 4 months out) I was totally with out assistance and wearing my tennis shoe all the time. I was still having significant swelling and deep deep deep pain. It would hurt so bad at night and be better by morning to only start all over again the next evening. Cold weather also played a significant part in the pain as well. My ROM was much better than expected and although I could move the foot well, it was not stepping on that hurt as much as the pain I had after I stepped off. My doctor decided that the pain was coming from the surgical hardware and the nerve in my foot.

On Thursday of last week (5 April 12) I underwent 3 hours of surgery to remove all of the hardware in my foot. There was some surgery also done to repair a frayed tendon and some heel remodeling. I am back on Non-weight bearing status again. I cannot give you a full prognosis but I can tell you that the area of my foot that hurt so tremendously after the first surgery and continued through my initial recovery is no longer there. I have had significant pain with this surgery but it is nothing to be compared to the original injury.

In my opinion, I think that whatever we do to break the calcaneus is usually such a tramatic thing in itself (not including the break but what we actually did to break it) that the recuperation is something that our entire body is working through.

You did not give an account to what happened to cause the break or what was done in surgery (I think it all plays a big part in our mental progress) but I encourage you to keep on stepping. You will get through it and the faster you push yourself (in keeping your docs orders) the quicker you will recup. I also encourage you to listen to your doc. Trust them in your healing process. My doc is a very straight forward person. She talks tough but this is a tough injury with a tough recup and I think we need it.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

Thanks for responding.On the 21st of dec I fell off a 4ft ladder at work and landed on my left heel.It's hard to think you could do so much damage from that height.I had to wait up to a month before they could operate,between the swelling and having to deal with workmans comp.I am now the proud owner of a titainium plate and ten screws.Did you have problems with your hardware? Im hoping to swim this week it should be good for both body and mind,the last 3 months where tough,its important to keep a positive outlook.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

I am not a heelie but my large toe was repositioned as part of flat foot reconstruction. At first I could barely move the big toe. My surgeon was concerned and had me start pt right away to gain range of motion. Movement of the big toe is important to the gait cycle.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

It appears as if our injuries are very similar. Even the amount of the hardware and the left heel is almost the same. I did have issues with the hardware. I was unaware that it was the hardware giving me the pain but my doc said that it was coming from it and that was why she removed it. Swimming is very good for recup p/t, My doc told my husband that if she could get me to a level 3 pain level that she would feel successful with all of it. Hoping you do better and better. For now, I am recuperating from the second surgery. Hopefully it will be the last.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

Hi paremo, I am 20 months post severely communited calcaneous fracture. No surgery for me as they said the outcome would not be any different with or without. My original surgeon gave me a very poor prognosis, basically wrote me off to tell you the truth. Refused to listen to complaints of pain in other areas or with mobility and certain movements. Finally asked my family doc for a second opinion and was diagnosed with subluxation of both peroneal tendons in the foot and just below the knee. Awaiting a referral to a new surgeon, (one who will listen ;)) to fix it.
As for my heel? I really don't have a lot of trouble with it. It is quite mishapen so I don't do well in bare feet, but if I have a shoe or cushioned slipper on, I do fine. Will do much better when the rest of it is fixed! lol
The swelling will continue for months and months. Probably close to a year. I was supposed to gradual my weight bearing but went from a cast to walking with a cane in about 2 weeks. I wore Crocs for the first couple of months as that was all I could get on my foot. Then sprung for a pair of NB running shoes that offered a lot of support. Today I am wearing steel toed boots with an orthotic. Push yourself to your limits, take care of the swelling and don't be afraid to use your pain control if you need it. I, like guinivere had pretty much an "Oh hell no!!" attitude and I think that helped me get to where I am today. I'm not sure if your doctor told you or not, but recovery for this injury is actually 12-18 months, and you will see recovery for that entire time period. Be patient and let your body heal.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

[QUOTE=Firelady1;4959889]Hi paremo, I am 20 months post severely communited calcaneous fracture. No surgery for me as they said the outcome would not be any different with or without. My original surgeon gave me a very poor prognosis, basically wrote me off to tell you the truth. Refused to listen to complaints of pain in other areas or with mobility and certain movements. Finally asked my family doc for a second opinion and was diagnosed with subluxation of both peroneal tendons in the foot and just below the knee. Awaiting a referral to a new surgeon, (one who will listen ;)) to fix it.
As for my heel? I really don't have a lot of trouble with it. It is quite mishapen so I don't do well in bare feet, but if I have a shoe or cushioned slipper on, I do fine. Will do much better when the rest of it is fixed! lol
The swelling will continue for months and months. Probably close to a year. I was supposed to gradual my weight bearing but went from a cast to walking with a cane in about 2 weeks. I wore Crocs for the first couple of months as that was all I could get on my foot. Then sprung for a pair of NB running shoes that offered a lot of support. Today I am wearing steel toed boots with an orthotic. Push yourself to your limits, take care of the swelling and don't be afraid to use your pain control if you need it. I, like guinivere had pretty much an "Oh hell no!!" attitude and I think that helped me get to where I am today. I'm not sure if your doctor told you or not, but recovery for this injury is actually 12-18 months, and you will see recovery for that entire time period. Be patient and let your body heal.[/QUOTE]

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

Hi guinivere, I think you ran out of room for your post :)
You don't have to quote everything.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

I wouldn't worry about numbness, you are still early in the healing process. Your toes may not ever be the same. If your toes are stiff work on them. Pull back on bottom of toe, while pushing down on joiont, hold for 20, do these throughout the day.

