the non-surgical route

yea i feel you on the unusual pain of the ankle. I ate it pretty hard at a party couple of weeks ago and totally thought that was the problem. I think at the begining your leg fits so snug in the cast that it feels and fits just right. But by week six when the swelling is down the cast became loose and the weird feeling started to come. But i think its the same for everyone. I just got my cast off yesterday and ive been on crutches for 8 weeks and had a cast for 6. its been the longest two months of my life. I get my boot Monday so im excited for that but i got another 4 weeks of the boot before i can even start walkin on my own.

im athlete and being in top shape IS my job so i was worried about being alble to come back from this but ive hear alot of sucess stories so i say just follow exactly what the PT says and take it easy.

I had a similar problem with my toes. When I first went to PT, they would massage and stretch my toes. Once loose they had me try to pick up a towel, barefoot, with my toes. For example, spread your toes out as wide as you can and then curl them to grab the towel.. I would do sets of 20, 2 times day. After 1 week, my toes stopped aching and they did not curl up on their own. Good luck.

A,
I demonstrated the technique to a physio at the hospital who had to admit it was an efficient way to get up the stairs and couldn’t really find anything to criticise apart from the top of the stairs conundrum - I can feel a leaflet coming on!!

R xx

Richard you have been following me, how very dare you!!

That is just how I did it. When I got to the top of the stairs I held on to the bannister and just pulled, we have old house, with old very very strong banniser, so no matter how hard I pulled it never moved.

Annie

Dear glm,
I am pleased you are feeling a bit better about things - a problem shared and all that!

I have developed a stair climbing technique which may help.
Face the stairs and put the knee of your bad leg onto the second stair, good leg still on the floor at the bottom.
Move your crutches up the stairs so they are out of the way ( you won,need them until you get to the top.)
Step up one stair with your good leg supporting yourself with both hands on the stairs in front of you.
Move bad leg knee up one stair and so on until you reach the top
Between each move you can lift your crutches further up the stairs in front of you.

Having just read that it sounds complicated but it isn’t once you get in position.

The hardest part is at the very top of the stairs when you need to get up again - I’ve tried various techniques involving chairs,wife, son, and finally settled on a reckless hop up on to the landing(not recommended)

Disclaimer - Don’t blame me if………… Tee Hee!!

Jolly good luck,keep me informed

Richard xx

Hi glm21

I am a conservative route person.

I had a light weight below the knee cast (one surgeon was trying for an above the knee cast…. and I said no thanks), for 8 weeks. As UKnodger says this gets angled up to 90 degrees in the later stages…….. about twice for me.

After 8 weeks… i was out of the cast….. tendon in place……. and asked to put weight on my foot straight away…. no airboot, moon boot or anything……..straight to shoes (my safety site boots)…….. I had a physio 2 days after the cast was removed.

I have ditched the crutches about two weeks ago….. I can walk…… I have had about 5 physio sessions to date …. having another tomorrow…. they are doing ultra-sound on the wound.

Everything seems to be going okay…. with or without surgery… the body can heal its self….. if you believe it will happen….. and how many people do you know who go around with permanent ATR….. in fact after my ATR…. I suddenly was informed by various people I have known for ages… that they too had ATRs…… so be positive…. I am self-employed… so I could not take time off…. I just had to pu

Hi. I am now 5 months post rupture having elected for conservative treatment. Progress has been good, if slow to begin with. You will get there. I had 8 weeks (felt like half a lifetime) in three different plaster casts. Foot started at a natural “hang” ( c. 45 degree pointing down), then was repositioned towards right angle with each cast change. Does your airboot point your toes towards ballet points, as that takes the tension out of the heel and will help those loose ends to knit. Touching down on teh bad foot is best avoided… I was lucky as I could get up and down stairs on my butt, and heft up onto some low chairs for rest. Hard work, but safe.

My ankle was completely immobilised so I wasn’t able to rotate my ankle… not until you are out of your cast perhaps. Wiggle your toes and try some leg exercises, alphabet writing with heel etc.

