What boots and any tips for fused ankle?

[Hailey_Phillips]

Hello all...
So, the arthritis in my ankle has gotten so much worse in the last few years I am to the point of surgery, fusion to be exact. I broke my tib into 8 pieces back in 08 riding motocross. Dr told me I would suffer from arthritis, and boy was he right.

It has limited me so much in life I finally decided to see an orthopedic surgeon and he said the joint is flat out “shot”. I am currently doing cortisone injections and I am waiting on my custom Arizona brace to be made. Hopefully with injections and brace I can put off surgery another 6 months or so. I want to try and wait until after the first of the year for a) my vacation days at work will start over and b) i don’t want to miss this season.

On to the questions.. I live in the south so snake boots are very common, as are rubber boots. I wear snake boots until about thanksgiving then switch over to rubber boots. My snake boots are side zip so I MAY can get my foot into them, but I can’t imagine being able to get them into my rubber boots once it’s fused with very very range of motion.

Any body have a fused ankle that could shed some light on what I should look for? I was thinking maybe I could wear my Keen hikers with some snake gaiters early season, and maybe keep the same boots with some Arctic Shield boot covers when it’s cold. As far as water over ankle deep, I guess I’ll just have to get wet??

So can anybody here relate to this issue? Also, if you can, any tips for living with a fused ankle? Thanks in advance and hopefully I can keep the surgery at bay for as long as possible..

 

[Topdog]

Hailey, I deal with the same crap, multiple rods, pins, you name it in my ankle and leg, they told me I would always be in pain and to suck it up, after 2 years I got a second opinion thinking ankle fusion surgery was coming my way, instead they removed some of my hardware and it was instant relief, one of the screws was even bent, before I was maybe 40% and after that second surgery I am probably 90%. Anyways I spent a lot of time and money on boots after my accident and recovery so I could hunt again, rubber boots are not happening for me, hiking shoes forget it, finally I found Lowa Tibet GTX and they basically made me human again, I can hunt hard all day and go again the next, yes they are spendy but I’m sure your like me and just want to be in comfort all day again. I drove 5 hours to Cabelas once just to try boots and get something that would work and it didn’t happen, I now have 3 pairs of tibets, one for work and two for hunting. They have a crazy amount of ankle support, change the insoles out with whatever your preference is, the stock ones are not for me. Good luck!!

 

[bigmike23]

Look at those https://kenetrek.com/collections/everstep-orthopedic/products/everstep-ni

 

[Hailey_Phillips]

Hailey, I deal with the same crap, multiple rods, pins, you name it in my ankle and leg, they told me I would always be in pain and to suck it up, after 2 years I got a second opinion thinking ankle fusion surgery was coming my way, instead they removed some of my hardware and it was instant relief, one of the screws was even bent, before I was maybe 40% and after that second surgery I am probably 90%. Anyways I spent a lot of time and money on boots after my accident and recovery so I could hunt again, rubber boots are not happening for me, hiking shoes forget it, finally I found Lowa Tibet GTX and they basically made me human again, I can hunt hard all day and go again the next, yes they are spendy but I’m sure your like me and just want to be in comfort all day again. I drove 5 hours to Cabelas once just to try boots and get something that would work and it didn’t happen, I now have 3 pairs of tibets, one for work and two for hunting. They have a crazy amount of ankle support, change the insoles out with whatever your preference is, the stock ones are not for me. Good luck!!

Thanks for the input, I have 2 plates and 10 screws in my ankle. Dr did xrays and my ankle joint is almost completely collapsed, I have no dorsalflexion without excruciating pain from bone on bone. Hopefully the brace that is being made for me will come in this week or next and will work good enough to keep me away from the scalpel. Dr said he has quite a few patients that get cortisone injections and wear a brace and have done it for years to prevent surgery, hopefully the same will work for me.

 

[Hailey_Phillips]

Look at those https://kenetrek.com/collections/everstep-orthopedic/products/everstep-ni

Thanks for that I’ll definitely check them out!

 

[Exhumis]

I don’t have ankle problems but Uncle Sams Misguided Children along with the Never Again Volunteer Yourself folks gave me excellent training on preventing ankle injuries. You’re gonna want something that offers ankle support so think hard sided/leather/stiff hiking boot or leather boot, rubber boots are a nogo. I have Danner zip up snake boots and they are stupid stiff. May wanna consider wearing a brace as well. I’m not sure how you ascend/descend but that would be my primary concern as you’ll have a lot of stress and lateral pressure on your ankles. What’s your perch situation like once you’re in the tree?