Try not to be afraid of weight bearing, it is the next step. Try to be excited about it.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

Update, its 5 months since my accident,I am now walking again. I can get around the house pretty good,on long distance I take my walking stick.I find going up and down stairs quite hard to do and I get tired easy. Swimming has been a great help for mind and body.I still have the numbness on the side of my foot and it causes me to walk in on my shoes.The pain is still there and affects me more at the end of the day,its like a shooting/stabbing pain in my heel.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

You are doing well Paremo! Just remember, the healing process for this injury is 12-18 months, your healing is still in it's infancy. You will be amazed at the leaps and bounds you will make, just be patient and keep working at it. In another 5 months you will look back and think "Wow, I've come a long way!"

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

The first few months after weight bearing are pretty cool, because the improvements come so quickly. It was week to to week at first, that I would notice "hey I can do this now". It starts to plateau eventually and the gains become slower. But those early months can be very exciting, and life changing.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

Update. Im now 6months post op.The last month I have seen little to no improvement.I feel at times that it is regressing.Some days I can barely walk on it at all with the pain.Im not taking any pain meds,just some advil.I was on aleve as an anti inflam. But it elevated my blood pressure.So now I have a anti inflam ointment rub which seems to work.I had a 2nd opinion last week and the dr. thinks it maybe the hardware and he had me go get a cat scan.Im waiting on the results of that.Seen the dr who done my surgery yesterday,he thinks Im doing fine and he not concerned about the hardware at this time.Its left me confussed,if its the harware causing the pain it would make sense to remove them.Its starting to get me down,I simple walk on the beach is a painful ordeal.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

At 6 months I was doing stuff, but still had pain. So it is hard to judge.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

Is it the uneven surface of the sand that is causing the problem? You caught my attention when you mention walking on the beach. I suffered greatly for almost 2 years (and still do) due to subluxation of the peroneal tendons. Somthing that apparently is very common with a calcaneus fracture as it destroys the integrity of the bone as well as sometimes the subtalar joint (such as in my case) It turns out that the only way to fix it is to do a joint fusion where they will also shave away some of the displaced bone and tuck the tendons back in where they belong. Just awaiting a referral to yet another Dr. Where is the pain you are suffering?

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

I am 8 months out. I agree that it does sometiimes get so aggrivating simply because we want to be back where we use to be. As for me, I was a marathoner and now simple walking is slow and painful. I had all of my hardware removed after only 5 months and it made a real difference. Almost immediately I could spread my toes, which had been an impossibility beforehand. My doc tells me to keep working the foot because if I cease to for any period, I will be forced to have the fusion, which according to her is not a good thing. That the ability to have any real activity afterwards would be extremely limited. My words to you is to keep on keeping on. Get the hardware removed if you can. My doc said the earlier the hardware is removed, the better the healing from its removal.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

walking on the beach is a poor choice, especially at 6 months. A trail that isn't to hilly, would be better. I haven't been on a beach, but I suspect it wouldn't be all that great.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

The pain is around and above the scar tissue,its probally the plate.I still have to see what the cat scan shows.I also get pain on the inside of the heel and also along the back of it.My Dr didnt seem so concerned and has a wait and see attiude.The 2nd opinion Dr thinks I need to have the hardware removed and ordered the cat scan.As for walking on the beach,its the only option when you have two small kids in july in the middle of a heat wave in new york.Ill just have to put up with the pain and it is nice to float around in the water after.Also to sit in a beach chair and play in the sand with your bare feet has very therapeutic feel to it.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

[QUOTE=paremo;5019319].As for walking on the beach,its the only option when you have two small kids in july in the middle of a heat wave in new york.Ill just have to put up with the pain and it is nice to float around in the water after.Also to sit in a beach chair and play in the sand with your bare feet has very therapeutic feel to it.[/QUOTE]

Ya, but don't be surprised when you have pain. At 6 months, I was happy to be walking on even surfaces. You need to realize this is a significant injury.

I work on gravel for work, for that I wear 8" lace up boots. I don't walk barefoot outside of the house. I wear these 8" boots with shorts when not at work too. I don't like to have pain.

Re: Heelie weight bearing
 

Coming up on 8 mts since surgery,my heel has had some improvement over the summer.I am walking on it alot more now and it lets me know if I push it too much.That said ,my 2nd opinion dr. wants to try and do a ultra sound injection into the heel.Has anyone had this done? It should ease up some of the pain from the artrihtis,he still may have to remove the hardware at a latter date.Still doing p.t,I have met older men and women there who have had hip and knee surgery done and their making faster recovery than I am.Still you have to stay positive,I try to hit the gym and keep busy around the house as much as possible.