Lisfranc Update Part 3

It is now December 19th, 2024. I've had some time to reflect on a Lisfrank injury after about a year and a half since surgery. I initially injured my foot on January 7, 2023 and had my first surgery on Jan 20th, 2023 with the second surgery on May 14th, 2023 to remove the screws.

I still wouldn't recommend this injury to anyone as it does really really suck haha, but I will say that I think I was lucky and with that if you're currently struggling with a Lisfrank injury, you could be lucky too as there is hope. I remember when I first was told about this injury and I was looking for information, for hope, for outcomes, for anything, and there just was little to nothing out there. And I think the Lisfrank injury is commonly missed, but is becoming more recognized (which I don’t know if that is a good thing…or a bad thing).

But on to my results:

Within a couple of days of getting the screws out I was able to walk. I walked a lot and I worked on form. I was very mindful to step with my heel first, roll through my foot, and onto my toes. Because I hadn't walked for such a long time (I was non weight bearing from my first surgery to my second surgery) I was told that learning to properly walk would be extremely beneficial for the rest of my joints and to prevent other injuries including any more issues with my feet.

I started to do some running a little bit before November 29, 2023. I would just do light bouncy jogs up a hill. I always preferred hill sprints rather than running downhill which is bad for your knees or running on concrete which is also bad for your knees. So I preferred to find a dirt trail to run on that was uphill for the benefits. The only issue that I would find with my foot was a little twinge from time to time so I would stop right away. I also should mention that I was very uncomfortable and nervous that an injury would happen again. I took the running step very slow and would go just until I felt pain and then I would stop. That's almost what all of the information that I had found regarding a Lisfrank had recommened. Now I think as people that grow up in athletics or have a high pain threshold I think you need to teach yourself what pain is because there's times where you might feel pressure, a twinge, or just something that feels a little unnatural and you'll think you just need to “push through it.” However, I think an important piece of information to keep in mind regarding a lisfrand injury is that a ligamnet is involved. And ligaments do not get a lot of blood flow which causes them to heal more slowly. So I can't recommend it enough to just take it slow. I know you're probably itchin' to get moving but try to keep the long road in mind. This is what I did because I was afraid of having foot pain for the rest of my life starting at the age of 29 years old. That sounds awful so I played it safe. Now, that's just speaking for me. I can't speak for you and I don't know your situation or what specific things happened in your foot.

On December 2nd, 2023, I started going to the gym more and I was doing single leg calf raises, I was scared so I used the other leg additionally initially, but then trusted myself more. There's a lot of new trusting going on after an injury.

And now, I'll tell you that I am doing a somewhat aggressive volleyball league! We have moments where we play a little aggressively and I'm able to jump like.... normal. Right now, I do not feel like I have an issue with my foot at all. I can't say that I think about my foot a lot when I play. If my shoe gets loose then I get nervous or I have to tie it back up. I will say that I use very hard and pretty high arch inserts to help my foot out and I do take it easy until I feel comfortable. But I feel like this is a large large large goal and a huge reward after a big big big challenge in my life that was financially, physically, emotionally, mentally, and everything hard. I was under the impression that I would never play again. I was told by my surgeon that I never would play anything competitive or volleyball again. And I have had teammates tell me that my hang time (when jumping) is insane :). I feel great actually! And I actually feel that I jump higher and have more energy actually after my surgery (there's some more reasons behind this, but concerning the foot....it is doing well!).

I will say that you're not alone and you will get through this. I met a neighbor of mine and he told me that he used to do quite a bit of like competitive fighting. He also told me that he didn't wait to let his foot heal and he thinks that might have contributed to some of his pain that he gets today.

One downside or something in the future that I currently have not figured out/am currently struggling with is I now have a Haglund Deformity. Go figure...I get arch support and now I give myself another condition. Either that or it was from some work shoes that really rubbed on the area. It practically rubbed that area raw so that was "a bad" on my part. And I have big feet so I took too long to order in some newer shoes, plus I did not know what shoes to order because I did not want to make the situation worse. So keep an eye out for that potential issue.

Soooo if you're sitting at home and wondering why me, why did I have to get this life altering issue with my feet you're not alone you're more than welcome to ask questions I might not know all the answers but I can tell you what I did and or what I'm trying to do.

Good luck out there!!

**pictures to come!