Calcaneus Surgery ORIF Success Stories?

Kay,
I had slipped into just gardening as my exercise.   Then fell from a ladder onto concrete 12/3/16, had surgery  - plate, cadaver bone, 8 screws. Turned 60 12/16.   Started WB March 2017.   2018 each day my goal is to reach 10k steps min. & hit the Y for weight mch.   At 14 mos out I have 'new normal'.  I take CBD oil (internal & external) , also acupuncture.  It is very important that you go to an experienced PT.  I went 3 days a wk for 12 wks.  Took a lot of pages filled with exercises home.  Aug 2017 went to a new PT that specialized in 'Deep Tissue Massage', was helpful with all the tendon stuff.
Best of Luck with your recovery.  Attitude is very important, keep pushing.
Lin

Kay,
   Its fine you don't climb.  This is one of the only active threads on Calcaneus injuries.  There is one on yahoo but it is just a bunch of whiney complaining.  No real stories or advise.  Everyone on here is very nice and helpful.  Ask away.

Had my second surgery and my follow up meeting yesterday, she said that I've recovered incredibly well. I'm sort of upset with things, I had told her coming into the second surgery that my heel was crooked and that it was at an angle but she didnt listen instead afterwards saying "so it turns out you were right  but i was not prepared" this is after the first surgery where she went in thinking my heel was only in 2 pieces and it was in 13 and the first words i heard waking up were "so it didnt go exactly as planned"  

Im incredibly driven so it was a real hit this meeting, I have internal rotation of my tibia and knee pain and no arch, and she sort of told me that she didn't think an osteotomy was necessary. Before climbing I was a varsity rower, then scholarship for swimming then a power lifter, now i cant even jog because the proper ankle mechanics are not there. Im moving back to Canada in 16 days and looking for a good surgeon there if anyone could DM me (if thats allowed). Has anyone had an osteotomy? Success stories?

Has anyone had an osteotomy? Success stories?

I had an osteotomy of a bone spur at the base of my right heel ~9 months after my injury (Bilateral fractures). This bone spur was severe and I could only walk pain free with thick padding in my shoes and even then it was uncomfortable at times. The down time post-surgery was a few weeks and it was totally worth it. However, I'm about 2.5 years out from the bone spur surgery and walking barefoot on a hardwood floor is still not like it used to be, but I am functioning nearly perfect in every other situation (walking with shoes, hiking, climbing... maybe not soccer).

Michael Cox: I have only skimmed through your posts, but it seems like you are super healthy at baseline and are making a remarkably fast recovery. Try to stay positive and keep at it. Focus on incremental improvement, not "where you used to be". My recover took years.... But I'm 42yo now, so there's that too. 

Dennis wrote:
I had an osteotomy of a bone spur at the base of my right heel ~9 months after my injury (Bilateral fractures). This bone spur was severe and I could only walk pain free with thick padding in my shoes and even then it was uncomfortable at times. The down time post-surgery was a few weeks and it was totally worth it. However, I'm about 2.5 years out from the bone spur surgery and walking barefoot on a hardwood floor is still not like it used to be, but I am functioning nearly perfect in every other situation (walking with shoes, hiking, climbing... maybe not soccer).

Michael Cox: I have only skimmed through your posts, but it seems like you are super healthy at baseline and are making a remarkably fast recovery. Try to stay positive and keep at it. Focus on incremental improvement, not "where you used to be". My recover took years.... But I'm 42yo now, so there's that too.

Thank You Dennis It was a rough day and that was really helpful and encouraging

I'm going to continue to keep looking for a surgeon to do the osteotomy then, most things dont hurt - I had a bone floating on the bottom of my foot that got taken out already, and I can walk over uneven surfaces barefoot easy - but the knee pain and feeling of always being a little off balance when my weight is directly above my foot, Well I would like the opportunity to stand  and move pain free if I can find a surgeon to do it. 

Hello!  30 year old Looking for advice for my Calcaneus fracture which occured when I fell about 40ft or so from a cliff. This happened about 15 years ago , I couldn't walk for about 8 months or longer...i also still have the hardware in, I hike alot and I'm a runner, I can tell how much weaker my injured foot is than y non injured.. Probably a 70%/100% ratio on how they feel. I'm not sure if i need surgery or not.. My heel does give me slight pain and a limp some days
and rarely, but has occured of extreme pain.. So.. I have not been concerned as much... Do some people keep the hardware in their whole life? I'm also concerned about if the day comes that i will even need a surgery... That I'll react bad to the anesthesia, do to never taking any. Medications, not even advil...and being vegetarian not sure how my body will react..and i also heard you can stay awake during removal and they use something else on you?

