Ankle Replacement

Hi, I had ankle replacement surgery December 2017. Very limited movement, swelling and some days are worst then others with pain.  I was told to give it a year for healing. Today was an extremely bad day. Has anyone else had these problems? If so, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Mrs. P

Hi Cindy!  I am only in my 7th week of post op so I probably can’t comment as you’ve been recovering longer than me but I’m real excited and curious to hear from others about what to expect!  My current stage is walking full weight w/ the boot for 1 hr per day adding more time each day.  I walk, on average, 75 minutes per day, 3-4 times per day.  I also do ankle rotation exercises and Achilles stretch 2X per day.  

Hi Cindy,

I am 3 months post op and I was still experiencing tons of swelling that resulted in pain. My sister recommended compression socks and it has made an unbelievable difference in my pain level.

Dear Cindy

I'm very sorry to hear that you are still having pain issues at this stage. I had my five year old prosthesis removed in late February this year and it was replaced with an advance Wright Invision prosthesis and I had almost no pain and very few pain meds in hospital and almost none when I got home.

I walk and swim an average of over ten thousand steps daily and the other day did twice that and no discomfort from my ankle. If you would like to chat on the phone just let me know and we can set up a phone chat. I do not do email chats as it is far less satisfactory and takes too much time as I am slow on the keyboard! Please message me if interested.

Cheers Richard

I had mine done March 28 2018. I had the Star andkle replacement. I am sorry you are still in so much pain and swelling. I just went to the car show today and walked around for three hours. No pain until I was off my feet for a couple hours. But the pain is more like a pain you have after a hard workout. Also I have chronic back pain as well so I am still on pain meds. That could be part of why my pain is good in my ankle. In the beginning the swelling and edema were insane. I don’t like compression socks and I wear sandals mostly so I got compression sleeves instead. Doctor said I was to wear them always until I don’t need them. Like open toe compression socks.  I probably should still be wearing them at times. Eventually the swelling went mostly away and the edema did too. Still have some but nothing near what it was. Honestly I would be talking to my doctor if I was in that much pain. Or getting s second opinion. I was told up to a year but that’s completely healed. My doctor was expecting me to be pretty much out of pain and walking better than I was at my last appointment 2 months ago. So it is my opinion that you should not be in that much pain. I walk now better than I did 2 years ago. I also had about 3 months of physical therapy. Don’t think I would be where I am without that either. 

Hi Cindy! Now that you’re well past the 1 year mark, how is the ankle doing?