I had my complete ankle fusion in 1982. It was the final solution after damage from falling off a roof. Doctor decided that as a women he would set the angle to accommodate a 1" heel. But wearing heels is impossible and like others I use a variety of shoes to manage. For me, having a cobbler build up the heels of shoes has helped but I still have arthritis in the foot. Long term problems with knees and back also go along with the new gait. Everyone says you just need to get out there and exercise more but that doesn't work for the fused ankle. The pain would be especially bad after I went to bed. The best solution I found is icing. I have a neoprene wrap made for ankle icing. I insert several ice packs and go to bed. For me, several hours of icing often makes it possible to walk the next day, even if I've been on my feet a lot the previous day. I know they say you shouldnt ice longer than 20 minutes. My ankle and foot are are still hot and swollen after 20 minutes. What helps me is at least 2 hours of icing so that my ankle stays cool until the middle of the night. While it can be a bit uncomfortable at first, It eliminates the pain that used to keep me up for hours. It's given me relIef for many years, not just for the ankle pain but for the foot arthritis as well.
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I had my complete ankle fusion in 1982. It was the final solution after damage from falling off a roof. Doctor decided that as a women he would set the angle to accommodate a 1" heel. But wearing heels is impossible and like others I use a variety of shoes to manage. For me, having a cobbler build up the heels of shoes has helped but I still have arthritis in the foot. Long term problems with knees and back also go along with the new gait. Everyone says you just need to get out there and exercise more but that doesn't work for the fused ankle. The pain would be especially bad after I went to bed. The best solution I found is icing. I have a neoprene wrap made for ankle icing. I insert several ice packs and go to bed. For me, several hours of icing often makes it possible to walk the next day, even if I've been on my feet a lot the previous day. I know they say you shouldnt ice longer than 20 minutes. My ankle and foot are are still hot and swollen after 20 minutes. What helps me is at least 2 hours of icing so that my ankle stays cool until the middle of the night. While it can be a bit uncomfortable at first, It eliminates the pain that used to keep me up for hours. It's given me relIef for many years, not just for the ankle pain but for the foot arthritis as well.
July 31, 2015 - 12:37pmThis Comment
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