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TAR. total ankle replacement
1 month ago I had a TAR. also had achilles tendon stretched along with screw placed to secure bone . Haven’t seen any chats about having a TAR …would love to know how your doing …any issues etc . So far for me ..I have been doing well. Hard to believe have had no pain at all from Day 1 ….prior to surgery was in agony ..long over due for the TAR. I do feel
a tightness with the achilles when moving my foot ..Only had a cast for 3 weeks now in a boot and moving around with walker or knee scooter. would love to
hear from anyone who has had this done. I know it’s basically a full year recovery and since it’s my right leg no driving for
quite a while which i miss !
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Yes, I have one. It's more than 10 years old and still working well for me. I’m sure the techniques and protocols are different now. It was a difficult recovery for me. I want to encourage you to do the physical therapy exercises and continue to take care of your new ankle over time. Good luck!
WOW. that’s good to hear your doing well with the ankle. 10
years is a long time ! Sorry it was a difficult recovery for you .Hope your walking without pain now ??…I don’t have any PT yet other then moving my foot back and forth pulling toes towards nose . which i am constantly doing. still elevate my foot during the day to help reduce swelling …I am amazed at how tight my skin feels it actually feels like i have tight sock on. but it’s only been 5 weeks since surgery and i’m the internal healing takes. bitt too ! i hope you continue to do well with the ankle…..hoping i get 10 years without any big issues happening. thanks for responding …let me know how your doing !
I also had one 10 years ago when I was 76. The best thing I ever did (except marrying my husband and having 2 great sons). Once I convinced the rehab place that I did not need any more pain killers, my recovery time was great. Mostly in a wheel chair as I couldn’t use scooter. As soon as cast was removed, I swiftly went from boot to walking and driving (was my driving leg). Amazed all the PT that where working with me. Ten years later that ankle and foot are doing great but the other leg has venous insufficiency and some peripheral neuropathy.
Keep up all the exercises and think of all the great things in your life.
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2 ReactionsThat’s awesome! Good to
hear your ankle still doing well … hopefully mine will continue to do
well. I am looking forward to
driving again but fear that won’t happen for a while. i’m only approx 5 1/2 weeks out .
Thinking of
all the wonderful moments I will be able to share with my family without that horrific pain in my ankle just walking on the beach will be perfect !
So glad I (finally) made the decision to have it done!!
I’m doing fine enough although my overall situation is complicated now with osteoarthritis at age 75. That slows me down.
I had fractured my leg in a bicycle accident as a younger adult and there were big problems with how it was set. That led to multiple orthopedic surgeries including the ankle replacement. Some bone spurs developed around the new ankle early on but once they were removed my range of motion improved quite a bit.
It just takes time for things to heal,
My name is Bruce and I’m an old guy who has been holding out for ankle replacement for 10 years. My rationale was that the process would get better and better. But now the pain and my inability to trust my right ankle have determined it is time. Number one question is how does one gey up out of a chair only using the left leg?
I just joined the chat and read your post. I would like an update on how your healing has progressed since I a scheduled for right ankle replacement early in August at Stanford Med Ct. The more details the better!
@brucedr Hello. I wanted to welcome you to Connect. 4 years ago, I had a very bad ankle fracture. It is difficult to maneuver when you can't weight bear at all on one leg, but you will get good at figuring out how to do things. You can ask for some occupational therapy help to figure it out. I used a walker a lot and it would help if you could push on your hands on handles when getting up. I figured out a kind of sling with webbing straps (like tie downs for a car) so I could put weight on my knee into that and kind of use the walker like a person uses crutches. You could opt for a wheelchair so you don't have to get up so much, but transfers to and from it would be leaning on your hands on the arms of the wheelchair after you lock the wheels. Your good leg becomes a super-leg with extra strength. I noticed that at about a month after my injury. I got good enough that I could scoot up or down a staircase, and then just stand up from that on one leg. I kept a walker at each end of the staircase so I didn't have to try to take that up or down stairs.
Do you have a date for your ankle replacement surgery?
Maybe you’re already doing this, but I'd suggest practicing now so you can feel confident about getting out of a sturdy chair. Chairs with arms are easier so you can push yourself up. Low chairs will be more difficult than high. You could add a pillow or something to make it higher. Having something sturdy close by to steady yourself can be helpful.
I had total knee replacement 9 months ago...recovery even with PT was painful. It is still very painful and makes it difficult to stand for any period of time. About 2 months ago I noticed that my knee was " bowing backwards" or hyper extending. This is causing me to limp. I am back in PT and they really don't know what to do with me. I have an appointment with the surgeon next week. Has any one experienced this and if so what has been the outcome?