MRI Results - surgery recommended
I got the detailed MRI results yesterday. My doc says the broken-off spur in my achilles is irritating and inflaming my achilles tendon and he recommended removal. he said it’d be two weeks in a splint then six weeks in a boot, then to shoes. He also wants to chop off my haglund’s deformity and arthroscope the front of my ankle to remove scar tissue which is causing some stiffness. On top of all this, he noted “chronic lateral ligament tears” - but those will only need PT, not surgery. No clue why I have those, unless it’s still from a moderate ankle sprain I had in college 20 years ago.
Naturally all this scares me greatly. Here I was, a lifelong, painfree runner who suddenly has a laundry list of foot problems. Despite all this, I know my situation isn’t as bad as a full ATR. The real question for me is: Do I go through with the surgery? I’m actually not in a lot of pain walking around right now. Going down stairs is the worst, but I walked three miles through a local park yesterday with no problems. My doc says the spur is a “ticking bomb” and getting it out earlier is less trouble than waiting for more damage to occur.
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Tough call Steve… I dont know anything about it, but the splint/boot time frames you describe are very similar to an those of an ATR surgery, and I would guess therefore puts you on this same very long recovery road after you get out of the boot. Only thing I would suggest is do some more research on what your doc’s told you, & maybe get the MRI pics and go for a second opinion to see if there is a less invasive option that might work? Best of luck…
I too wouldn’t bet that you’ll be finished any sooner than an ATR, sorry! The Haglund’s op patients here haven’t had an esp easy time, seems to me.
If there’s really a spur pulled off your heel (calcaneous), then I think it should show up on a simple and clear X-ray, and I’d want one. (I’ve had terrible results with MRI accuracy, BTW.) And if it’s there, then my beloved non-op ATR-cure approach is probably of no use — also sorry!
Whether or not all the other surgical jobs are best done at the same time or not is way out of my amateur field — sorry #3.
Steve, I now see that you’ve had X-rays that show the spur, but apparently not the detatched spur. Personally I’d hold out for that, given my jaundiced views of MRIs. (& I haven’t been impressed much with UltraSound, either, BTW!)
It’s fairly clear on my x-ray that the spur is detached, even I can see that — and a 2nd doc I went to with just the x-ray noticed it was detached, but he said, “well, hopefully it’ll connect” — perhaps he thought it was still growing?
I trust my MRI doc more, as he is a very highly regarded foot & ankle specialist who works on athletes.
I’m really at a crossroads, as I have very little pain, yet I know for the long-term the spur needs to go. My doc says he can make “a very small incision” to get the spur out. I have some time to decide…. sigh…
If it were my foot, and the doc I trust says it’s a “ticking timebomb”, I guess I’d wanna get the spur out of there before it causes real problems.
If you’re unsure about the other procedures, I’d get a second, and maybe a third opinion from other trusted docs in the area, and make your decision based off those findings.
Just my two cents’ worth. But, I’d rather do the procedure and have a couple months of inconvenience (with, hopefully, a lifetime of a healthy foot), rather than possibly have have big problems by letting it go.
Good luck with your decision!
I had a bone spur at the base of my achilles tendon, in Oct 2011, I was having quite a bit of pain and problem walking. Dr. tried meds, splint and physical therapy nothing helped much. End of Dec. Dr. said the only other choice other than surgery was try a steroid injection to see if it would help. A major risk factor in the injection was could weaken the AT and cause a rupture. I had wonderful results with the injection almost back to normal. At the point of only a couple of days being released from Doc. On 1/19/12 I stumbled and fell, immediately I hear the infamous pop and knew it was my AT. After MRI it was diagnosed that I had a 6cm gap a full rupture. I had surgery in Feb, and just now am being physical therapy and trying to walk in shoes. When Dr. did surgery she attached the tendon and did some lengthening in the tendon to try to stretch over the bone spur. They did not want to remove the spur since my tendon had had so much trauma could be a problem healing. So my advice to you, I would definitely get it taken care of now, before it cause other things to go downhill and the recuperation could be much worse.
just had same surgery U need done, and am coming up on 3 weeks , with sutures to removed tomorrow. New Procedure, Dr said, he went in from the side, lifted the achilles tendon(vs cutting down straight thru it), shaved down the (coral-like) heel spurs and Haglund deformity, then had to re-sew a part of the achilles tendon THAT was torn or splitting by this Bony-coral-reef like mess that existed on the back of my heelcap. Resutured, I don’t know name, but material next to tendon as well, and Then had to suture the final opening, a row of black heavy stitches. It feels a little questionalble now, and still in removable boot-cast, but after a couple weeks I felt I could put most my weight on it, despite the ORDERS to keep walking with cast. PT to follow soon, i am a pilot, so I’m itching to know when I can fly again(NOT !) Good luck
Hi Mark,
Thanks so much for the info. PLEASE keep me posted on your recovery. I’ve been “resting” for months now (no running, but am rowing, walking, swimming mostly) — and the pain is way down. My spur is still obviously there, but it no longer interferes with my daily life. Stairs are fine now and I can walk a few mies a day with very little pain the next morning. However, I’ve been told running again will likely cause another flare up. So I’ll play the waiting game as long as I can. My doc wants to do another MRI in a few months to see if anything is changing…. Good luck with your recovery!
Pilotsteve- I have the same issue. It is 2017. What did you end up doing? I know I’ve gained about 25 pounds and I feel just gross…I run from time to time, but something tells me that’s not good, either. Please let me know how you are doing….
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