Talus Fracture Recovery

[Dakota102010]

Hi, i am a 26 yr old, consider myself quite healthy, haha. I was in a go-kart accident where i dislocated and broke the Talus bone in my left foot. I broke it on a saturday night and by sunday morning at 9:30, after being in the hospital all night, i had ORIF surgery and have one screw in the talus bone. My surgeon classified it as a Hawkins type three talar fracture, the blood vessels were damaged, so he says there is only a 10% chance that they will repair, and that if they dont, the bone will collapse or die because of no blood flow. They had to operate from both sides of my foot to have everything go back into its right place, and they had to put wires and screws in the talus bone to hold it in place. its now day 100 since i broke it, ive been taking calcium suppliments as well as magnesium and vitamin D to help my body out some more, to give it the best chance of a good healing. i was non-weightbearing for 14 weeks. Ive has one plaster cast, two fibreglass and now have a cam walker air cast. I was told that i can now begin to try and make simple movements with my foot, which seems to progress each week. I am now able to put 30 lbs of weight on it, and increment 5 lbs/week until my next appointment, where i am hoping i will be able to switch to a cane instead of crutches. Today while i was getting out of the tub, i was standing at the sink for about 15 minutes before i put my cast back on, i noticed that my foot was a purple color. When i sat down and elevated it, it took no time for it to return to a normal color, so i stood up again and timed it, within 30 seconds it was red, and over the minute mark, it was starting to turn the purplish color, when i press on the skin, its white for about 2-3 seconds and returns quickly back to the redish/purple. If there was poor circulation, how would i know? When the talus bone was broke, there was damage to the blood supply, would this be causing this? Should i contact my surgeon? or is this something normally seen after this type of a ORIF of the talus bone surgery. Ive never had a break or surgery like this, so i wanna shed some light on it. Ive kept it elevated for a majority of the 14 weeks i have been home. Should i not be keeping it elevated all the time now that i am starting to re-habilitate the joint? Any recommendations/suggestions? At my last two appointments 5 weeks ago and last week, the surgeon noted both times that there was a hawkins sign on the dome of the talus.

Roach

[Chrissy1726]

I broke my talus and tibia in an obstacle course race 11 weeks ago.  It was misdiagnosed initially as a severe sprain and I was sent for therapy three days a week.  I have a high pain tolerance and knew I had done more.  But, following dr orders, I did therapy.  We had a Disney trip scheduled also, so one week later, I put the boot on and walked 7 miles/day in Disney and went to the beach.  Walked miles/worked out using it with pain every day for 5 weeks-went for follow up and was sent for an MRI which showed the breaks.  Then was put only in the boot and non weight bearing for 5 more weeks and sent for a followup at that time with an ankle specialist.  He first said I needed surgery with a bone graft from my ankle and screws, but then after CT said he felt it was healing enough to remain non weight bearing for 2 more weeks and then try to start walking with the boot.  It is still swelling and hurting.  I am worried I am going to have long term problems because of the misdiagnosis and delay of treatment.  I am a runner, and I'm ready to get back to exercising.  AHHH!!  

[AllisonnosillA]

I really feel for you and what you said in your original post. I am 6 weeks post operation for a shattered talus bone. I had an appointment today. Two doctors had to look at my x-rays to determine if the blood flow is returning or not. All they could say is that sometimes it takes more time. They used the words "avascular necrosis" and it made me cry. I am only 31 years old. I have six children. This is such a hard thing to go through. How are you doing now? Are you healing well? This is such a scary experience.
Allison

[TalusFractureVictim]

