Foot / Ankle :: Overheating/Scar Tissue In Big Toe Joint Following Microfracture Surgery
Feb 11, 2015
Four months ago I had microfracture surgery to repair cartilage damage in my big toe joint. Recovery has been very slow due to swelling. I began experiencing overheating in that foot just a few days following surgery. While my foot also gets quite warm if I stand or sit for too long, these more dramatic episodes occur only at night.
By overheating, I mean that the surgery foot turns bright red, and gets exceptionally warm... the big toe joint area gets downright hot to the touch (there is no infection present) and feels as though there is a space heater sitting about an inch in front of my foot.
The episodes originally occurred every night and lasted up to 2 hours before normal temp. returned. Gradually, the duration has shortened to 30-45 minutes, occurring only 3-5 times a week. The only way I have found to prevent this from happening (and it only works sometimes), is to leave my bare foot uncovered when I go to bed - no blankets or sheets over it.
Has anyone else experienced something similar? Nobody can seem to explain why this is happening - it delays my sleep well into the night and is definitely not helping the residual swelling I still have to subside.
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I've had 4 procedures on my ankle to remove bone spurs from the front of the joint and to microfracture an OCD.
The first procedure didn't get all of the bone spur removed and I lost 6 months doing PT and then had to have another procedure at the NYC HSS to correct the issues and I also had the stem cells to regenerate the cartilage.
All of the repairs to the ankle went well and the stems regenerated the cartilage based on the 6 month follow up MRI.
I never regained my dorsiflexion. I am stuck at about 2 degrees.
I then had a gastroc release where they told me they got over 10 degrees during the surgery but I was unable to retain it after the PT started.
I then had a debridement to remove scar tissue from the front of the ankle where they we able to get about 16 degrees during the surgery, but the scar tissue once again re-formed and I stuck back at the 2-3 degrees.
I am currently still working hard on PT and have ART and GRASTON done 2x per week.
Has anyone had any luck in finding a surgeon or technique that helps permanently remove the scar tissue to regain ROM?
I'm also a candidate to wear the ankle distraction device where the device is supposed to be able to re-distribute my existing dorsiflexion and plantarflexion to give me enough of each to walk with a normal gait.
I am currently trying to weigh my (limited) options as after 20 months I'm tired of walking with a limp!
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I was diagnosed with small (<1cm) OCD of the tibial plafond and lax lateral ligaments. I am now facing a microfracture and a Brostrom is about a month. Has anyone had both procedures together and what was your experience?
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Very nervous about this surgery. I guess it's the not knowing. I am due to have surgery on Nov. 5. The doc said I could be off work between 2 weeks and 4 months. He doesn't know whether I will have a cast or back in the boot I've been wearing since the end of August. He also said he won't know how much if any weight bearing I will have after surgery. The amount of damage is unknown and no real reason to due MRI since the injured area is visible.
I do know I have no support at home as hubby will be at work and kids at school. Please advise
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3 months ago I got injuries at work, and at first didn't think it was bad... Fast forward to now. I'm almost 3 weeks post op for the ocd lesion in the round bone on my right ankle. My OS said it was a 12x7 lesion, and he done the debridement and microfracture. I fell on day 4 after surgery and landed on my right foot. I was put in a plaster cast on day 5. I fell again just a few days ago, and landed on recovering foot, since then i have had the a lot more pain, in the exact spot before the surgery and at the surgery site. Could these 2 falls in such a short time messed up the surgery? And what happens if the surgery doesn't work? All I want to do is get better so I can get to work, but I work at a factory and I stand on my feet 8 to 12 hours a day 6 to 7 days a week.
