4 weeks after PTTD surgery

FlatFootPain

Hey Bellatrix!
Glad to hear you are doing so well. 3weeks6days and you are PWB, that's amazing. I was in a cast for 12weeks. Which procedures did you have?

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Calcaneal Osteotomy, Evan's Procedure/Lateral Column Lengthening, Cotton Osteotomy, FDL transfer, spring ligament repair, gasroc recession

bellatrix1

FDL transfer, calcaneal osteotomy, tarsal boss (bone spur) removal on Feb 24

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1 Dec 2015: Screw removal from heel

24 Feb 2015: FDL transfer, calcaneal osteotomy, bone spur removal

left foot

Wow, you are so lucky! My surgeon had me non-weight bearing & sleeping in a boot for 10 weeks...and I got off early. He usually makes his patients NWB for 12 weeks.
Good luck as you continue to heal.

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1/16/14-FDL tendon transfer, calcaneal osteotomy, Gastroc Recession
6/4/15-Naviculocuneiform arthrodesis, removal of scar tissue, Evans osteotomy, Achilles lengthening

bellatrix1

Thanks Left foot! Question: did you have heel pain when you started PWB? I have been too chicken to put much weight at all on my surgical foot in the boot (while using crutches), but it feels like I am walking on a big lump in my heel. Is this normal? Sure hope it goes away...

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1 Dec 2015: Screw removal from heel

24 Feb 2015: FDL transfer, calcaneal osteotomy, bone spur removal

JustMeJen

I had the lump in the heel feeling without even having the procedures you are describing. For me it was a nerve thing and it was so bad that I wouldn't leave the hospital until I took the boot off, took my foot out and felt around to be sure something wasn't wrong to keep my heel from touching. It was, it just didn't feel right at all. I had been PWBing in a walking cast and I went from tolerating a good bit of weight to almost NWBing when I got the boot and it took some time to get back to feeling that I was putting weight down through my whole foot. That was probably the freakiest part of the entire recovery, the certainty that something was under my heel and the knowledge that I was wrong. My mom laughed at me at the hospital because I'd been walking so well, even talking like 1/4 mile walks in the walking cast and then the boot was like this huge insult to my system. The only thing that helped was time. (I was already on gabapentin for something else so it may have helped coincidentally but there's no way to know). I did get past it and 2 weeks later felt pretty confident so it didn't last forever but it was a very, very odd feeling while it lasted and I still don't know what caused it other than the nerve issues we all seem to have.

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Modified Brostrom, Peroneal repair and scope 6/13/14

Peach86

Wow! Sounds like you are doing great!

And, yes, the heel pain is normal. My doctor told me it takes most people about 2 weeks to get to FWB. He jokingly called the heel pain "boot-itis" because walking in the boots causes a fairly forceful heel strike which can lead to pain. I noticed quite a bit of difference when I wore socks w/ padded heels...My favorites are Under Armour Snow Sport socks...They have arch support, padded heels, some compression through the calf, and come in pretty colors/designs Once I was out of the boot, my heel pain improved drastically after both surgeries; however, it was a little more challenging to get rid of completely after my first surgery. My therapist attributed it to tightness at the Achilles attachment and used massage and ultrasound to loosen it up.

Keep up the good work!

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September 2013
Right FDL transfer, medializing calcaneal osteotomy, Evans calcaneal osteotomy, bone marrow aspiration, Strayer procedure

November 2014
Left PTTD Reconstruction - same procedures

JustMeJen

Thanks Peach for an actual explanation for the boot-itis. That was the weirdest thing and so hard to explain. Now that I think of it the cast techs who put me in the boot did act like what I was saying was pretty normal. But it was so strange. My heel (I see from a post from closer to that time) was also very bruised which didn't help matters but I never dreamed I'd have trouble with that part of the boot. I was afraid I'd hate it since I hated the Aircast brand one I wore after my initial injury with an absolute passion (I hated having to get the pump out of my pocket to change the pressure every time I stood or sat) but I didn't expect it to be so wildly different than the walking cast. But the walking cast didn't have a lot of weight through the heel so I guess it didn't prepare me well.

I hope to never have a next time but if I do I'm glad to know this.

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Modified Brostrom, Peroneal repair and scope 6/13/14

Lately

That is fantastic. Good for you. I, too, am 50 but at this point am a month pre-op for same procedure. Your sharing your positive results thus far makes me a little less terrified. Thanks!

bellatrix1

Thanks so much for all the info and ideas. I will try padded socks today!

No boot at night is the biggest blessing. My nerve pain has improved a lot as a result and I slept so well last night with no pills of any kind. So glad to be out of the boot at night--I can deal with it during the day.

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1 Dec 2015: Screw removal from heel

24 Feb 2015: FDL transfer, calcaneal osteotomy, bone spur removal

left foot

Yes, it will feel that way for awhile, but will gradually decrease over time. I can't remember exactly how long it took, but as far as that aspect of the whole thing, it doesn't really bother me too much anymore. Now if I could just get things to settle down around the tendon transfer site. That's been a real struggle for me.

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1/16/14-FDL tendon transfer, calcaneal osteotomy, Gastroc Recession
6/4/15-Naviculocuneiform arthrodesis, removal of scar tissue, Evans osteotomy, Achilles lengthening