Swelling?
What has been other people’s experience with post-op swelling? I went and got casted 10 days after surgery (11/07/08) which went fine. I returned to work for a 1/2 day the following Monday and Tuesday (11/10 and 11/11) and had significant swelling. By significant I mean swelling to the point that the cast was literally air tight at the top and toes and flesh was bunched up / forced out of the top of the cast and my toes turned purple. After a few hours at work on Wednesday (11/12) I went home to elevate and have been working from home ever since.
I’ve noticed that even now (11/18) if my leg isn’t elevated at least to waist heighth it starts to swell within 30-45 minutes and is airtight within 1.5-2 hours. Is that normal? Should I be concerned about it or just deal with it?
I don’t want to cause complications / prolong the recovery but I’m also anxious to return to work.
Hey, Tampa Todd. I can only tell you what happened to me. I had my foot up almost the entire 4 weeks while in a cast so I have had minimal swelling. There is some but not to the point where my foot/ankle turned colors. I’ve been lucky because I have the luxury of staying home from work and staying off my feet. I think elevating your foot above the heart when you can,resting when possible and using ice should help a lot.
Comment by maestro — November 18, 2008 @ 12:21 pm
todd I had similar swelling for 2 weeks after cast
if you dont ice back or your knee and elevate above your heart it will swell 7 wks later mine still does although I can spend 8 hrs on my feet now (crutches)
ice and elevate alot, dont let your toes get purple
best of luck it gets better
curtis
Comment by curtis crimmins — November 18, 2008 @ 2:52 pm
Todd,
I,m 5 weeks post surgery and decided to have a proper day at work last week and ended up with a swollen,numb and purple foot - lesson learned I say, take it steady!
Richard
Comment by Richard — November 18, 2008 @ 3:06 pm
Todd, I know it feels great to take that next step! I got mine Yesterday (6 weeks post op). Did they give you heel inserts to wear a couple of weeks? I got 2 … to take one out each week. Also, what kind of exercises were you given to do?
Bill
Comment by golfer2 — December 4, 2008 @ 3:36 pm
Bill - They did not give me any heel inserts, and actually my chiropractor *strongly* encouraged me not to use them for some reason.
For exercises, other than gradually increasing the weight on it, he told me to wrap a towel around the bottom of my foot and pull on the towel to stretch it, stopping just short of moderate pain.
Comment by toddryan — December 5, 2008 @ 9:13 am
Thanks Todd. The PT has me doing the towel thing too. Now i’m wondering about the “inserts. They really make walking uncomfortable. I’m conerned about back/hip problems over a 4 week period.But guess I will do them since my Ortho put’m in the boot.
Bill
Comment by golfer2 — December 5, 2008 @ 10:09 pm