Has anyone had an ankle fusion or TTC fusion? I am looking for some input. Please and Thank You
my husband lost his left foot and leg about 6" below the knee. his foot had separated from the ankle and the bones were infected. Hope all works well for you
Sorry to hear that!!!
Shawna, I have heard of this from my acupuncturist and then asked my Chiropodist...she said "why would you want to do that"??? Basically the three bones in your food/ankle would be fused together and you would never be able to bend that food again, it would remain flat! Yes, this would help the drop foot or gait, but nothing else".
I still have to do research on this TTC...not to sure about it. I know any type of surgery on our feet would not be feasible. I have been told this by an Orthopedic Surgeon, and my Neurologist...too risky! High percentage that there might be infections due to the lack of blood circulation.
Sorry, to give it you this way...but investigate and see.
Thanks Carm!!
I had an ankle fusion almost 4 years ago. They put a rod through my heel and up into my leg bone. It took me a lot longer to get over than I would have liked but it really helped because my ankle had been such a mess. I still wear AFO's but don't have the bad pain and weakness.
Hi i was offered bone fusion on both my feet by the orthopaedics and was told that there was a 50% chance of working and that i could end up with lovely feet but be unable to walk again, then a month ago i saw my neurologist and she said that see was glad i didnt have it done as due to the muscle waste in my feet it would not have made any difference to my problems
i have not had fusion surgery yet,but my doctors say it will help. I have seen some horror stories about it,and i have seen success stories,after a long and painful recovery.I am a very tall guy(6foot7inch),and i am not skinny.So i have it in my mind,my recovery wont be easy.Anyone else with some addvice?/
To all my CMT friends out there...has anyone tried strengthening their legs to help with stability and balance????? My legs are weak and I am developing back & sciatica issues. I had an MRI done in October and results were:
Scoliosis, Congenital fusion of L4 & L5, thickening of the nerve and Disc bulge of L3 & L4....my legs are weak and I want to know if exercise will help?
Carm said:
To all my CMT friends out there...has anyone tried strengthening their legs to help with stability and balance?????
I have not had luck with strengthening CMT affected muscles. You can try, and some people, depending on the extent of disability, have some success with this but in general it is not successful and you will simply end up with over exerted muscles and further complications. The issue is that strengthening your muscle requires good innervation, but the nerves are the things affected with CMT so the muscles don't get the signals needed to build them up. This is the issue with CMT. Muscle tissue is fine but the electrical wiring doesn't work so muscle building doesn't work. Light exercise can help reduce atrophy and muscle tissue loss but exercise, in general, cannot build muscle.
In reply to Shawna, I have an uncle who had fusion and tendon repositioning (basically drilled a hole in the foot and strung some tendons through it to help hold it up). It kind of worked but he still has trouble walking, just in a different way than before. I have eschewed surgery so far and went with rigid AFOs (ankle-foot orthotics). They work for me, for now. My mom had AFOs but eventually they did not help her because one of her ankles was rolling under her leg, even with the braces on. So far she has not had surgery (now in her mid 60s) but I expect she will eventually.
Oh my God do they still do ankle fusion?I was diagnosed 30 years ago when I was 15 & ankle fusion was suggested. I was so young & trusting that I was willing to do it. Fortunately the ortho. surgeon recommended a tendon transfer instead. It didn't help much, but at least my foot isn't fused in a fixed position! It was a long recovery & my calf muscles totally atrophied while I was in the cast for the whole summer & they never came back completely. It helped a little, maybe. But if i had it to do over I would not do it! again! Braces are uncomfortable enough I can't imagine having my foot permanently in that fixed position! And I was young and strong when I had that surgery I can't imagine doing it now. I can't imagine how long it would take to recover. I went back to that Ortho. Surgeon 20 years later because I was having some other issues concerning CMT & he pretty much admitted that the tendon transfer rarely helped anybody. Nice being a guinea pig.