May
31
Mothers Against Drunk Crutching
May 31, 2009 | |
About two months before my injury I had planned a get-together with some of my buddies from high school. We were all going to go down to Philly and have a a weekend on the town. After I had my surgery, the lads weekend hung in the balance. After 4 weeks of not too much movement, I was PWB at the end of week 3, and could take short walks around the apartment and down the block without crutches. I was relatively pain-free. I took a 4 block walk at 4 weeks post-op that did inflame things a bit, but then I stayed off it for a few days and was back on top. Since my doctor told me to use pain/swelling as a guide, I was doing pretty well. I decided not to scratch the weekend, and went down to Philly this past Friday. That night, I used a cane. We didn’t do too much walking. Maybe 1-2 long blocks - 40-50 yards or so. I was mostly in cabs and only used the cane/boot to maneuver to and from the cab/bar. Once inside, I was sitting for the night save the occasional trip to the bathroom. I woke up the next morning and immediately iced my leg, as it was feeling a little bit tender, and jumped back on the crutches for saturday.
That night, fearing I’d done too much, I was back on the crutches again. My doctor was very adamant about the early weight bearing, and things seem like they’re going just fine right now, however my ankle does swell up pretty good when I’ve used it a lot. Also, the days before I started putting any weight on my ankle, I had quite a bit more flexibility in my ankle. Now that I’ve begun to use it a bit more, with the boot on, of course, it feels like it’s quite a bit stiffer. Did anyone else have this experience? I had tight muscles/tendons to begin with — perhaps abnormally so — but the tightness in my heel/calf is a little concerning. I’m going to stay off it this week and see how that goes.
Also, I feel like I have been given a freakishly aggressive rehab timeline: walking boot at 90 degrees from day 1, very mild PWB while i was about 10 hrs post-op (though I didn’t put any weight on it until about 2 weeks), and basically given free-reign to continue PWB until it hurts. No guidelines as to how much weight to bear, just as much as I can bear, which has varied over the past week and a half. I suppose I trust my surgeon, but its just a little nervewracking reading about everyone else on here who basically have been off their leg for two months. I guess I just feel like I must be doing something wrong or cheating and it makes me worried.
Comments
6 Comments so far
The rehab timeline is aggressive, but I think you’d find that more people envy you than fear for you. Most surgeons err on the conservative side. The aggressive timeline just means you need to be good about doing your exercises everyday, range of motion in the early weeks (especially if you’re experiencing tightness) and strengthening exercises later on.
90daytrick,
At what point did you start walking without crutches? I’ve tried at various points, but I seem to overdo it and wind up in pain/back on crutches for the next few days. Everyone here is talking about weaning themselves off crutches, but every time I try, it seems to hurt!
Z
Hey Ziffy,
My surgeon told me @ 2 weeks - that as long as I was wearing my air-cast boot properly fitted, I was allowed to try FWB [no crutches] without risk of rerupture. I tried with limited success the next couple days after that, but finally it just began to feel comfortable. At first it was hobbling + sort of v-shaped walking… but after a couple weeks I walk with my foot “properly” aligned.
On the more conservative side, the only physio he had me do was work on range of motion while lying down. I tried to do this diligently to loosen up my ankle.
I just thought I’d let you know that I too was pretty scared about putting full weight but once i got comfortable with the idea it worked out pretty well.
best of luck,
mike
Hey Ziffy,
I also recently tore my achilles and live in NYC. Just wondering how you’re finding getting around the city?
I’m 6 weeks post op and am getting around well in the boot. I ditched the crutches at week 4. My doctor advised me that it is completely normal for your foot/ankle to swell after a day of walking around. I’m now walking at a fairly normal pace. Keep trying without the crutches and the pain will start to subside!
Good luck,
Lauren
Hey Lauren,
I find getting around okay. It’s pretty flat where I live, so crutching around the neighborhood isn’t too much of a pain, but the nearest subway station with an elevator is about 7 blocks away, and generally speaking, rush-hour subways are out of the question anyway, but I have taken the subway a few times, once to work, but I was so exhausted by the time I got there I just collapsed in my chair for like an hour before I could do any work.
Other than that, cabs are my best friend. I’m getting really, really good at getting in and out of them.
Where are you located?
Hey Ziffy,
I’ve also gotten used to taking cabs. The past couple of weeks I’ve ventured to the bus. It isn’t so bad and it’s a much quicker walk than the closest subway.
I live on the Upper East Side, how about you?
Lauren