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I am 6 days out from microfracture surgery on my left talus to correct an OCD that is actually 25 years old. Back when I was 13 I was diagnosed and went the route of NWB for about 12 weeks rather than surgery. Although I always had a less than fantastic ankle and some arthritis through the years, it was not until this summer that I went back to an OS due to shooting pain and locking in the ankle. The same lesion showed up on MRI/CT, about 1.1 cm x .6 cm still partially attached but with fluid gathering beneath it. OS assumed it was flapping, thus pain some days, no pain other days. I decided to go ahead with debridement and drilling, and so far seems like it went smoothly. The OS said that the piece was indeed very loose but that actually meant that it was easy to remove and they cleaned out the bone and drilled. So far I'm actually surprised that I haven't been in too much pain, I barely took the Percocet and stopped completely just 2 days later. Now I am trying to flex the ankle as much as I can (in a hard splint/wrap that OS does not want me to remove until follow-up on Monday) and it's not too bad. I do have 2 concerns I was hoping OCD veterans could answer:
1. My OS, who is actually the second surgeon I saw about this and chose to go with him because of his experience, believes in early weight bearing after this type of surgery. I've been reading/lurking a lot of threads on here about OCD surgery recovery and haven't come across anyone who did this. I see him on Monday, which will be 12 days post-op, and he plans to put me in a boot with a small amt of weight bearing at that time. Anyone else do this? He even says that in the meantime, I can put the foot flat on the floor and stand with a small bit of weight on it, as long as I don't walk. As in, if I'm standing brushing my teeth, put the foot flat on the floor, and that this hard half-cast should loosen up as I continue to do this. I'm scared to try it! I suspect THAT is when I'll really feel pain.
2. Until yesterday I didn't feel my incisions at all. Now I'm getting a sort of zing pain in one spot that I think it where he said an incision would be. It's sort of stinging. Is this normal? I can't remove the dressing so I have no idea what it looks like under there. Is it possible I popped a stitch? How long are the incisions? They should only be a stitch or 2 long, correct?
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I had three procedures two weeks ago - microfracture for talus, brostrom
- gault repair and debridement. Am supposed to be NWB for 6 weeks, but my crutches slipped in rain yesterday and I put weight onto my ankle. It is hurting again now, although been ok for the last week and a half. I am so worried that I have undone all the healing and will have to have it all done again. Has anyone else done the same and been ok?
Is there anything I can do before my next appointment with the surgeon in four weeks time?
Also last week had the lighter cast put on and it was so tight and painful that after two days the plaster nurses just cut in straight down the middle, but left it on my leg. This seems to be counterintuitive that this will still work? Has anyone had the same?
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Had surgery earlier today to remove a 2 cm lesion removed from the Talus. I was given some pain meds, and they help a little bit but I cannot get comfortable to fall asleep. My foot burns, throbs..and I just cannot relax.
Anyone have any tips on how to get comfortable?
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By way of background, I was a long jumper/triple jumper on the track team in college and banged up my right ankle pretty badly a couple times, though nothing that resulted in long term pain. In January of this year I stupidly jumped off a rock on a hike and sprained it more severely, likely magnifying an already existing OLT.
(note this was right after the injury, pre-crutches, when there was still a lot of edema)
I'm now one month removed from a 6 week NWB stint on crutches for a 1.2cm OLT on my right ankle. I've been doing PT, yoga and general strengthening for about a month. I can jog with minimal pain and can walk/bike without any pain, but I cannot play the more intense sports I love like basketball, flag football etc.
I have a follow up appt with my orthopedist in a couple weeks, and am debating microfracture. I want to play basketball again, but I am worried about the long-term uncertainty of the procedure. Is the potential upside of the surgery worth it, given the current state of my injury?
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Four weeks ago I had ankle surgery where the doctor removed loose cartilage between my tibia and talus and performed microfracture surgery on the talus to generate "newer" cartilage since I had an empty crater of about 1cm.
Two weeks after the surgery when the doctor removed the stitches I tried to move my foot up and down rotating at my ankle. I was completely unable to move my ankle upwards.
Currently (4 weeks since the operation) from a starting position of a 90 degree angle from leg to foot, i can move my foot down and up back to the 90 degree position without any discomfort. I can't contract my foot upwards past the 90 degree position. With an exercise band I can pull my toes upwards rotating my foot by my ankle without discomfort but if i try to hold that position with my tendons/muscle I feel severe pain and can't hold it.
