I just noticed this in the past couple of days. I’m not stiffening up as much or requiring a stretch just to walk without limping. Golfed 9 holes yesterday in shoes I couldn’t stand to wear last season. Came home from that feeling flexible and no residual pain.
This surgery was a game-changer for me, in every sense of the word.
18 weeks + 5 days post haglund’s deformity excision and achilles debridement and repair, I had my last PT session. I won’t say I’m back to normal, but I’m at least 90% back, and I’ll take that.
Where I started 10 weeks ago (8 weeks post op):
About 4 weeks into PT (12 weeks post op):
At this point I would still leave PT very sore, usually limping a little. Massage progressed from the area feeling bony, to a distinct crunching in massage area, to feeling a freed-up tendon moving during massage. Heel still sensitive to many shoes. Walks are now 2-3 miles, limping and sore the 2nd half. Always feels better to be moving, though, and feels great the next morning.
Week 5 of pt (week 14 post op) – managed a couple of heel raises on op foot! Big victory!
Week 7 of pt (week 16 post op) – back to work with no restrictions
After 10+ weeks of pt:
A little more swelling around the medial area of my ankle on op foot at the end of a long day, but I am on my feet more at work and doing a lot of movements with the foot repetitively that are pretty stressful. Also, that ankle has been and will always be a bit of a problem child. Walking – whatever I want. Running… I have jogged a few steps, but it’s not a priority for me. I am reasonably certain my poor form and rear foot strike while doing Couch to 5k program was part of what got me into this situation, along with my goofy foot anatomy – so let’s just say I’m in no hurry to run. I will still be sore after a long day. A long day on my feet still seems to be better than a long day off my feet. Definitely stiff after a car ride or sitting at my desk for too long. I notice the AT itself is sometimes a little sore at insertion, and up a little higher. I could probably avoid a good bit of this with a better calf and AT stretching regimen. Or, a calf/AT stretching regimen. Which is something I’m working on.
All in all, I am still in less pain than I’ve been in for 2.5 years, so it’s hard for me to assess whether or not what I’m dealing with now is “pain”. My theory is, if I have to think that much about it, it’s probably not. 🙂
Would I do the surgery again? In a heartbeat. I’m kicking myself for having waited and suffered for so long.
Last one scheduled for Monday, then I’m trusted to build up strength all by myself! I’ve progressed from 5/10/15 heel raise sets to 10/20/30s. First sequence is hold each rep for 5 seconds, second hold each rep for 1 second, and third is a fast pulse through the reps. I’m getting a good couple inches off the ground when not fatigued – still small potatoes as compared to non op leg.
Today, I did something that felt crazy. I looked up strengthening and coordination drills to prepare for jogging. I don’t know if I’ll do the actual jogging but the drills themselves look like fun.
What I need to do, is something every day. Right now, any time my work schedule goes slightly off kilter, I abandon my routine, and that is kind of counterintuitive to the idea of “a routine”. At any rate, I do get some shooting pains in the tendon of it’s been a physically demanding day. I prefer to think of it as healing pains. They are about 1/10 of 1% if the pain I lived with daily pre op, so I’ll take it. Strength wise, I have quite a ways to go, but I’m convinced the op side was pretty weak long before surgery. Ol lefty has been getting dumped on for many years and is ready for righty to step up and do her share.
Back to work full duty last week, unceremoniously. I’m still going to PT once a week for about another month, where we’re going to work on strengthening and handling awkward landings. I don’t have pain with activity any more, just stiffness and the calf and tendon are still a little weak. I do get some shooting pains at the end of the day sometimes, in the tendon. They are nothing like what I dealt with before surgery, so they’re easy to dismiss.
Admittedly, I don’t stretch or massage nearly as much as I’m supposed to. I was walking in the morning before work every day, but life got in the way in the past week. I’m definitely better off when walking every day.
Now the trick is to develop a routine and stick to it. All in all, this surgery was a great success. Every morning I wake up and put both feet (all the way down on) the floor, no pain! I am enjoying everyday stuff like walking the dog and golfing, that caused me great pain the past two years. I can envision actually hiking and being more active this summer, rather than shrinking my life to fit into the little box the pain allowed.
I was on the fence for years about having the surgery, mainly due to a lot of conflicting accounts I read online when digging for information. I can say definitively now, I’d do it again, given the same surgeon and physical therapist. So if you’re reading this because you’re indecisive like I was, find yourself an aggressive physical therapist, and ask THEM if they have an OS they recommend.
