Bone spur removal

[knittedthrow]

I know I'm BU posting for traffic but am trying to plan ahead and on heath you only get a few answers.

Has anyone had ankle bone spur removal? How long was your recovery? How long until you could walk? Did you take time off work? (Added complication of arthritis in that ankle too due to bad fracture, this will be my third op on it)

Bump

Hi OP,

I had a bone spur removal as a teenager, it had been there ages and didn't know about it until it broke when I fell up the stairs. I was off school for around 2 week, I was non weight bearing for around 3/4 week and I've been left with a small 6cm scar on my leg!

Good luck with the op!

Sorry, absolutely no advice, but I also have a bone spur in/on my ankle. Painful to walk, really stiff etc etc. But tbh, I would rather put up with it than have it operated on. My job relies on me being on my feet and I can't take the risk of the op not working. So placemarking for advice really

You need to speak to your surgeon.

Nobody on here will be able to give you any meaningful advice from the details you are able to provide.

@FixTheBone I'm seeing him tomorrow, was just looking for the experiences of people that have had the surgery (which my surgeon hasn't )

@skyremote I don't think I could cope with being non weight bearing again. I couldn't walk for months and months after I injured my ankle, the thought of going back to it fills me with dread I didn't get the impression it would be that bad from when I last chatted to my surgeon but I'm making a list of things to ask him tomorrow.

DP had a Haglund deformity OP last year which may or may not be similar, but his Achilles was involved. He wore a plaster cast for around 7 weeks afterwards and found it a bit painful for the first couple of weeks. His main problem was that he struggled with having the cast on so again this may or may not be relevant to you! He was off about three weeks then worked from home a good while. He's still going to physio now (11 months later) but the improvement is massive. Good luck!

Hi Op, I had a bone spur removed from my toe.

Recovery was a doddle, I was signed off for two weeks but really didn't need it and even stopped taking my painkillers after a day.

That was my point, you said ankle, you've now got two diametrically opposed experiences from people who've had procedures bon opposite ends of the foot, nether of which are anatomically the ankle....

Unless you can be more specific about what you're having done, it's hard to say what's what.

@FixTheBone arthroscopy and bone spur removal.

It's ok though, as I'm not looking for actual medical advice. Just anecdotes from other people.

The story about the toe bone spur was still useful as I can see the pp was signed off for 2 weeks and which is interesting info.

Should have added bone spur is at bottom of my tibia restricting the joint movement and causing pain.

I had one removed from the inside of my ankle. I seem to remember just being off work until the stitches were removed and being pretty mobile. Certainly a much easier recovery than the tendon repair I had in that foot next time. It wasn't particularly painful - I just took a few paracetamol. Worst thing was the instruction not to touch the bandage in case I let infection in, and it was getting looser and looser every day and driving me up the wall because I was yearning to do it up better.

@nonevernotever after my last surgery (metalwork removal) I replaced my dressings myself a few times. I also had to pull out some stitches that weren't removed properly after a couple of weeks. I just made sure my hands were very clean and my tweezers were sterile 🤷🏼‍♀️😂

So you were probably off work for 10-14 days then by the sounds of it.

I had it done on both ankles, and it was a doddle to recover from. The bone spurs themselves were causing me pain and swelling, and having them removed just solved it completely. It was keyhole surgery. I was able to get up and walk unaided, slowly, straight after the operation and didn't need crutches or a walking frame. I echo the experience about the bandages coming loose and being ordered not to touch them. When I could eventually bear it no longer after a week and took them off, under the plaster was the tiniest couple of stiches ever with hardly any dried blood around them. It was so undramatic. I was expecting massive healing wounds.

I didn't need painkillers. I do have arthritis in one ankle and the bone spurs sort of protected it but movement is still much easier with the bone spurs removed.

@IncandescentShadow that sounds like a great experience. I'm sick of being in pain, struggling on stairs and unable to wear certain shoes etc. I'm only 31 and have a toddler to 'run' around after so hopefully my surgery is as successful as yours.

The additional information is really useful.

I'd be extremely careful about doing a cheilectomy (osteophyte removal) on an arthritic ankle - you might find that the additonal movement makes the ankle significantly more painful.

@FixTheBone do you think there's any other solutions or will I just have to live with it? It's so debilitating I can't run after my son. Just have no upward movement at all.

I'd forgotten that @IncandescentShadow - I had 11 stitches removed by the nurse, and then I found another three that she hadn't removed a few weeks later which I removed myself with tweezers.

I had one removed from my heel. Took about two weeks before I was walking again. The scar hurt for about a year after, but couldn't even tell you which foot it was now.