Did anyone else experience this lack of range in their ankle. Did it eventually get better?
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I am 7 1/2 weeks post of from Flat Foot Surgery and the outside area of foot from where my incision ends from the double calcaneal osteotomy up to my little toe the soft tissue is halfway numb and very painful. Has anyone else experienced this and if so how long did it last.
I am not sure how long it takes the soft tissue to heal to a point where it does not hurt when you are not walking. Or is what I am feeling nerve pain. I started PT this week and am PWB. My doctor thinks I will be in a shoe in 3 weeks and I don't know at this rate how that could be possible. I am icing a majority of the day for sure after I do my PT exercises.
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I had ankle surgery to repair my medial malleolus back on May 8. It was fairly routine--just 2 screws. I was in a cast for a week, then was put into a boot but told to treat it like a cast--NO weight bearing for 7 weeks, keep the boot on 24/7 unless in the bathtub. I followed directions religiously.
I did notice that when I pressed on certain areas of the foot, I would feel a sharp pain. This occurred in the heel (from the bottom), toes (again, from the bottom, primarily the foot pad below the pinky, second, and 4th toes). When I asked the doctor about this, he said (around week 5) that it was just because I hadn't been using the foot.
The problem persisted, and this week, week 7, I was cleared to start partial weight-bearing--walking in the boot while taking approximately 1/2 the weight off my foot via the crutches. I don't have ankle pain to speak of (or at least, not often and only if I overdo it), but I have terrible shooting pains in my heel and toes as I step. It's OK if I take most of the weight on the crutches, but as soon as I go to more than just a little weight on the boot, the pain starts.
This week I also started PT and the therapist told me this is nerve pain--not uncommon after surgery (don't know why the doctor couldn't have told me this, but OK). I couldn't get much of an idea from her how long this will persist or if there is anything I can do about it.
I'm doing my ankle and leg exercises (those are mostly non-weightbearing at this point) and they are going great. The ankle is clearly healing well. But I don't see how I can progress to full weight bearing (supposed to try that next week!) when much more than a little pressure on the foot results in this nerve pain!
Help! Does anyone have experience with this? Is there anything I can do to speed things along? I need to return to my second job (barefoot hoof trimming for horses--how I broke the ankle!) ASAP and I'm fearful this will slow my progress to a crawl! The doctor is useless.
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I am 7 and a half weeks post op after a Lapidus & an Akin procedure. I was in cast until last week and have managed a tennis type shoe and a sandal on so far.
The swelling has been bad as expected with full weight bearing, but the real pain is in the ball of my foot and my big toe does not lie flat, but rather sits elevated. I think the ball of the foot under the big toe is swollen so that may be the cause? I can only walk for a few minutes properly before the pain becomes too much and I am limping and walking on the outside of my operated foot. I can usually cope with pain so know this must be fairly severe.
I am doing my toe bending exercises and think that already the range of motion is not too bad.
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After having surgery on both the 4th and 5th metatarsal with plates and screws holding everything I have pain on the ball of my foot. I haven't yet started walking, I've been in no weight bearing. It's been three weeks and a half since surgery and the bottom of my foot really hurts when pressed upon. After almost a month this doesn't seem normal. Should I be worried. I will ask the doctor about this on my next visit when he pulls out the k wire.
The ball of my foot hurts also when I do toe exercise such as curling in and out.
Each visit to the doctor he tells me not to walk and put put weight on my foot. I tell him each time that I can't if I wanted to as it hurts to barely try.
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I am only 41 and have terrible foot pain and limited mobility. I had bunion surgery in 2010 but had terrible scarring issues and have had 2 since surgeries to remove scar tissue, which haven't helped but made it worse. And now I am told there has been tendon damage due to all the scarring and the bones are rubbing together and my options will be fusion or joint replacement in the future. I am very active and don't know the right option for me. It is very upsetting and impacts my life every day. My doctor is the head of podiatric surgery at the hospital so I feel he made the right decisions but I don't know where to turn for a second opinion.
