tarsal coalition - Page 3

[dawniedawn]

I am in a similar position in that I have no children but do have tarsal coalition myself. All I can say is try and do what ever it takes to get it sorted early. It took 8 years of doctors, physio, chiropodists, injections and scans before I was diagnosed at 33. I had an op which didnt work and now I have back pain, arthritis in my knees and still pain in my ankles. The earlier you can sort this the better

[NZClaire]

Hi my 11 year old son had tarsal coalition surgery on both feet 2 days ago. He hasn't got any casts or boots on them, just crepe bandages and padding after surgery, these were changed to light dressings today. He has to keep his feet elevated for 4 days but after that will be encouraged to swim daily and weight bear as much as he is happy with. He is already trying his crutches out for short periods and took 8 steps today. He is on ibruprofen and paracetamol but has not needed much today. Full recovery is expected in around 6 weeks. We are in New Zealand and it seems that the procedure is very different here.

[NZClaire]

Hi We are now 4 weeks post surgery and my son is swimming, running and cycling as normal. No limp whatsoever. If it wasn't for 10cm scars on each foot you wouldn't have known that he had had anything done. His feet are also slightly flatter than before.

Apart from swimming he kept his feet up for the first 2 weeks, rotating and stretching them every half hour or so and after that was allowed to walk as much as he wanted. We used a wheelchair for the first 3 weeks and he has walked without any support since then.

My surgeon can't understand why you would immobilise the feet when the last thing that you would want is for the bones to heal together. He says he never put any sort of cast or moon boot on tarsal coalitions patients are they usually fully mobile again within 6 weeks.

I was really glad I paid to get the operation done as soon as possible, although after reading lots of comments on forums I was very apprehensive. It turned out to be less painful and a faster recovery than a broken ankle. The cost over here was $8200NZ

My advice would be to get it done asap!