I am a physical Therapist, 37 years of experience so I have seen a lot and often think about what I would do if i were in my patient's shoes. If the ankle fusion fails as so many above have described, then go for a below knee amputation and start fresh again.
you should be walking within 6 to 8 weeks, may have phantom pain to deal with for a while.
on the other hand, many people have good results, but you will not see them on these posts as they are not looking for answers on the problems or issues with their fusion.
in regards to pain control, this is most important to have during rehab because it frees your brain from guarding yourself all of the time, lets you get on with life and when your brain sees that you are normalizing your day to day activities, the brain will no longer need to hurt you as your body become's more functional
equally, depression etc will alter your perception of pain.
i work with the most severely developmental disabled individuals who come to the operating table with no emotional bagage and wake up after surgery and do even better than most so call normal people. For the most part, their original pain is gone, and they are supported with post op pain control and most of my work involves slowing them down and keeping them safe from themselves.
i stumbled on this site looking for pictures to show the group home staff what joints are fused in a total ankle fusion. '
i have a fellow, with Downs syndrome whose ankle is in cage and another fellow who is going to have an ankle fusion next week.
we will take them to the pool and play as soon as we get the go ahead from the surgeon.
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I am a physical Therapist, 37 years of experience so I have seen a lot and often think about what I would do if i were in my patient's shoes. If the ankle fusion fails as so many above have described, then go for a below knee amputation and start fresh again.
you should be walking within 6 to 8 weeks, may have phantom pain to deal with for a while.
on the other hand, many people have good results, but you will not see them on these posts as they are not looking for answers on the problems or issues with their fusion.
in regards to pain control, this is most important to have during rehab because it frees your brain from guarding yourself all of the time, lets you get on with life and when your brain sees that you are normalizing your day to day activities, the brain will no longer need to hurt you as your body become's more functional
equally, depression etc will alter your perception of pain.
i work with the most severely developmental disabled individuals who come to the operating table with no emotional bagage and wake up after surgery and do even better than most so call normal people. For the most part, their original pain is gone, and they are supported with post op pain control and most of my work involves slowing them down and keeping them safe from themselves.
i stumbled on this site looking for pictures to show the group home staff what joints are fused in a total ankle fusion. '
i have a fellow, with Downs syndrome whose ankle is in cage and another fellow who is going to have an ankle fusion next week.
we will take them to the pool and play as soon as we get the go ahead from the surgeon.
i anticipate good results.
yves from Alberta Canada
February 27, 2015 - 2:31pmThis Comment
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