Ankle My total ankle replacement story

I did speak with my therapist today and she made sure to continue to ask me about my pain level while going through the rubdown and exercises. Thanks for your advice. Can’t believe i am already two months post TAR. Getting more flexibility each day.
 
That's great news. I know we have to endure some pain to regain our flexibility back but there are limits. I'm 9 weeks out today and I see the surgeon tomorrow. I don't know whether he'll continue the PT or not but I still have minimum range of motion for up and down. I went into this knowing that recovery can be several months so I will keep any complaints to myself!
 
My PT noticed that I tend to walk with my right(TAR foot) foot pointing outward, so she reminded me too concentrate on keeping my foot straight ahead. She was right, I was doing that to lessen the pain while walking, so I now focus on straightening my walk. I think I developed this bad habit when walking in the boot.
I agree it’s not a quick fix to get us back to normal, and will take time, PT at home and professionally and lots of patience.:happydance:
 
Update: Dec 2. Had my seventh PT session today and my therapist made measurements of flexibility of my ankle in four directions; bending my foot down, pulling it up, bending it inside and outside. All measurements showed progress in flexibility. She also did some research of the Infinity device to see just how far one can flex and she said the flexibility degrees in all directions is slightly less than a normal healthy ankle. Flexibility is so good that walking, climbing or descending stairs is normal as well as fast walking. In fact she had me do fast walking after my normal exercises for the first time. I surprised myself by being able to do so, however, it was just a short distance.
My routine starts with a wonderful rubdown to loosen my ankle, then on to the exercises such as, flexing my ankle against a rubber band in all directions, putting my foot on a circular board and flexing in all directions, putting my foot on an incline and leaning forward(this is hard), laying on a machine and pushing a board with my ankle, standing on a rubber cushion with first my good leg while holding my replacement leg up for balance then closing my eyes for balance, then reversing to my right ankle doing the same. Finishing up with walking backwards and forward. Session usually lasts about 45 minutes.
Hope you are all doing well and progressing well as we journey together.
 
@Larryr wow - that's quite a workout for a new ankle. Are you in any discomfort after your PT sessions? Sounds like you are developing good flexibility.

Thanks for the update!
 
Hi Jaycey,
Pain level after the PT sessions is about a 2, sometimes a three, but it doesn’t last too long. By the time I drive home it feels fine. I try to put ice on it but get busy and don’t get around to it.
Yesterday I used our elliptical for 10 minutes and the pain was about a three. Later that evening I noticed my ankle was swollen so I iced it and it came down. I won’t do that again for another month, too soon I guess. I do use our stationary bike without any pain or swelling.
Journey continues
 
What a wonderful report! Our ankle BoneSmarties seem to really be doing well with this surgery and your numbers are growing.
 
Update: December 11. Met with my surgeon today. He took three xrays and everything looked good. He had me flex my ankle in four directions and thought I am doing well. I explained my stiffness in the front area and he said that will continue for a few more months along with swelling as I fully recover. He doesn’t need to see me for a year and told me I can use my elliptical, but don’t raise the elevation on the machine and only do exercises up to a moderate level. I have my last of 12 PT sessions this Friday, but Dr. Saunders did give me a script for 12 more sessions if I chose.
We head north for the holiday season next week and my therapist will give me exercises to do at home.
So forward I go.
 
@Larryr .... your recovery just keeps getting better and better. I'm so happy for you. I think your approach of slow and steady is the key. It's amazing to me that you are able to use the elliptical machine already, even if you don't get to elevate it. Congratulations!
 
Update January 19: I am now four months post TAR and wish I could report continued progress but that is not the case. I feel I am at a plateau and am having difficulty improving over the past three weeks. It may be due to having to deal with steps while visiting my daughter over the holidays where I must use her steps to get to my bedroom. In addition,when I returned to my condo our elevator had a major mechanical breakdown causing me to have to use two flights of stairs for another week.
My issue is pain when I first get up and start to walk, whether it’s getting out of bed in the morning or after I sit for a while. After a few steps my TAR ankle loosens up a bit, but not to the point of pain free.
I continue to do my exercises with the most painful one being when I lean my ankle forward while leaning against a wall. I have decided to return to PT this coming week in hopes of regaining progress in my recovery journey. My plan is to go through four more weeks of PT.
How are all my fellow TAR’s doing with their recovery.
 
