ankle fusion or ankle replacement experience

Thank you all for your posts on my ankle dilemma. I keep hopeing it will magically repair irself but of course it wont. it is a big decision as to what surgery to have. I wish I knew someone who had recently had either to take me through how it was for them. having said that I had a hip replacement that went very well but a friend had a bad experience so it is very personal.

I wear these types of shoes anyway. Have thrown out all my 'nice' ones.

Perhaps I am too old now, although someone I know vaguely who is in her 60s was having some kind of foot fusion operation; have not seen her for a while so perhaps she is still recovering.

Your welcome Jalima1108, I forgot to mention that finding comfortable shoes can be problematic, because of the lack of flexability in the ankle, I have to more or less wear trainers all the time when I go out, as long as there are completely flat and has a strap or lace-ups across the ankle to keep it on it's fine. However this was many years ago and i was a lot younger to cope with crutches and the long recovery time it took. I would'nt want to have it done now.

Thanks spottysocks

I had a triple ankle fusion operation about thirty years ago because of flat feet that was causing me a lot of pain. I had to wear specially made insoles and heel cups that did'nt really help before I was actually offered this operation.

I was in plaster and non-weight bearing for around 6-8 weeks, but I couldn't walk on it without severe pain for about three months. It took about a year to be fully mobile and pain free. I also had to have the pins removed at a later stage, although I can't really remember why as it was so long ago. I am now in my 60s. The surgeon warned me that I would also have a small numb area due to nerve damage.

Apart from not being able to walk over cobbles very well because of the foot is not very flexible I have to say for me, it was well worth it.

I was told that foot fusion could be the next step for me if the foot got worse but I will resist going down that route as long as possible. The surgeon said that it would render the foot immobile and I thought that could cause a limp and hence other problems.

I don't know much about ankle fusion but if you are in constant pain I would think it may be worth having the procedure and making sure you have all the physiotherapy you can afterwards.
The best people to speak to are the surgeon and physiotherapists as everyone may have a different experience of the operation and some may respond better than others.

It would seem that the difference in recovery times is dependant on whether you have a foot fusion or an ankle fusion.

I think you need some detailed info about the recovery period. For foot fusion I was told 3 months non-weight-bearing and not to expect to be anywhere near normal for a year - no wonder I turned it down!

With regard to the time that you're likely to be incapacitated... leg was broken and I was in non weight-bearing cast for 9 weeks - so longer than for a fusion. I guess it's down to what you call 'a long time' .

I was offered foot fusion after breaking my foot badly. I turned it down eventually as the outcome was uncertain and the recovery period very long indeed. Also I was told that the forces that would have gone through the foot pre-fusion would transfer themselves to the ankle and that this would be likely to give me problems there.

I would ask the surgeon a bit about the outcomes - e.g. would you still have a limp and might this cause problems elsewhere?

Good luck with it all.

My husband had his ankle fused 13 years ago. As Oriel said, it is a long process of gradually being able to put weight on it afterwards. He found that he could rest his knee on a chair to do the washing up!
Apart from trouble getting through airport security, the only thing he has found difficult is pointing his toes to put on wellies or get into the back seat of a car.
However, he now needs the opposite hip replacing and the lack of flexibility in the ankle and the pain in his hip has made him quite twisted. My worry is that even when the hip op is done he will still be twisted.

My husband has the same problem as you. He's had a number of procedures to tidy up the ankle but nothing has worked. He now has had his subtalia joint fused and is still in plaster. He's due to have the plaster off soon and then he'll be in a surgical boot for six weeks. All in all he will be in plaster and boot for 12 weeks.

He has had strict instructions not to put any weight on his leg and so this has been inconvenient but I believe that he'll be able to weight bear when he's got his boot on. Obviously it's been inconvenient but he say's he's not had any pain. We bought a knee scooter (google it). He got the one with pneumatic tyres. its been really helpful getting around in the house and he uses crutches outside - it also causes much hilarity!

Obviously, as he's part-way through his treatment I can't say what the outcome will be but I hope this will give you some idea... good luck!