Hi, I know this forum is old, but sharing my story takes my mind off the crazy-driving-me-insane nerve pain I'm feeling in my right leg after having surgery for my fractured talus. It was a carnival ride freak accident. A bonzi bike ride that has a bike go 360. They strap your chest feet and arms to the bike and the pedals move with the force of the swing. They didn't adjust the seat to my height so my leg ended up being hyperextended and when the ride slowed down going backwards my knee locked and the pedal with my strapped in foot kept pushing up on my foot till it broke. I ended up having surgery that day. 8 pins and two plates. It's been almost 3 weeks since surgery and ever since they took the cast off a week ago I'm having severe nerve muscle spasms and pain on the bottom of my foot in the arch area and my big toe. At the moment my big toe has been twitching all day. Normally during the day I can ignore the pain by moving around and focusing on other stuff, but as soon as I relaxe or try to sleep the pain increases ten fold and drives me insane and I haven't been able to sleep well at all. the nerve pain drives crazy and is leading me to become sleep deprived. I feel like I'm going to become an insomniac because of the pain. My orthoped Dr. Just prescribed gabapentin, so I'm hoping that helps calm the nerves down. I'm worried like all of you guys that the numbness in the foot and nerve pain won't go away and will affect us the rest of our lives. At the moment my ortho and PCP doctors say to wait and see. The nerve damage could have happened during the injury and/or surgery. Pretty much there's not a lot that can be done to expediate the nerve healing, if it does heal. I guess all we can do is take it day by day to do everything within our power to give our body the best chance to heal itself and hope the pain doesn't affact our outlook and behavior in life in a negative way.
Well, I hope you all are hanging in there and trying to find the positives in life. I wish you all recovery and if not, at least we can all gripe about it together! :)

[jivanivan065922]

Hey Mike, How are you doing now with this injury?  I had my Hawkins Type III at the end of May 2011 and after three surgeries, which my last was a sub talar fusion, I am still on pain meds.  It is now November 1, 2013 and I still have a lot of nerve damage, color changes throughout the week, and sometimes cold to the knee.  The fusion took the first time, which is great because I don't want to do this any longer.  I was working but I have been off the past three or four months (by choice) but would like to get back to work.  The work I was doing was a desk job so............you get the picture.  No I will not be the same ever again either, but it was due to a SLUM LORD for a landlord that didn't fix the staircase to my second floor apartment, I was on them when they collapsed and this happened to me, oh did I mention that I also shattered my wrist!  Well anyway, I keep hanging in there, with the pain, believing it will get better.  I just hope it does one day before my last breath.  Oh, the landlord got away with it.  Well,  if you care to chat more we could take it off line here and exchange email addresses.  Just let me know.  I would like to chat with someone that knows what I am going through.  Most people don't have a clue.

[Addynlexie]

I was reading over & wondered after this long have you had any problems? I broke my talus neck 21 weeks ago & my pain problem at this point is its turning purple & almost black if I'm in a standing position. I walk on crutches and had a hard cast but now back in an air boot. My foot hurts nonstop & I've had several tests but my doctor can't seem to find out what's going on. The last dye test came back with an extreme amount of blood flow in this foot so he ordered a circulation test. 21 weeks into this I'm just worried I will never get to walk normally again. Any suggestions?

[bevikins]

hey there.. your sounding like me lol..resigned...nightmare..thought id be back  in the real world withing 6 to 8 weeks with cast..nope 4 months on various cast, not work,no money ,no ins,so no mort,bills paid..aaaaaaaaargh sinking.but hey its not terminal i keep saying to myself...
delayed union apparently and wont opp till tried cast again and bone stim meds..life but not as av known it for sure..
just comforting to see am not alone..thankyou .bev

[mikeburch73]

im 39 now and its been over 2 years since my injury called a type 3 hawkins break. i fell 3 stories off a roof and tore my left ankel up. i had surgery the day of the accident and was in the hospital for 4 days was in many casts for almost a year i couldnt put any weight on it  for almost a year , went through the purple and red stuff with my foot that should improve with time alot of time,i have 8 screws and a plate in my ankle right now with alot of nerve damage also , ive lost alot of motion in it alot,so much that it has even stopped my toes from bending ,and from what the doc says ill have to have my ankle fused when it finally crushes in or when i cant take the pain anylonger, im in pain everyday some more then others i will never be the way i was before this and thats what ***** the most , my friends call me a wuss and to suck it up and i wish it was that easy ive had broken wrist , hand fingers but ive had nothing like this . i thought i would be in a cast for a few then back to normal , well that hasnt happend yet and ive come to the realization that its not gonna ever be like it was so good luck to whoever this happens to i wish you all the best and god bless.

[bci348]

Hello, i fell off a ladder and shattered my heel in july of 2010. I now have a plate with six screws. I was healing on schedule when half way through rehab i fell frontwards landing with all my body weight on my foot. Now i have pain and sweeling where my talus is located,i also have a lump on the bottom of my foot where my arc is.I can walk without the use of anything,but i have pain where the talus is.I was wondering if i stay off of it completely for about a month would it heal on its own.I really need to get back to work,so another surgery is out of the question.

