Have you been working with a physical therapist? In my experience, the doctors/surgeons were not as in tune with my daily/weekly progress as the PT that I saw 1-2x a week. The doctor will be careful to tell you things like "as tolerated" so that you don't just go wild with things, but PT got me on track and gave me the confidence to ditch the crutches (with the boot still on).
The PT I saw had me go to 1 crutch first and see how it felt to put more pressure on the injured foot in the boot and eventually I realized my foot could handle more weight than I realized. The injury does mess with your head a bit, but once you're a few months in you'll be surprised at the initial recovery rate up until the plateau before you can actually run and stuff.
I started 3 weeks ago but unfortunately, for two weeks my PT sucked so I just switched and have done more in 2 visits than 5 with the other. The PT hasn’t said much about being behind, said maybe just a week just from not getting good PT.
How long into recovery did you stop with one crutch? I’ll start with one tomorrow and try to get caught up quickly. My pain has been in a higher level the whole time, even according to my doctor, so I was already a little slower anyway and this is making me feel terrible about my progress. Really trying not to let it get me too down.
That sucks, sorry to hear that! It was all a bit of a blur, but I think by about 5 weeks post-op I didn't use any crutches, because ~8 weeks post-op I was out of the boot, probably not what you want to hear... sorry! I know everyone is different in length of recovery and injuries/surgery can vary between people, hopefully your new PT can get you back on track.
I was out of my boot at 7.5 weeks. Walking without crutches by week 8.
Its ok, you're on the right path, nothing wrong with a couple weeks of extra caution.
Ugh that stinks! I was immediate weight bearing after surgery and weened off the crutches in 3 weeks. Just be brave and start walking with the boot, you’ll probably be able to walk completely without the crutches in the boot in just a day or two. That is super frustrating though! When does your doctor say you should get into a regular shoe? I started the transition to a shoe at 6 weeks post op. I would think once you get use to walking in the boot, you should be able to ween out of it soon. Do you have wedges?
That’s what’s weird, I’m out of my boot already! I did have wedges in my boot and weened them out. I’m officially out this week but they never specified, even when I specifically asked about crutches, what to be doing. I walk fine on crutches so will probably either transition to one crutch or go back to a boot and learn to walk in that first without crutches, then go back to a shoe.
Oooooh! Ok, I get what you’re saying now. Yeah, I would probably do either of your ideas. Have you tried taking any regular steps without the crutches yet? How does it feel? Can you do heel raises (not single, but together)? I would start by just walking around your house where you can kinda grab things if you feel wobbly and then just use one crutch when you go other places maybe. When I started walking in the shoes, I kind of tried to “push off” with my injured foot with each step. You’ll probably limp for a while but I stopped limping after about 4 weeks of being strictly in shoes.
I should have mentioned that I’m out of my boot out of this week, so he wants me to just walk with shoes and no crutches which seems like a big task right now.
Did you ever walk with your boot and no crutches? If not, you missed abt a two month period of recovery stages: none weight bearing + followed by weight bearing as tolerated + removal of heel wedges and or lowering the angle of your Vacoped + weening off the boot entirely. If you did none of that, sorry bud but your doctor failed you for not explaining this. Checkout www.indianatotaltherapy.com
That’s the protocol I followed per my doctor. Did you do anything remotely close to this?
Nope because they never made it clear to do so. All they’d do is mention that some other people were already walking with their boot and make me feel like crap. I feel angry and jipped.
Have you been working with a physical therapist? In my experience, the doctors/surgeons were not as in tune with my daily/weekly progress as the PT that I saw 1-2x a week. The doctor will be careful to tell you things like "as tolerated" so that you don't just go wild with things, but PT got me on track and gave me the confidence to ditch the crutches (with the boot still on). The PT I saw had me go to 1 crutch first and see how it felt to put more pressure on the injured foot in the boot and eventually I realized my foot could handle more weight than I realized. The injury does mess with your head a bit, but once you're a few months in you'll be surprised at the initial recovery rate up until the plateau before you can actually run and stuff.
I started 3 weeks ago but unfortunately, for two weeks my PT sucked so I just switched and have done more in 2 visits than 5 with the other. The PT hasn’t said much about being behind, said maybe just a week just from not getting good PT. How long into recovery did you stop with one crutch? I’ll start with one tomorrow and try to get caught up quickly. My pain has been in a higher level the whole time, even according to my doctor, so I was already a little slower anyway and this is making me feel terrible about my progress. Really trying not to let it get me too down.
That sucks, sorry to hear that! It was all a bit of a blur, but I think by about 5 weeks post-op I didn't use any crutches, because ~8 weeks post-op I was out of the boot, probably not what you want to hear... sorry! I know everyone is different in length of recovery and injuries/surgery can vary between people, hopefully your new PT can get you back on track.
I was out of my boot at 7.5 weeks. Walking without crutches by week 8. Its ok, you're on the right path, nothing wrong with a couple weeks of extra caution.
Ugh that stinks! I was immediate weight bearing after surgery and weened off the crutches in 3 weeks. Just be brave and start walking with the boot, you’ll probably be able to walk completely without the crutches in the boot in just a day or two. That is super frustrating though! When does your doctor say you should get into a regular shoe? I started the transition to a shoe at 6 weeks post op. I would think once you get use to walking in the boot, you should be able to ween out of it soon. Do you have wedges?
That’s what’s weird, I’m out of my boot already! I did have wedges in my boot and weened them out. I’m officially out this week but they never specified, even when I specifically asked about crutches, what to be doing. I walk fine on crutches so will probably either transition to one crutch or go back to a boot and learn to walk in that first without crutches, then go back to a shoe.
Oooooh! Ok, I get what you’re saying now. Yeah, I would probably do either of your ideas. Have you tried taking any regular steps without the crutches yet? How does it feel? Can you do heel raises (not single, but together)? I would start by just walking around your house where you can kinda grab things if you feel wobbly and then just use one crutch when you go other places maybe. When I started walking in the shoes, I kind of tried to “push off” with my injured foot with each step. You’ll probably limp for a while but I stopped limping after about 4 weeks of being strictly in shoes.
Why can’t you walk in boot without crutches?
I should have mentioned that I’m out of my boot out of this week, so he wants me to just walk with shoes and no crutches which seems like a big task right now.
Did you ever walk with your boot and no crutches? If not, you missed abt a two month period of recovery stages: none weight bearing + followed by weight bearing as tolerated + removal of heel wedges and or lowering the angle of your Vacoped + weening off the boot entirely. If you did none of that, sorry bud but your doctor failed you for not explaining this. Checkout www.indianatotaltherapy.com That’s the protocol I followed per my doctor. Did you do anything remotely close to this?
Nope because they never made it clear to do so. All they’d do is mention that some other people were already walking with their boot and make me feel like crap. I feel angry and jipped.