 

[Hailey_Phillips]

I don’t have ankle problems but Uncle Sams Misguided Children along with the Never Again Volunteer Yourself folks gave me excellent training on preventing ankle injuries. You’re gonna want something that offers ankle support so think hard sided/leather/stiff hiking boot or leather boot, rubber boots are a nogo. I have Danner zip up snake boots and they are stupid stiff. May wanna consider wearing a brace as well. I’m not sure how you ascend/descend but that would be my primary concern as you’ll have a lot of stress and lateral pressure on your ankles. What’s your perch situation like once you’re in the tree?

Yeah hopefully the brace I’m getting made will hold it stiff enough, it’s hard plastic wrapped in lace up leather. Right now, the way things are, down hill is ok, uphill is a nightmare. Last year I spent most of the time in a climber or on the ground because I couldn’t weight my feet that long at the angles that typically come with saddle hunting. I’ll have to see how the new brace fits, as far as boots go, dr said will likely have to go a size wider for sure, and maybe a size bigger. So I will see how it is and go from there on a new boot purchase. Right now I work in Thorogood lace ups, and dr said that’s probably what’s keep me going this long.

 

[Hailey_Phillips]

I don’t have ankle problems but Uncle Sams Misguided Children along with the Never Again Volunteer Yourself folks gave me excellent training on preventing ankle injuries. You’re gonna want something that offers ankle support so think hard sided/leather/stiff hiking boot or leather boot, rubber boots are a nogo. I have Danner zip up snake boots and they are stupid stiff. May wanna consider wearing a brace as well. I’m not sure how you ascend/descend but that would be my primary concern as you’ll have a lot of stress and lateral pressure on your ankles. What’s your perch situation like once you’re in the tree?

And thank you for your service!!!

 

[Topdog]

Before I let anybody perform fusion surgery I would 100% definitely get a second opinion, especially if your going to the original Dr who put all that hardware in, I wasn’t going to originally post this but my first Dr who did my surgery, when I had a return visit and I told him I had a ton of pain said it was arthritis and I would need fusion maybe, I got a second opinion and come to find out he botched a screw and it was too long, my second Dr wouldn’t completely throw the first one under the bus so to speak but he said removing it would probably help, no fusion was needed, so he did and I like I said it was immediate relief and now I am mostly pain free, that screw was definitely the problem, I have it, it was bent. Get a second opinion and go to another facility is my advice, it’s worth the shot, I’m glad I did I can tell you that much, my first surgery was 7 years ago, 2 years later I had the second surgery removing the long and bent screw, so it’s been 5 years and like I said I’m probably 90-95%, I had days before I could hardly walk.

 

[Hailey_Phillips]

Before I let anybody perform fusion surgery I would 100% definitely get a second opinion, especially if your going to the original Dr who put all that hardware in, I wasn’t going to originally post this but my first Dr who did my surgery, when I had a return visit and I told him I had a ton of pain said it was arthritis and I would need fusion maybe, I got a second opinion and come to find out he botched a screw and it was too long, my second Dr wouldn’t completely throw the first one under the bus so to speak but he said removing it would probably help, no fusion was needed, so he did and I like I said it was immediate relief and now I am mostly pain free, that screw was definitely the problem, I have it, it was bent. Get a second opinion and go to another facility is my advice, it’s worth the shot, I’m glad I did I can tell you that much, my first surgery was 7 years ago, 2 years later I had the second surgery removing the long and bent screw, so it’s been 5 years and like I said I’m probably 90-95%, I had days before I could hardly walk.

Before surgery I will definitely get a second opinion, but it is a totally different dr at a totally different place than original surgery. First surgery was 13 years ago, pain started around 5 years ago here and there, and has gone from -bad days here and there- to -good days once a month-. I wish I would have taken pics of the xrays he took earlier this month. It’s horrible looking in the joint. My hardware is a bit higher than the joint itself. He also said some of my pain is likely coming from adhesions from some of the nerves that stay inflamed. I already have almost no range of motion with a ridiculously unstable ankle joint. I’m not opposed to fusion, But if there’s another option, I’ll definitely consider it for sure. I go back to see him on September 1 and will definitely bring up the option of removing the original hardware to see if that would do anything for me.