[lyndajoy]

I hope you are doing well.  My son fractured his talus when he was a bit younger than you.  Do as your specialist has instructed.  The talus is a very important bone in your foot and you want it to be completely healed.  Not only would improper healing cause problems for your foot, but anything like that can throw your other joints off and things like knee or back pain could develop.  Take care.

[PedroH]

Hi there! Sounds like you are doing great.The pins & needles are par for the course you will probably get that feeling on the top of the foot as well once you get walking.-Nobody seem to have any kind of concern about that.-Might I suggest that you use one crutch before you use a cane.Surprisingly enough,the transition doesn't take that long but for me going straight to a cane didn't feel very secure. One more bit of advice,if things don't seem right, hound your Drs.-I am almost 2yrs. post accident and now am told I have flattening of the talus- Now am waiting for a specializing specialist appt. to see what can be done. Good luck to you!

[Dakota102010]

Hello again. Im now on week 17, i am up to 55lbs weight bearing, still on crutches. I noticed in the last 2 weeks since i hit the 50lbs mark, my heel seems to almost have a pins and needles sensation when i put weight on my heel to walk forward. it is only when pressure is applied though, i can push on certain parts of the botton of my heel and get this sensation. What would this be? For the record, i got the surgery report from my doctor, and it said that 1. ORIF Fractured Left Talus, 2. Reduction dislocated subtalar joint and 3. Bone Grafting of the talus. would this be from the reduction of the subtalar joint? Im guessing that is the dislocated ankle part of the whole break? Switch to full weight bearing and cane next thursday, any tips? Advice?

[time2growup]

That's great news roach sounds as if everything is looking good for you it's always worrying when it involves something like simply walking you've done well to keep your head all this time i'm 4 weeks in and losing mine lol and as to how I sustained the injury talk about a blonde moment and misjudgement of height lol was going great today swelling was down, had a bit of a music afternoon in my living room (no dancing tho!) then managed to step on a plug end with my good foot automatically jumped on my bad foot now the swelling has come up again oh joy! Thanx 4 replying to my post keep well & take care :-)

[Dakota102010]

Hi Guys, the swelling has come down quite substantially in the last 15 weeks, the pulse in the top of my foot is good and strong, but my foots rarely cold, its always warm. The partial hawkings sign was great news to get, of all the documents ive read, the hawkings sign is great news as its a sign of decreased chances of AVN. I have been aloud to put 40 lbs of weight on in the last 3 weeks, started out at 30, and i can add 5lbs a week. I have noticed more changes almost weekly in my foot, as to swelling coming down and the ankle bones showing on the sides. It was quite a severe break. Ive been taking calcium suppliments and magnesium, as well ad D and C as i havent been able to get out of the house as much as i usually did before, im on week 15 now, and i really feel that the suppliments, and the rest i have given it have given it a strong chance for a good recovery. There is still quite a bit of bruising around the incision area and where the post op blood blisters were. They have put me off work until january, so this time will be great to give it the best possible time to heal, i also massage my foot and apply some heat at least once a day before i do simple movements with the ankle, it really seems to help.

Thanks for the info!! hope you injury of the calcaneus heals well. How did you break it?

Roach

[PedroH]

Hi there Roach! The red/purple colour you have is very normal & is just due to the trama your leg/foot has endured.-Give it another month or two.- However, you should still have circulation checked or see if you can feel your pulse on the top of your foot & note if it seems cold.I think the Drs talkng about decreased blood flow is most likely in the talus itself as there is a risk of AVN in the talus.Hope this is of some help to you!

[time2growup]

Hi roach, I sustained a calcaneus fracture 4 weeks ago and shattered the heel bone was told by my surgeon that he would not operate unless I quit smoking because of bad circulatory problems, this injury is associated with bad blood circulation that is why elevation is essential for recovery and as you noticed this flags up when the foot is down I wouldnt panic about it just ask your surgeon or physio when you see them I have the same thing and when you feel your foot in the down position it's usually freezing cold if I was you i'd still keep it elevated as I have read that alot of people even when they start walking again have to elevate because the swelling gets too bad hope this helps :-)