ask: Anyone in the ankle fusion community ever have to go back in after surgery to have screws removed?
2nd surgery and now screws 60 days post-op are bothering me! I was wondering how long the re-cope time is for this then?
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Dear pabeach
Thanks for your question and I'm sorry you're in so much pain due to your ankle surgery.
Recovery can be long, for people who have undergone an ankle fusion.
It can take up to three months to even put your full weight on your feet again.
Most doctors agree that it can take one year to see the full benefit of your surgery and the "rock hard" feeling from the screws is normal. However, the screws are usually a permanent addition and are not removed.
We have a big ankle fusion thread here on Empowher - you can read it here and hopefully get some insight (and encouragement!) from others who have gone through this. http://www.empowher.com/community/share/ankle-fusion-i-know-i%E2%80%99m-...
Are you still in a cast? Are you going to start physical therapy anytime soon?
December 21, 2009 - 12:48pmThis Comment
The last time I posted on Empower her was in Dec.'09. I thought I was getting around OK; went back to full time work standing all day on this foot in April. The "screw" was still pushing in the back side of the foot but I was tolerating it. As the months go on the swelling isn't quite as bad-Then on July 2nd when I woke up and looked at my foot again I saw (and felt) a bump at the" back heel." You guessed it! another screw pushing & burning. So I padded it the best I could and drug my butt to work! July 3rd came home from work to see the screw pushed through my skin support sock and had my other sock bloody! Well what do you do its the holiday! So I stuck it out until my appointment on the 6th; Dr. Barter came in long enough to say Surgery tomorrow we have to get that screw out. NO DUGH! So on the 7th he finally removed both screws the one that penatrated and the other one that was still burning & pushing. I luckily am on vacation this week and go back on the 17th. I hope this will help anyone that has gone through a Triple Arthodesis and wants to know what you might encounter up the road. Still am swollen 9 months & 2 surgerys later. I will post again if and when I might start feeling somewhat normal again. Good luck to ALL.
July 13, 2010 - 5:51amHi pabeach - It's nice to have you back posting on the site again, but I'm so sorry to hear about what you've been going through. Your Fourth of July was obviously no picnic! (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.) I'm glad you have the screws out and are on the mend, and I sure hope that you start feeling better soon. I love your sense of humor, and I bet it helped along the way. Take care, and keep in touch. Pat
July 13, 2010 - 6:33pmHi pabeach,
July 21, 2010 - 4:09pmYes, I've had the screws removed after my fusion. Like you they started to push out and you could see and feel them through the skin. I did however have to wait a year before the doctor agreed to remove them all. The recovery time was much quicker than the first time around and feel so much better w/out all the screws inside. I know there is a risk associated w/the removal of the screws but with all the pain that I was having I'm glad I got them removed.
Best of luck with your recovery! Keep us posted on how you are doing. Ang
Hi! I am just now trying to walk again after ankle fusion surgery at the end of April 2010. I lost my job in the process and am still not driving. I have lots of pain and it seems every physical therapy session puts me out for a couple of days. The PTs don't understand my injury and keep trying to bend my ankle when it is only my toes that move now, because it was a full ankle fusion. I am frustrated with PT because they keep telling me they don't know what to do with me. I live in a very small town, and since I'm not driving I can't travel to have PT in a big city. I also feel like a screw or something is pushing down through my heel and it is very painful. I also have lots of pain in my leg, and I'm not sure why. The doc had to remove part of the bone on my right side of my leg to fill in with bone form a bone bank. I had a bone graft in the site of the severe arthritis. I am scared for the future and have already gained so much weight because of immobility for the past ten years. I am on COBRA and short term disability right now, but it is really hard to get by.
September 15, 2010 - 3:35pmAnon - It must be frustrating dealing with all those issues! If I understand you correctly you're saying that your physical therapists don't understand your needs and are not treating your appropriately. That's not acceptable, no matter what size community you live in. There are all kinds of resources that physical therapists can go to for specific information about different types of cases. To not seek the right protocol is malpractice.
Here are some options to consider:
1) Ask to meet with the director of physical therapy for the practice you are visiting to discuss and resolve your problems.