After plaster I had 3 or 4 weeks in a removable aircast, which eventually allowed me to ditch the crutches. Would suggest that the airboot works best when fully inflated / tight and would also suggest you leave it on all the time. Any ankle movement will put stress on the wound. Again

Hello GLM,
I think your post summed up how we all have felt at some stage. It seems to me whichever route you take the recovery time is much the same and the results are pretty good either way. Read uknodger’s page for a good non-surgical account’ he is now back on his feet and beginning to function again.

Keeping your chin up is easier said than done - you will go through bad patches psychologically we all do but they don’t last forever and that’s where celebrating the little triumphs becomes an important exercise.

I have to say reading your post I don’t reckon the medical services have done you many favours in terms of post -injury advice it’s almost as if you’ve been left to muddle through! - however virtually every thing you need to know is on this site, its a great source of advice, support and entertainment.

I’m rambling on a bit now but there’s one more thing - all our personal situations are different but one thing is for sure - you’ve got to look after yourself because if you don’t the nightmare of re-rupture can raise its ugly head and that back to square one scenario is not good.

Keep

GLM: My heart goes out to you. I understand your frustration as do probably everybody on this site. I took the surgical route but I have read a lot of research about the non-surgical and the results are great.

As for sleeping, I had to sleep on my side, with my injured leg outside the main covers. I then got a lighter but warm blanket and laid it on top of my foot and leg. I slept in my cast for about 8 or 9 weeks because I usually get up at least once in the middle of the night and I am usually stepping over my greyhound’s stick legs. I didn’t want to trip or misstep on one of them.

Have you seen those wonderful things called roll-a-bouts? I didn’t use one on my first surgery and was terrorized by my crutches. I used one for my second surgery and had great mobility. Maybe that would help you at work. They are nice because you can move around a bit and still have at least one hand free. Plus since your injured leg is not all the way down, being up isn’t so painful. The other nice thing about it is that you can sit down on it anywhere you need to just sit.

Hang in there, I’ll be thinking happy thoughts for you

Hi GLM,

I’m the same procedure as you but now at 14 weeks. The most comfortable way to sleep is on your back with a pillow under the injured foot, but keep it up towrads the back of your knee, otherwise your knee will ache due to hyper-extension. When you first get into bed, try lying on your front with your knee bent and your bad leg pointed upwards just to assist getting the blodd out of your leg….it’s quite relieving.

If you’ve got any questions, don’t feel scared or embarrassed to ask them. I fell and put weight down about 4 times over my 6 week incarceration…..as did everyone else on here.

It really is a ‘baby steps’ injury, but you’ve got to keep your chin up and get a slave at work to do the coffee run.

Happy healing,
Jon

All of the things you talk about are very common with this injury - both the physical and pshycological aspects. To help you with some of your questions: I went down the non-surgical route. I am very active and participate in a lot of sports and my age is 37. There are pros and cons for both the surgical and non-surgical routes. Both have the same outcome though and that is to get you back on both feet. After that, it is down to good rehab, plenty of rest and a positive outlook (the last can be difficult of course but it is vital) for you to get back to new. The tiredness, pain, worry, frustration, anger etc etc are all common. You will find that your supporting leg will be sore (stiff in the morning when you first get out of bed), your hands will be sore and fingers can tingle etc etc. I consider myself to be very fit and healthy and I have encountered all of these aspects and more. The human body is a very fascinating and resilient machine and will adapt accordingly. This injury is fixable, will heal will be a good as new as long as time and patience are applied. I live life at 100mph so to go down to 5mph was a massiv

Sorry to hear about all your problems, I had surgery but I had no option as tear was too bad to go non-surgery. There are several non-surgical members on the site who I am sure will contact you in time. But, most importantly you must, rest, elevate, rotate your ankle and be positive in your outcome.

I am nearly 60, overweight (not too overweight!!) and not in the best physical shape, but I am walking and that was my main aim, I did go through a period when I thought I would never be able to walk without a crutch but that was on the days when I was really fed-up. My main exercise is walking and I try and walk as much as possible considering I work at a desk. I constantly get up and walk up and down the stairs at the office just to keep my circulation going.

Although I don’t suffer the same as you I do have problems with my neck, I have fused discs so when I first used the crutches my neck and shoulders were very painful but your body adjusts to that.

Keep positive!!!

Annie

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