Hi Alex,

Lots of these questions would best be asked to an orthopedic surgeon. Folks can share their experiences, but your situation may have unique aspects only they can address.

I guess I would try to clarify what your are trying to get out of surgery. Reduced pain? Improved performance? That nagging feeling of metal in your foot? I was told hardware is OK for life as long as it doesn't cause a problem. Also, not all hardware can be removed easily and you have to weigh the risk of problems from removal.

Don't worry about being vegetarian or not taking advil prior to anesthesia. Anesthesiologists screen folks thoroughly prior to surgery and they don't care if you do or don't eat meat! :)

Some comic relief.... had to buy lots of items from Amazon after my injury.... wheelchair ramp, knee pads for crawling around, butt pad for wheelchair. Then I noticed these ads popping up in Amazon:

Heather Russell wrote:

I'm not a climber or hiker but I am a very active person. Have a small hobby farm & love boating, fishing, camping. My calcaneus fracture surgery injury occurred from a serious high impact car accident. 2 lane highway where the driver at fault turned directly into the path of my car at 55 mph resulting in a head on collision. Trying to brake and minimize the impact shattered my right calcaneus & fractured my mid nervicular joint bone in late June. Implant surgery and 9 screws wasn't able to be done until mid July due to intense swelling from soft tissue damage. The pain, well I'm not even going to go there, but I highly respect my surgeon from being honest with me. I'm still dealing with an area of my incision that is being difficult to heal, we are working on measures to get it to heal from the inside out. I've heard my next appointment in 2 weeks will be x-rays and that I could possibly begin bearing some weight. Along with the rest of you this boot is going to drive me insane! Lol I'm so tired of lugging this thing around. Im counting the days until I can at least limp again & burn these crutches & knee scooter!! Lol My house has mostly deep pile carpet which scooting is even exhausting plus my scooter won't adjust to my short little legs but crutches should be outlawed for injuries like ours! They are fine for minor injuries short term like sprains. But why insurance won't approve other means of assistance is beyond me for injuries with long recovery injuries. I had to pay out of pocket for my knee scooter. My question to you guys is how much weight did y'alls Drs allow when they released you to start bearing weight? I feel sure the boot will still be required but was curious on how much. Boot with weight bearing crutch assistance possibly? Thanks for any info. :)

Heather Russell wrote:

I'm not a climber or hiker but I am a very active person. Have a small hobby farm & love boating, fishing, camping. My calcaneus fracture surgery injury occurred from a serious high impact car accident. 2 lane highway where the driver at fault turned directly into the path of my car at 55 mph resulting in a head on collision. Trying to brake and minimize the impact shattered my right calcaneus & fractured my mid nervicular joint bone in late June. Implant surgery and 9 screws wasn't able to be done until mid July due to intense swelling from soft tissue damage. The pain, well I'm not even going to go there, but I highly respect my surgeon from being honest with me. I'm still dealing with an area of my incision that is being difficult to heal, we are working on measures to get it to heal from the inside out. I've heard my next appointment in 2 weeks will be x-rays and that I could possibly begin bearing some weight. Along with the rest of you this boot is going to drive me insane! Lol I'm so tired of lugging this thing around. Im counting the days until I can at least limp again & burn these crutches & knee scooter!! Lol My house has mostly deep pile carpet which scooting is even exhausting plus my scooter won't adjust to my short little legs but crutches should be outlawed for injuries like ours! They are fine for minor injuries short term like sprains. But why insurance won't approve other means of assistance is beyond me for injuries with long recovery injuries. I had to pay out of pocket for my knee scooter. My question to you guys is how much weight did y'alls Drs allow when they released you to start bearing weight? I feel sure the boot will still be required but was curious on how much. Boot with weight bearing crutch assistance possibly? Thanks for any info. :)

40 years old, fairly good physical condition. No climber but does alot of mountainbiking.

