3 weeks 2 days since surgery
still on crutches and still NWB for the most part. the only trouble I’ve had as been this heat rash/abrasion on the top of my foot that gets
aggravated with the brace. It was starting when I was in the splint and got worse on days 15-20.
At first, I was wondering if it was some infection because it was really stinging and burning. It doesn’t itch, just hurts and grew to the size of a kid’s palm.
It gets better when I am elevated without the brace but then gets worse again as soon as I put it on. I tried neosporin unsuccessfully for the first few days and then switched to tea tree oil,eucalyptus oil, and vasoline. The first two gave some temp relief and gobs of vasoline underneath gauze pad helps a little overnite. It looks like the magic potion maybe pure aloevera. It’s still there but seems to shrink.
As far as the AT, it only hurt on day 22. I have a vacocast and moved the setting to 2.5 on day 20, but spent o lot of day 21 without boot and really had it loose overnight due to the heat rash. I think it really started hurting was when I put the boot on and stretched the AT a little bit since it was in a relax position.
After a few hours, I finally gave in and took 2 aleve and then iced a couple of times. Pain in the AT area went away mostly. THe incision seems to be healed nicely and I’ve had no pain around it for the most part. Recall that I had a mini open surgery using the Anthrex PARS device and Percutaneous method. Can’t emphasize enough about it. If you are considering surgery, find a doc that specializes in this. My incision is a horizontal one about 1.5 inches and have had no problems with it post surgery. I put some sterile strips on it since splint removal.
As far as weight bearing, I was told to do toe touch and then get to PWB at 4 weeks. I’ve tried a few times to stand (with crutches) and put some weight on the foot and still have had no pain but still get paranoid about damaging it. I figure I’ll wait a few more days before really trying PWB for real.
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Today, I’ve found that after I ice and then put on the boot (vacocast), the AT hurts like #$@# for a while. I’ve noticed this the 3 times now. anbody else get that too?
I haven’t been icing, just elevating to reduce swelling but I do find that after some time out of the boot, it is painful to put it back on. The pain is quite a lot, but goes away quite quickly. I am just assuming it is because when I have the boot off, my foot is flexed downwards and when I put it back on it is in a neutral position.
That is the main reason I haven’t tried sleeping with the boot off yet as I am worried about putting it back on in the morning.
I figured my pain was due to using an ace wrap really tight around the achilles. Once I took that off, pain went away. DUh!
compression sock works well it seems.