2) Contact your insurance company and ask for a case manager to assist you in getting the care you need.
3) Ask your doctor if he can assist you and provide specific orders for your care.
4) Contact the American Physical Therapy Association and ask them for assistance. http://www.apta.org/
5) Change to another PT practice.
You've been through a lot with your ankle fusion, and now it's time to heal. If you are not getting the support you need to heal then you are at risk for further injury, a lengthened recovery period and other problems. As discouraged as you feel right now you need to muster up the strength and courage to stand up (so to speak) for yourself right now, so you will be able to literally stand up for yourself down the road.
Please stay in touch, and let us know what you decide to do. We wish you the very best!
September 15, 2010 - 5:40pmPat
Thank you Pat. I have joined this community since my anonymous comment earlier today. I know that the best thing for me to do is take a stand and try to find another PT practice that will help me. My doctor that is 30 min. away in the big city actually has a team of PTs who work in his office, and I am going to switch. My boyfriend has promised to drive me there once a week, then I will do the pool part of it on my own since I know the exercises now. After a decade of pain, I can surely keep enduring through this part. It feels so weird not to be able to move my ankle at all, and I'm scared to start driving.
September 15, 2010 - 5:59pmYahoo! I'm so glad to hear you say that. You will be so much better off seeing the PTs who work with your doctor, and the pool work is also going to help a lot.
September 15, 2010 - 6:02pmI'm glad you joined the site, we have a lot of good information on a wide range of topics so please take advantage of everything that could help, and keep in touch too.
Best,
Pat
I'VE HAD ANKLE PROBLEMS FOR 12 YEARS NOW. I FOUND OUT IN 2006 I HAD TORN MY LIGAMENTS IN MY RIGHT ANKLE MY SURGEON SAID I WOULD BENEFIT FROM HAVING A LIGAMENT RECONSTRUCTION. SO IN AUGUST 2007 I HAD A RIGHT LATERAL LIGAMENT RECONSTRUCTION DONE ON MY RIGHT ANKLE THIS WAS MY FIRST OPERATION AT FIRST MY RECOVERY WAS GOING GOOD THEN IN FEB 2008 MY PHYSIO FOUND A LUMP IN MY SCAR. WHEN I WENT BACK TO MY SURGEON HE TOLD ME THAT THE SUTURES THEY USED TO REPAIR MY LIGAMENTS WERE COMING LOOSE SO HE WOULD HAVE TO REMOVE THEM SO IN AUG 2008 I HAD A SECOND OPERATION TO REMOVE THE SUTURES FROM MY RIGHT ANKLE. THREE WEEKS AFTER THIS OPERATION I DEVELOPED A TREMOR IN MY RIGHT LEG EVERYTIME I PUT WEIGHT THROUGH MY RIGHT LEG MY LEG WOULD TREMOR I CAN ONLY STAND ON MY LEFT LEG AS IF I STAND ON MY RIGHT LEG AT ALL IT TREMORS. THEN IN AUGUST 2009 THEY FOUND ANOTHER LUMP IN MY SCAR AND I ENDED UP HAVING A THIRD OPERATION TO REMOVE ANOTHER SUTURE AND SCAR TISSUE FROM MY EXISTING SCAR. I STILL HAVE THE TREMOR & THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT IS CAUSING IT, I HAVE HAD FOUR PHYSIO'S & HAD 50 SESSIONS OF PHYSIO IN THE LAST 3 YEARS WITH NO IMPROVEMENT. I HAVE NO HEEL TO TOE ACTION WHEN WALKING THERE'S NO STRENGTH IN THE FOOT OR ANKLE I HAVE HARDLY ANY MOVEMENT IN MY ANKLE AT ALL I HAVE TO WALK WITH CRUTCHES & WEAR AN ANKLE BRACE AS MY ANKLE STILL GIVES OUT EVEN THOUGH I HAVE HAD MY LIGAMENTS REPAIRED. I HAVE A BAD LIMP IF I WALK WITHOUT CRUTCHES AND BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN LIMPING FOR SO LONG MY PELVIS HAS NOW TILTED. I'M IN A GREAT DEAL OF PAIN WITH MY ANKLE AND PELVIS EVERYDAY HAVE BEEN FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS NEARLY 4 I CAN'T EVEN DO NORMAL DAILY TASKS CAUSE OF MY MOBILITY PROBLEMS I HAVE BEEN ON THE SICK FROM MY JOB FOR A YEAR & FIVE MONTHS AS I CAN'T COPE WITH THE PAIN I'M IN. IVE HAD PAIN INJECTIONS, PAIN PATCHES AND LOTS OF DIFFERENT PAIN MEDICATIONS WITHOUT ANY OF THEM WORKING. MY LAST SCAN ON MY ANKLE SHOWED THAT I HAVE LOST MOST OF THE CARTILAGE IN THE JOINT, MY ANTERIOR TALOFIBULAR LIGAMENT IS VERY THIN, I HAVE BONE DEGENERATION AT THE BOTTOM END OF MY TIBIA BONE & I HAVE A BONE SPUR AT THE BOTTOM END OF MY TIBIA BONE. MY SURGEON HAS DISCHARGED ME SAYING THERE IS NOTHING ELSE HE CAN DO FOR ME. I'M ONLY 26 & I'M FED UP OF BEING IN AGONISING PAIN EVERYDAY THEY DON'T SEEM TO CARE THAT I'VE BEEN IN AGONISING PAIN FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS NEARLY FOR BEFORE I HAD THE FIRST OPERATION MY ANKLE WAS CONSTANTLY SPRAINING MY SURGEON SAID IF I DIDN'T HAVE THE OPERATION TO REPAIR MY LIGAMENTS I WOULD END UP BREAKING MY ANKLE & I WOULD BE WORSE OFF BUT BEFORE THE OPERATION I WAS MOBILE NOW I'M BASICALLY DISABLED I'M SO DESPERATE ILL TRY ANYTHING.
January 24, 2011 - 6:20pmI'M CONSIDERING ASKING IF I CAN HAVE MY ANKLE FUSED I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OR WHETHER YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS ANY COMMENTS WELCOME THANK YOU GEMMA.
Hi Gemma,
January 24, 2011 - 9:23pmFirst off let me say I'M SORRY you are dealing with all of this! As I read your post it was like readying my own story but without the tremors. I've been through 5/6 ligaments reconstructions (sorry lost count) on my right ankle. And like you my ligaments just kept giving up or tearing again. I had tons of physical therapy over the years but that didn't always helped and sometimes made it worse. I walked around in a full ankle brace but that wasn't enough anymore. I'd be walking and my foot would just go out from under me. I hear your frustrations with the pain and no quality of life. And the hip and lower back pain just added to the misery. Arthritis set in on the tabia and my ankle just couldn't handle it anymore it was so weak, I couldn't walk, stand, sleep etc. or do much of anything - I just lived in pain 24/7. My doctor did everything he could to help me my last option was an ankle fusion. It took me a year to agree to it, I just couldn't take it anymore. So I know where you are at right now. I was to young for an ankle replacement (35 at the time), so an ankle fusion was it.
As as sit here writing to you I can honestly say it was the best thing I did. It wasn't easy and it's still not perfect, but it's alot better from where I was. I have no ankle movement which includes no heal to toe movement at all. The only thing I can move on my right foot are my toes. It took me a while to learn to walk again but can do it really well with my MBT shoes (they have a rocker bottom that allows the heal to to movement). Without shoes I have a limp and walk funny. My ankle still gets stiff and hurts now and again but I can walk and stand without pain. I'm not sure if an ankle fusion is for you, its a big decision to make. You gain things and you lose some as well and you need to consider all your options. As I mentioned before it took me a year to agree to the surgery. I was scared of the outcome and how it would change my life. But I've adjusted well and take it one day at a time.
Check out my post on my ankle fusion - you also find other women who have shared their stories and can also provide you with some information or suggestions.
http://www.empowher.com/community/share/ankle-fusion-i-know-i%E2%80%99m-...
I'm so glad you found EmpowHER and shared your story with us. Please keep me posted on how you are doing. If you have other questions, please ask. I'm happy to share my story in more detail if it helps you out.
Take care,
Ang