Managing Foot and Ankle Pain After Surgery

foot pain after surgeryFoot and ankle surgery is common for deformities such as fractures and sprains. Pain is an unavoidable part of surgery recovery. That being said, there are methods you can use to manage the pain. Understanding the significance of the pain, the cause, and the severity is the key to correct management.

Injuries to the ankle and foot, as well as any resulting surgery, causes acute pain that can be directly correlated to the damaged structured.  After surgery, pain is related to damage and inflammation of tissues.  As structures heal, the pain will resolve quickly.

Pain from Foot & Ankle Surgery

Surgery for the foot and ankle is similar to an injury – it causes damage to tissue but it is done to correct an abnormality in order to reduce problems in the future.  Pain related to surgery is from the incisions and tissue manipulation, which stimulates the sensory nerves and inflammation.  Post surgery, treating pain with anti-inflammatory medications along with analgesics is often necessary.

Pain is normal, but should be easy to control and will dissipate as healing progresses.  Icing for the first 2 days after surgery and keeping the foot elevated keeps the inflammation, swelling, and pain under control.  The most important thing to do post-surgery is to follow the doctor recommended activity restrictions. This will improve your recovery speed.

Hypersensitivity and CRPS

Damage to the foot and ankle in about 5% of cases can cause severe, abnormal pain with hypersensitivity.  When this occurs, special pain management is necessary.  Sympathetic hypersensitivity, know as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS – “crips”) causes severe extremity pain and despite normal treatment, it still hurts.

This condition requires a high level of intervention with medications, special therapy, and nerve blocks before and after any surgery and recovery requires the skills of an experienced team of an orthopedic surgeon and a pain management specialist. Many physicians “give up” when they see these issues with ankle and foot injuries, but when treated aggressively and correctly, these injuries can be significantly corrected.  Having the best team to treat foot and ankle issues reduces or eliminates long-term problems.