@Larryr Thanks for checking in. It really doesn't sound like your progress has slowed. More like you are making more demands on that new ankle and it is complaining. Good idea to check things out with your PT. Perhaps address the issue you have with stairs. Although I am not surprised they caused a bit of a pain flare.

Please keep us updated.
 
Update, January 21: Returned to PT today and glad I did. The therapist, who has a doctorate degree and I had a long discussion prior to going through therapy exercises. He concentrated on exercises that stretched the front area of my ankle after applying a stimulus, similar to a TENS unit. This loosened my ankle.
He also told me to do the exercise where you lean forward towards a wall or any other stationary item to stretch the front of my ankle, but only to the extent where pain begins. He told me I was pushing myself to hard with this particular exercise causing too much pain. He also told me to do this leaning exercise many times a day because this part of my ankle was reverting back to stiffness due to not streching it enough throughout the day, but again emphasized not to do it so much to cause pain beyond a 2 to 3 level( I know I was pushing it far beyond that, maybe to a 7 or 8; stupid me!).
He showed me drawings of the complexity of the front of my ankle and why this area is usually the area that takes the longest to heal because of the number of ligaments surrounding the ankle.
I liked what I heard and will follow his advice.
 
@Larryr Congratulations! Sounds like you have a gem of a PT. When you find someone with expertise in a particular area you really can see results. I'm glad he told you to back off a bit. Pushing through pain rarely works during a recovery.

Well done!
 
What a great therapist! I'm so glad you have someone who truly understands ankle replacement recovery to help you. It sounds like you'll be lovin' that ankle again here soon.
 
Hi All,
today is my 5 month post TAR. I have mixed reactions to my progress; I continue to have pain for the first couple of steps after I have been sitting or laying down, then it gets better but not pain free. Sometimes its at the back of my ankle in the Achilles’ tendon.
my therapist told me it’s due to the incision, tendons and ligaments in the front area getting tight then they loosen up after a few steps. They also said one morning you’ll wake up and you’ll feel a big difference; I can’t wait for that day.
My wife knows me best and tells me I am doing too much exercises causing swelling and pain, so I am taking a much less rigorous approach to see if it helps. I have always been very active so I am probably doing too much and thus causing some minor set backs in my recovery.
I am being perfectly honest and hope it helps others in their recovery. You can’t rush TAR recovery no matter how much you want it. Patience is the name of the game and I need to back off.
Hope my fellow TAR members are doing well, hope to hear how your doing.
 
Wise lady, that wife of yours. Patience is the key to recovering from any joint surgery. Most of the time it's a slow and steady process over many, many months. So I hope you can scale it back for a while longer. I bet things will look a lot better at the one-year mark.
 
Update: Eight month post TAR. My left ankle looks like it has reached a new plateau of recovery. It no longer has a significant amount of pain during the first dozen steps after sitting down for awhile. Now I get up and it has stiffness but not pain for about a half dozen steps before it loosens up and feels good. This is a good improvement in my journey.
I am now walking about a mile and am back to using my elliptical stair climber, so life is getting better. I stopped PT this past February and do exercises at home.
My surgeon may be correct that it will take nearly a year to feel totally recovered.

Hey fellow TAR members, how are things going for you? I haven’t seen any posts lately. Hope you are all doing great in your recovery.
 
@Larryr Thanks for stopping by with an update. Sounds like you are doing very well. Indeed joint replacement surgery does take a year or more. Patience and persistence pays off. Well done!
 
You've been patient. Now you're getting your reward! Congratulations. This is so good to hear and I know it will be a recovery story that will help a ton of new ankle replacement patients as they come on board BoneSmart.
 
Sounds like you are making good progress @Larryr. It does indeed take a year or more for maximum recovery. I believe I saw some improvement through the first 3 years. I know that I continued to have swelling if I did a lot or flew on an airplane for at least 3 years. I would regularly use a compression sock at night on the replaced side, especially if I had been extra active. I rarely think about the ankle anymore and after 8 1/2 years it's still serving me well. And remember it's never too late for icing, on the rare occasion I feel some discomfort or tightness I still ice for 40-50 minutes and find it really helps. :ice:
 

BoneSmart #1 Best Blog

Staff online

  • mendogal
    Staff member since November 10, 2023

Forum statistics

Threads
65,179
Messages
1,597,053
BoneSmarties
39,363
Latest member
HikerWalker
Recent bookmarks
0
Back
Top Bottom