Cracked my heel april 15, surgery april 26, cast removed may 16, no weight bearing until june 7. Had PT exercises since cast was removed. Started at the gym at end of may, started with a trainer june 7. 10 weeks in total since injury.

Can walk a little without crutches at home with some pain. Really bad ROM sideways, feels like a mechanical stop. Theres a little spot on the outside that gets extra red in the evening, feels like it might be around the same area where I can sense that its a mechanical stop. No matter how much I try to stretch and force the foot to move sideways it does not improve. Right now at about 30% sideways ROM. Front/back maybe 80-85%.

So I just wan't to hear a little about other peoples experinces. More specifically about how sideways ROM has developed longetime, if hardware has affected that more then front/back ROM and if hardware removal has increased sideways ROM noticable.
 

Hey Niklas,

When you refer to sideways ROM do you mean supination, pronation, internal or external rotation? My ROM is still improving and I'm 3+ years out from my bilateral fractures. You're only 10 weeks!!! Sounds like you're making a great recovery so far.

I've wondered if removing my hardware will improve my ROM. Mostly my right has difficulty supinating and almost always has some pain pronating. At first my limited dorsiflexion made walking down stairs awkward but this improved and I don't notice it anymore. So I'd say see how things go and if the ROM continues to limit your activities, then maybe removal is the right choice. But I'd give it a year. That's just me!

Thanks for your answer Dennis.
It's actually all directions except front/back. I sit every day with the foot on my other knee with the foot in a firm grip and try to rotate in all directions with some force. PT recomended it.
Front/back is only limited by pain threshold while stretching ;) Stairs are a problem right now but I think that I will be able to sort that out.
Yeah I know, only 10 weeks but my patience is bad right now and I wan't to go out riding my bike :) It has been the best summer here for 20 years and I have missed it all. I'm like a 5 year old even though it says I'm 40.

What's a fot? Sounds like a good thing though...

Keep at it man! You'll see incremental improvement and soon it'll be a distant memory.

Typo... was meant to be foot :)

Bahaha.  Whoops my bad!

I have shared my injury story - www.fracturedheels.com - hopefully everyone finds it useful!  I also created a closed group on Facebook to create a community of Fractured Heels Fighters where positivity is paramount.   facebook.com/groups/Fractur…

Fractured my calcaneus last weekend in a climbing accident. Fell about 15 feet and hit my right heel into granite.

The doc said the fracture isn't that bad itself. However, the subtalar joint alignment is skewed (you can see in the image below). Getting a surgery to fix that joint alignment. I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with the joint issue. I've heard this means I'll definitely have arthritis and might have to get subtalar fusion in the future. Hopefully, not too soon though. I can't bear the thought of having to go through 2-3 months of relying on people all over again if I have to get the subtalar fusion.

Hi Guys, I'm a 58 year old male, fit and strong. I fell about 5m from a ladder and shattered my right Calcaneus. I had the op on 19 Aug and 5 weeks post op. I had a plate an pins inserted and i guess all is ok, but i get a lot of numb feeling under my heel and also on the right side of my foot. I am in a moon boot now and thankfully my artho pod says i can sleep without it. He says no weight bearing for 12 weeks. I'm a twice a week golfer and going nuts! I get a bit depressed from time to time, but generally remain positive. I manage to work out my upper body at gym on the machines so that gives me a lot of sanity. Overall, it's very frustrating not being able to carry anything and i am wondering if the iwalk 2.0 or similar is the way to go and to ditch the crutches.  Another question is what is the right time to start PT? I have my next appointment with my surgeon on 31 Aug and will ask him, but i believe light ankle rolling is good, also know as circumduction???

Hey Steve, sorry to hear about your heel!

I never used the iwalk 2 but those who I know who have used it say it's great. I suspect being able to use your hands will be a big improvement. I used crutches and a knee scooter and they each had pros and cons. Ultimately the phase will pass and you'll be walking in no time.

As far as PT goes, before I was cleared for full weight bearing I walked chest deep in a pool (I had bilateral calcaneus fractures). Even though this was southern california, it was a non heated outdoor pool in the middle of winter and cold AF. But I was motivate and stir crazy like you. That, and swimming in general, seemed like a good way to ease into things if you have access to a pool. I honestly don't know about circumduction. In the early stages, I think the best therapy is rest, I know it's not what you want to hear!

Good luck.