How long until 90 degrees?
Good Morning All,
Hope everyones recovering well. I am alittle over 3 weeks post op now I am in a boot but I am no where near 90 degrees. I start pt on Monday and I am wondering how long it takes to get to that point. Right now it seems like I will never get there. Ive been doing toe circles and heel toe points. Any ideas for ROM exercises I can do this weekend? Also should I be applying Ice to my ankle will that help loosen this thing up?
Thanks!!
Hi there,
Monday was four weeks since my surgery. I have been in PT for three of those four weeks and I went to 90 degrees yesterday.
At home I do toes raises and heel raises (sets of 20) and I put a towel down on the floor and try to move it toward me with my toes. I also sit with my foot flat on the floor and try to bring my foot back toward the chair. It is a great but tough stretch. Ask your doctor about these.
Good luck to you!
I was 8 degrees from neutral (90) when I got my cast off. After 4 PT appts I got to 3 degrees (that’s with PT stretching it). Those last few are tough. Go easy, the heel pain a few hours after PT is pretty intense. I know a big part of ROM (or lack of) is swelling. I wouldn’t be as concerned about getting to 90 as I would about healing and strengthening. My PT did tell me to sleep with my boot on, I had taken it off a few nights and noticed how much the stretch hurt to put it on in the a.m. Especially if you have an ROM boot like mine. My boot is adjustable from -45 to +45 degrees, zero being neutral (90). Mine was at 30, then to 15, then to 7.5, then 0 on July 2nd. You’ll get there!
damacar
Thanks for the info. I havnt been wearing my Boot a whole lot. For this past week I have been putting it on only when I go out side and I have been sleeping without it. I wanted to let the wound air out as much as possible. I guess I should wear this thing more often huh.
i agree with damacar’s comment about the goal being healing and strengthening, rather than just 90°. my orthopaedic is suggesting getting to 90° not before 6 weeks. seems a long time but if it reduces chances of mishaps then i’m in. take it easy, offdibb
Regarding not sleeping w the boot on my doc said that the foot naturally wants to point down as we sleep so it is important to keep the boot on to keep the tension on the tendon. I hated sleeping with it but for 29 straight days I did and now I’m glad I did. Hang in there man, it will be off before you know it.
I had a hard cast for 6 weeks and a walking boot for about a week. I could go 90 degrees about 4 days after i took my boot off. I am young and I stretched it a lot, so maybe that made a differnce. The PT was very shocked when I went in last week.
gotthat77 -
Hi, I’ve filled out your achilles profile information for you. Please feel free to add or modify anything that’s missing/incorrect.
Here’s some info: http://achillesblog.com/dennis/achilles-timeline-widget/
gotthat77 -
Here’s some info regarding ROM exercises. I hope you find them useful.
http://achillesblog.com/rehabilitation/physical-therapy/
Thanks Dennis!! This is very helpful