5 months ago, I played my last pre-op round of golf. I was limping and miserable and desperate to have a good day, knowing I wouldn’t be back till spring. Fast forward 16 weeks – score still sucks but the … Continue reading
I did a heel raise yesterday in PT! Actually, I did a couple 
We had been working on it by having me go up on both toes, then taking the strong foot off the ground and holding the raise with the op foot and controlling the descent. I was able, yesterday, to get the heel off the ground by itself. Now, compared to the strong side it was a pretty pitiful heel raise, but it was off the ground at least a couple inches with no help from the other side.
I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in PT. I know I am going next week, and he talked about addressing some of the awkward landings I will likely encounter functionally when I get back to work. That is why I trust this guy so much. He takes into account what you’ll need to actually do functionally day to day, and step by step he incorporates stuff to strengthen and prepare you for just that.
The area that I was feeling the “zings” on both sides? The PT massaged them and it definitely felt better and freer for me after that, even though the massage alternately burned and stung. He said the tissue felt like bone, and he was huffing and puffing after doing the massage. It is all soft tissue area, so “feels like bone” was kind of ominous to hear. How arthritic is this ankle going to be? I have had a couple of bad sprains to that ankle, one that healed badly a long time ago, and another recently, that I was smart and did PT immediately after. I massaged the areas myself the next couple of nights before bed. I felt distinct crunching under my fingers in small (fingertip size) areas of the massage. I couldn’t locate the crunch the next time I massaged, and my ankle feels freer than it has in months. My PT said it was quite possibly old adhesions from prior sprains, plus the period of immobility in the boot. It’s not crunching anymore when I massage it, so it must have busted something loose!
In 5 days I go back to the OS for xrays and followup, and I’m hoping to hear the magic words – back to work!
We subtracted the kettlebell-up-on-toes walk from the program due to the sharp pains I am having on the outside of my heel, when going up/pushing off on my toe.To sub in for that, I am doing heel raises. Can’t initiate one with the op foot yet, but what I do is go up on both toes, then take my weight off I can get a fraction of an inch off the ground on the op foot by itself. It’s a start.
I have been massaging the area on both sides where I’ve had those zings of pain – the ones on both sides directly below my ankle bone on both sides, where the bottom of the foot meets the side. It seems to start on the bottom and radiate up. If I keep going, it eventually numbs out and remains there, only dull. The PT massaged the one on the lateral area pretty thoroughly the other day. I have been massaging it myself and noticed that it feels a little … crunchy? Snappy? Clicky? … in one certain spot where the pain seems to originate. So I will ask him tomorrow if he noticed that when he was massaging. Makes me wonder if it’s remnants of bursae that need to break up. Definitely feels better and freer today after massaging last night.
I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in PT. He hasn’t told me we are wrapping up in x number of weeks. I have an ortho followup in a week, which will be 14 weeks and 1 day post op. I am pretty confident I’ll be released back to work full duty – I’d better be, because I put myself on the schedule covering open shifts!
… It reared its ugly head again. Outside of foot on the heel, directly below my ankle, starting from the bottom of my foot and shooting up. I have been trying to get 10,000 steps per day in and I’m cleared to do anything I want except jumping/plyo. I was walking the dog on the same flat, paved park path we’ve been using and all of a sudden… Zing.
I limped for a good 1/4 mile after that then the spot sort of numbed out. I finished my 3ish mile walk, went about my day, and when I got to a place where I was going to be sitting awhile, iced my foot. It feels ok now so I guess it’s just more scar tissue breaking up.
This has been a good week of building strength and endurance. The dog is happy to report we’re going for lots of walks. New things this week:
I guess it’s time to get used to waking up for work again…
What a difference this week. Most of the pain on movement is gone. If there is any discomfort now, I’d call it stiffness. Feels like I need a good calf/achilles stretch (but not sure how much of that I’m allowed to do, so I just stretch it out by walking). Also feeling a faint occasional sensation of adhesion at the incision site. Feels like someone left a strip of double sided tape inside there. I watched YouTube videos demonstrating how to massage that area, but they made me cringe. I should note I’m not a squeamish person at all. The massage technique was just that rough.
The week 4 routine is geared toward building strength.
Treadmill at speed and time tolerated with emphasis on good heel to toe gait. Today’s new speed record – 2:8mph. Almost normal! (I’m short)
Squat press 130lbs with balls of feet/toes – sets of 10, at least 50 – at extension weighted plantarflexion for 5 count then dorsiflexion/stretch for 5 count
BAPS on setting 4, clockwise x100, counterclockwise x100
Balance board (finally able to use the taller one for everything!) plantarflexion/dorsiflexion x100, inversion/eversion x100
Balance on op foot on balance cushion, Karate Kid style – non op leg bent at knee up high and arms out to side – x15 for as long as I can stand
10 laps walking lunges.
Having read about many others’ post op experiences, I have to say, I am really grateful for being a best case scenario case at this point. It’s great to have a physical therapist I trust, that knew my abilities pre op.
Haglunds Recovery 