Never really posted in the Free For All, but I noticed the post earlier about knee replacement and was pleasantly surprised to see the community feedback. Figured I'd give it a shot...
I've got a complete tear of the ATF ligament in my ankle (one connecting the fibula to the foot). Surgeon will scope the ankle to clean up any scar tissue and other gunk (this is my third major injury to the same ankle, but first time to completely tear the ligament), then go in and perform a Modified Brostrum procedure to reconstruct the ligament.
Just wondering if anyone's had it done before... I've never had major surgery in my life. I'm 30, and was extremely active prior to this injury (CrossFit 4+ times per week, running, etc.), and I've been an ahtlete my entire life. Just always managed to avoid surgery with my injuries, so I'm not sure what to expect from a pain perspective and/or a rehab perspective.
Would appreciate any thoughts...
Wow I thought I was the only one to ever have this injury. I completely tore mine around March of last year. I couldn't put any pressure at all on it for the next 3 to 4 days. Then I could finally use the walking boot they have me but was extremely slow in it for about another 2 weeks. The foot and ankle specialists recommended that I didn't get surgery on it. I also partially tore my PTFL at the same time. He said it would be about 12 weeks before I would be able to run again. I think I played full court basketball like 8 weeks after the injury. I'm surprised you are getting the surgery. I asked him about it and he said it is better off sometimes not treated. It kinda sucked but I did a lot of physical therapy by myself on it and was back playing sports in 2 months. I still feel it sometimes. I played football a week ago and it was sore for a couple days after. It is still a little sore now but nothing severe. I know I'm rambling about my situation right now but if you have any specific questions let me know. I would talk to your doctor about non- surgery treatment. Also make sure you see a foot and ankle specialists not an orthopedic surgeon. Good luck.
So, it's an interesting debate, right? Surgery or no-surgery?I saw three separate OSs - first one wanted to do surgery immediately (I didn't feel comfortable, later felt like he was a hack). Second surgeon (team OS for UT Athletics here in Austin) said he recommended surgery, but that I should enter PT and wait until I had mostly recovered from the initial injury. Third OS (top ankle surgeon in Austin - spent a year working with Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, NC -- Anderson is sort of the James Andrews of ankles) also recommended surgery, but agreed with pursuing PT until the initial injury was rehabbed.
I initially suffered the injury on November 16, 2013 stepping off an 18" box at CrossFit. Initially what felt like a sprained ankle and caused me to fall was actually a dislocated ankle with a complete tear of the anterior talofibular ligament. The injury caused me to fall as I was stepping off the box, and as I turned onto my knee to look at my ankle, I realized my foot was askew to the inside. So, for unexplained reasons (just felt like the right thing to do), I put the sole of my foot flat on the ground and straightened my leg to realign the ankle. I felt it click back in place.
<<Now, before you all go crazy -- there are a lot of injuries from CrossFit and it has a bad reputation for people getting hurt. My experience has been that injuries related to CrossFit are largely the product of inexperieced people trying to do too much too fast combined with inexperienced trainers that can't recognize poor form/technique. For frame of reference, I'm 6'2"+ and long limbed - most of my heigh is in my legs. An 18" box comes to my mid-upper shin -- point being it was not exremely high for me. Nor was I trying to do anything crazy. We were doing box stepovers - step up on one side of the box, step off the other side, turn around and repeat. And it was part of an endurance workout, meaning I wasn't attempting to go as fast as I could as with some WODs -- which also leads to injury.>>
That was on a Saturday... got the MRI the following Tuesday which confirmed the full tear. I could put weight on the leg (was able to hobble out to my car actually after icing the injury at the gym) and the first OS put me in a walking boot. After the appointment with the second OS for a second opinion (which was about 10 days post-injury) I was told to get out of the boot and into a lace-up ASO brace, which I've been wearing since as a precaution, mostly. Rehab has gone fine, and range of motion/strength is solid, though not 100% normal. Swelling is mostly down, but if you look at the ankle you can tell there's been an injury as it's roughly 20-30% larger than my other ankle.
I'm moving forward with surgery at the recommendation of three separate OSs, one of which completed said fellowship with arguably the top ankle surgeon in the country. They all said non-surgical rehab was an option, but the problem (for my situation) was that this was not an isolated injury. I said previously it's the third major injury I've had to that same ankle. The first time I partially pulled the ligament off the bone, but didn't require surgery (playing basketball) -- got back to what I felt like was 100% after nearly a year. Second injury was another severe sprain about 4-5 years later, this time playing soccer. Again, no surgery necessary, but a lengthly rehab process. This time I completely ruptured the ligament. One OS described it as string cheese - attached at either end where it should be, and just a frayed mess in the middle. So while rehab was an option, I would always feel unstable in that ankle, and would always have a bit of give. Over the holidays I actually stepped on a wet spot on the floor at my parents' house, and even wearing the ASO brace felt my ankle slide a bit (this ligament also keeps the foot in place forward and backward -- think like a drawer. I felt my foot slide forward and then come back).
At this point -- nearly 2 months post-injury, probably 5-6 weeks worth of PT, I feel like I could potentially jog/run in a straight line, but the problem is that those prior injuries have decimated all the other connective tissue in my ankle to the point that I'd be relying on scar tissue to keep my ankle in place. Three separate orthopaedic surgeons told me I should be prepared to wear a lace-up brace anytime I wanted to play sports or do anything involving cutting, sharp turns, etc. At 30 years old and highly active, I don't want to worry about my ankle for the rest of my life. That's why I'm having it done...
Was just wondering if anyone had already gone through it.
