Ankle Fusion advice/experience ??

Foot care
1

Hi everyone,

I had a bimalleolar fracture, never healed & misalignment . I got arthritis & stiffness on my ankle now so my specialist is saying ankle fusion is my only choice.

He said that he won't do ankle replacement on me now since I am only 20 years old. He said I can get fusion now and ankle replacement when I'm much older since technology is advancing but I was doing some research and from what I read it says once you have fusion done, there's no turning back from that.

So that's confusing?? I need to prepare for an ankle fusion, I never heard of this until now so I've been doing some research on this and many say you'll need to keep your knee & hip in good condition, does any one with ankle fusion know any hip exercises or any advice that will help me prevent any more damage being done to the other joints in my body.... I will be getting my fibula/tibia fused with the talus...

Thank you all in advance, I will really appreciate any advice or hear how your experience is like with an ankle fusion... Take care! :-)

2

I have my ankle fused and tendon repair for five months now. I am walking fine and the range of motion is good. The tendon repair is healing up my leg. All went perfectly well with mine. I do a leg and great hip excercise for both legs, thighs and hips. Hard to explain. Denise Austin, toning and firming. YouTube has it. Good luck.

3

Hi Ivonn,

It has been 33 years since my ankle fusion...no problems, no regrets

kind regards

judith

4

A question how is your gait of walking? What’s your suggestion?

 

5

Had the ankle fusion in Sept, and tomorrow I will get the last cast of three off, cannot wait. I will be in a walking boot, and scheduled to start physical therapy. And yes the down side is what the effects are on your knee and hip. I have arthritis in both so this last two weeks sleeping is unheard of unless I am in a recliner, laying on the left side is absolutely a no no. Tomorrow I will ask if I can start going to Y for swimming, to strengthen hip and knee. But you ae so young and you will no doubt heal so much faster than this 69 yr old. But when I left hospital the PT dept gave me some exercises to do in a chair so I would ask them if you are wanting to do some. Good luck, I hopefully am on the mend but it has been a long process.

6

Wooo Hooo!!!

Tomorrow your get boot!! and I finally get to try out my new elbow!!

Cheryl, why you and I are on a roll!