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I had a Hemorrhoidectomy in October of 2012 and I did have some complications with it. It is now 3 years later and things have gotten a little worse. Over time I have developed some internal scar tissue at the site of the wound (this was confirmed today by a Colorectal Surgeon) which has resulted in me having a hard time defecating and constant constipation. The outside of my anal opening is a little irritated as well and he gave me a topical cream for it. However, he told me not to worry about the scar tissue....that I wouldn't have never known it was there until he told me. However, I knew something was wrong because of the narrow stools. So I'm not trying to determine if their are any OTC creams i can use internally to smooth out or get rid of the scar tissue. I remember reading somewhere awhile back about non surgical treatments for scar tissue due to Hemorrhoidectomy surgery but I can't remember where.
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I've meet with several Dr's that have recommended shortening the second Metatarsal. I have done all the conservative approaches and have ran out of options. Cortisone injections, shoe inserts and anti inflammatory medicine and a lot of icing! This foot pain has been going on for many years but lately I haven't been getting any relief!
Can anyone tell me whether they have had much success with this type of surgery?
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On November 22, 2013, I had hammertoe surgery in my right foot. Incisions were made in the back of all four toes besides the big toe to release the tendon. The second toe was more rigid than all the others so it needed more work. Part of the knuckle had to be removed to slightly shorten the toe and a bone graph was put in. So, that toe had an incision in the back like the others and stitches on the top.
I was in a surgical shoe for four weeks, then tennis shoes for two weeks, then I could transition into other shoes. Recovery was pretty painful. I kept my foot elevated and iced it for the first week. I only walked when I had to use the restroom, and for the first few days that was almost impossible. It hurt so bad I ended up hopping to the bathroom on my other foot. So I got that surgery done in November and now it is March and my foot is doing great. Sometimes there is still slight pain in the second toe, it's still healing. My toes aren't 100% back to normal yet but I think they are close. I can walk/run on them with no problem.
I just had the same exact surgery on my left foot on February 28, 2014. This time I requested crutches since it was unbearable to walk on my foot the first time. I went home with crutches and used them for the first 4 days. Then on the 5th day I started to try to put pressure on my foot and begin to walk on it without the crutches. I thought the pain was getting better but it is now day 8 and I am in a lot of pain. My foot feels very hot, there is a burning sensation, and there are some stabbing pains. Usually the pain meds (Vicodin) help a lot with the pain. But tonight after taking one and seeing no improvement I took another, and still my foot is hurting very badly and I don't know what to do. Today is Friday and on Monday I have to go back to school so I'm trying to walk more and more everyday to prepare myself for having to walk around campus. I've already gone through this surgery before so I knew what to expect but so far the recovery for this foot has been slightly different from the first.
The pain is keeping me awake so I'm hoping it will ease off soon.
I would love to hear anyone's post-hammertoe surgery stories. Similarities or differences between our surgeries.
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I went for all the fun preop tests today in preparation for my second reconstruction happening in two weeks. I'm starting to go a little crazy realizing everything I still need to do before the surgery. ..finish prepping my house, rent the knee walker, finish Christmas shopping! Yikes! In some ways it's easier having an idea what to expect the second time around, but in other ways knowing what the next few months will be like makes it harder.
Those of you who have had the joy of having to have pttd surgery on both feet, how did foot number one hold up to crutches, etc? Any suggestions for a successful second recovery?
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I will be having Flatfoot Reconstruction Surgery in May and am trying to get a handle on the recovery. I live in a small 1 bedroom apartment, ground floor, but with 2 semi-steep steps leading inside.
I'd love to know anyone's experience with steps/stairs after this type of surgery. Also am looking for a recommendation for a good foam wedge for foot elevation...and actually anything else you might want to share. I'm a bit overwhelmed at how arduous the recovery may be.
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I think I saw this mentioned before, but do you have some helpful hints about sleeping after surgery? I'm a side sleeper with pillow between knees. It's about the only way I can sleep. Yea, it's probably not possible at the beginning. Also, did anyone put a "blanket support" at the footboard to hold the blankets and sheets off the foot?
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