Gosh, 2014 already & in April it will be the third anniversary of my injury. I have been seeing posts from other Lisfranc victims via the Facebook page; www.facebook.com/LisfrancFractureClub & I often see questions & enquiries from newly injured people on long term pain, shoes etc. This got me thinking about how my situation has progressed & I remember only too well the uncertainty I felt & misery of the constant pain during the recovery process. I also remember the despondency that I felt when even 18 months later I still experienced severe pain after walking or being on my feet for a period of time. The doctors were reluctant to speculate on my prognosis, I think that this is probably something that most Lisfranc sufferers experience at some point from their medical team. I have had to work quite hard in the gym, with physiotherapists & personal trainers to rebuild the muscle & tendon strength etc lost during the none & partial weight bearing period of recovery. At times this has been embarrassing, frustrating & quite frankly slightly depressing, but interestingly the by product of this work has definitely been a significant reduction in the pain.
I still have the pins & a plate in my mid foot & I had a cuneiform fusion, whilst I do sometimes experience tenderness in my 3rd & 4th metatarsal joints I can confidently state that I am pain free most days. If I know that I will be on my feet for a long time then I prepare with perhaps taking with me a second pair of shoes & some Ibuprofen as I know I'll need to manage my foot. However the period of time involved has lengthened considerably from around an hour or so 18 months ago to 3-4 hours now. To be clear this is normally standing or walking in a court shoe on a hard floor surface, or walking quite vigorously. In thicker soled footwear or on softer surfaces I can be pain free for longer. I walk at a normal pace again these days & can even run if I want to. I won't be entering any marathons anytime soon though :-) Not that I wanted to run a marathon even before the foot !
I would advise anyone with this injury to seek expert help & advice on the physical rehabilitation as it will help you to get the best results possible. I am planning to go skiing again in a couple of weeks, this time for a whole week. I recently purchased my own ski boots with a custom fit boot liner so that should help too. I have had 19 sessions with a personal trainer to help me prepare for skiing. We have focused on weight bearing strength, lower back strength, hip, knee & ankle flexibility as well as upper body. At one stage I was leg pressing 120 kilos ! It has been hard, I have had to step outside my comfort zone & push myself to beyond it.
I can also wear high heels again, a two inch heel to work for most of the day is quite comfortable now anything higher is for special occasions only ! Stilettos are tricky, wedges or thicker heels work better I find as there is more support incorporated within the shoe design. The happy feet insoles I previously mentioned are also worth a try, the good thing about those is that you can insert them into any shoe & improve your comfort pretty much instantly.
Anyway this update may help I hope, don't give up it does get better !
I still have the pins & a plate in my mid foot & I had a cuneiform fusion, whilst I do sometimes experience tenderness in my 3rd & 4th metatarsal joints I can confidently state that I am pain free most days. If I know that I will be on my feet for a long time then I prepare with perhaps taking with me a second pair of shoes & some Ibuprofen as I know I'll need to manage my foot. However the period of time involved has lengthened considerably from around an hour or so 18 months ago to 3-4 hours now. To be clear this is normally standing or walking in a court shoe on a hard floor surface, or walking quite vigorously. In thicker soled footwear or on softer surfaces I can be pain free for longer. I walk at a normal pace again these days & can even run if I want to. I won't be entering any marathons anytime soon though :-) Not that I wanted to run a marathon even before the foot !
I would advise anyone with this injury to seek expert help & advice on the physical rehabilitation as it will help you to get the best results possible. I am planning to go skiing again in a couple of weeks, this time for a whole week. I recently purchased my own ski boots with a custom fit boot liner so that should help too. I have had 19 sessions with a personal trainer to help me prepare for skiing. We have focused on weight bearing strength, lower back strength, hip, knee & ankle flexibility as well as upper body. At one stage I was leg pressing 120 kilos ! It has been hard, I have had to step outside my comfort zone & push myself to beyond it.
I can also wear high heels again, a two inch heel to work for most of the day is quite comfortable now anything higher is for special occasions only ! Stilettos are tricky, wedges or thicker heels work better I find as there is more support incorporated within the shoe design. The happy feet insoles I previously mentioned are also worth a try, the good thing about those is that you can insert them into any shoe & improve your comfort pretty much instantly.
Anyway this update may help I hope, don't give up it does get better !
Special shoes ! Not bad for a girl with a broken foot :-)
How are you now? It may not be the easiest road to take, but recovering takes a lot of will power and perseverance. Just look at how much you accomplished! Kudos to your achievements, and I hope you continue being well physically.
ReplyDeleteMark Love
Hi Mark,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading my blog & your comments. I am on the whole still physically well. I did ski for a week without hurting myself, thing is my confidence turned out to be more of challenge than the foot. I'm finding that since the foot & subsequent other horrible stuff that happened to me in 2011 I do lack confidence & seem to have more of a defeatist point of view when confronted with physical challenges. This is where working in the gym is helpful, I push myself there & it helps I think.......... I've just taken up Pilates as well to help with my balance & core strength. I as advised that Pilates was less stressful to the foot than Yoga. So I'm going skiing again in two weeks time & hope to improve further still. Determination & strong will make me do these things, I refuse to back down & let this injury experience restrain me. I know realistically I'll suffer with mobility issues in my old age as a result of the injury so I'm trying to make the most of being as active & mobile as I can be whilst still being on the mature side of young :-)
It does help that you're pushing yourself in doing more exercises. Through this, you can immediately determine if the strength of your foot is back. Three years have passed after the injury, and I hope you got back to your normal routine as soon as possible. Have a good one!
ReplyDeleteTanisha Muench @ US HealthWorks
Thanks for your post. It is hard to find out information about Liz Franc break. I am 27 months out from surgery and I still have pain. Once I stand up I have a limp for 8 or 10 steps then it is not noticeable. But just sitting or standing I fell the pain. I just checked back in with Liz Franc Fracture Club on FB to find out if others this far out still have pain. I have a plate and a few pins in there. I have always thought that I had a high pain threshold because of back problems but now I am starting to wonder. :-)
ReplyDeleteI found your page searching for heels and lisfranc, wondering about my odds of ever stepping out in them again.
ReplyDeleteI was diagnosed with lisfranc injury in May. Initally, the urgent care center thought it was just a sprain but the orthopedic surgeon took some additional weight bearing pictures to diagnose. He said “any injury with a name is something you don’t want.” Well I have it. I had the fusion surgery 3 weeks ago. I’m sitting here with my foot elevated and hoping for successful recovery.
Thank you for sharing your story.