Don't let your bindings stretch...

I am not posting to merely receive pity and sympathy, but just a heads up.

This past Thursday I went out for a quick pull and went for a scarecrow, a trick that I've had relatively consistently.. but not this time. I came down and to the best of my knowledge my body was nearly parallel with the water and my board came down first and my right foot came out of my binding half way, and my foot must have twisted.

I now sit in my bed typing this on my laptop with my foot elevated, because I have to have surgery next week due to a dislocation of the liz franc bone in the midfoot as well as a couple of other small fractures that may not be repaired at all. I'll get the whole screw and pin deal for a while... I am no longer heading out to for the fall semester at ASU, and might be able to make it for the spring semester, because I won't be able to put weight on my foot for a few months and then it's just progression from there. It's a two year recovery to the best my foot will be.

What am I writing this for? As I said, not for you guys to feel bad for me. It happens, and I got to deal with it now. But the funny thing is, as I started my pull that day, I realized that my bindings felt awfully loose that day. I could feel my heel slip side to side a small amount. Nevertheless I let some people right my board that had a few sizes larger of a shoe size.

Can I blame it on that solely? Not at all. But I would not be surprised if I did not let them ride in my bindings, I may not writing this thread.

blake

Blake,
I feel you, I suffered a possible lisfranc injury July 5th. I am trying conservative treatment first. I was misdiagnosed so have been thinking that my foot would get better, but now off to the orthopaedic surgeon for a consult. The mechanism of injury was exactly like mine, I underrotated a tantrum and have not walked since.

Have you seen your x-rays? I looked at mine and I have a little increased space between the 1st and 2nd metatarsal bones, which is where the lisfranc ligament is. I did not have any fracture and just a slight dislocation.

What kind of bindings do you have? Mine were hyperlite splits, they are gone now however.

On a more positive note, my friend suffered a lisfranc injury playing football, he waited 5 weeks until surgery and was running again in 7-8 months, so 2 years seems really extreme.

I can't relate but good luck with surgery, and get better soon.

Yeah I believe that I have a similar injury to you KJ. The doc said that I had a very subtle seperation, but I'd need some kind of screw. How severe was your friend's injury? What kind of conservative treatment are you trying? I definitely would love to be running in 7 to 8 months.

ive broken both my feet i broke my right foot in gym class i rolled it and it snapped my growth plate and then two years later i broke my left foot snowboarding my boots and bindings were too loose and i did sumthin to it but when i borke my left foot i kept boarding for 3 more hours haha but breaking stuff isnt fun at all you miss out on stuff but now im really good on crutches!

i know this has nothing to do with your thread, but being good on crutches may sound cool to some people, but it really sucks having to use them, it is fun for the first few days, but after that you are like, this is gay!. the reason i was on crutches was that i was out playin airsoft
and there was a board in the long grass i was playin in that had nails sticking out of it and i stepped on one while running and got a sudamonis infection in my foot from the foam in my shoe. needless to say, i ended up with a week in the hopital and two more after that on crutches. beware of steppin on nails when u have nikes or any other shoe with foam cushioning!!
sry for the wildly off topic post and get better soon!!!
and also are you lookin to get rid of your board/bindings cause i might be interested in them.

Blake,
Conservative treatment for a lisfranc injury is just non-weight bearing on that foot for 6-8 weeks. The problem is when you have any separation at all the ligament is disrupted, when it heals it will not pull the bone back in place, rather it heals to where your bone is now. So that increase in space will stay there. The surgery is done so that you can anatomically reduce the space and put the bones back where they are supposed to be. Then the ligament will grow back and hold the bone where it should be instead of being off say 1-3mm.

Were you able to put any weight on your foot after the accident?

Make sure that the doc that diagnosed this and is planning on operating on it has done this operation before. I would look for the best foot/ankle orthopaedic surgeon in your area, see who operates on the professional or elite athletes and get them to operate on your foot.

This injury is just plain bad. One of the most rare injuries, a lot of football players have had this injury lately.

As far as my friends injury it was more of a high impact injury. He made a tackle and someone landed on his heel while his foot was plantar flexed to the extreme. He did not have a gross dislocation, but more separation than say 4mm. Follow what the docs say and get a good PT and you can recover fast. Good luck with everything, I will be interested to see how it goes, I am going in for my consult in a few days.

My wife just went through a minor Lisfanc injury. She sprained it during softball. She did not have any seperation. It still took 6 or so weeks then she had to get a shot in the joint to help with swelling. I did a lot of research on it. Lisfranc was napolean's doctor and he found how to deal with the joint. It used to be a somewhat common horse riding injury. They would fall off the horse and the riders foot would get stuck. The common treatment at the time was to just chop the riders foot off at that joint. During the research I did, they specifically used the word "debilitating" when speaking of the injury, so, please take it easy and treat it right.

I'm not sure if I was really able to put any weight on the foot right after the accident. I can't say that I really tried. I think I might have, but with a good deal of pain. The day after the accident I was able to put some weight on it, but with a decent amount of pain, but mostly just do to the amount of swelling which was quite a bit to say the least.

One of my friends that I wakeboard with is an orthopedic surgeon and he directed us to this guy and said he was the best, so I sure hope that he is right.

It just frustrates me now that my foot feels fine to the point that I feel like I should be able to get up and run a 5k, but know that I won't be able to run for months.

The doc said that I didn't HAVE to have surgery, but he was concerned that later on I might have some pains in my foot and then there would be little that he would be able to do about it... I believe he mentioned fusing it together?

I just hope that I'm not going in for surgery for nothing. What caused to opt for conservative treatment first? Also, I can imagine that the other small fractures might change my treatment as well. On Wednesday I think I'll get the whole low down on exactly what is going to happen.

Blake,
Surgery is usually the best treatment for a lisfranc injury. I did conservative treatment first because I don't have health insurance and I was misdiagnosed in the first place, so I just decided to continue. I am going to the surgeon to see what he thinks, and if he thinks I need surgery I don't know what to do. Since I don't have health insurance, I am a student, I will just have to get another loan or something.

You are correct about the fusion, if a lisfranc does not get corrected and pain in the foot is debilitating, they fuse all the bones together. No fun from what I hear.

Good luck with the surgery. I also think you could go back to school, they will give you a handicap parking pass and you could talk with ASU about your options.

Are you on crutches now, or just walking around??

Let me know how everything goes.

Well, the doc directed me to keep my foot elevated and only get up to get to do the essentials... shower... go to the bathroom... So I either just hop around or use the crutches. I've pretty much spent the last 5 days or so watching tv, video games, and readin'.

Yeah, I think I am going to get a parking pass for the spring if I'm able to go. I most likely will technically be able to, but at the same time I really wouldn't want to go across the country... a whole new experience and phase while feeling awful, learning to walk again... but can't really say how I'll recover

When are you goin' to see the surgeon?

I am going in for my consult next Thursday. I am hoping that he says I healed well without the surgery (when I see him it will be 6 and a half weeks since the injury).

Keep me posted after you see the doc again.

Well I went to the doc today and got some relatively better than expected news.

I have sugery on Friday morning and expecting to get a screw and possibly more and then I will get a few pins that stick out from my toes.

I won't be able to put weight on it for 3 months. After that I get the walking boot... still probably won't be able to walk on it for 3 weeks or so. Then In the winter I'll get rid of the boot and start to walk in shoes. Spring I should be able to start running and jumping and wearing any type of footwear.

As far as muscle recovery and such... I'm not really sure, but I'd put my money on that I'm going to be one guy that's way out of shape.

ASU in the spring looks like a safe bet I guess.

Sounds good Blake. Hope your surgery goes well. Keep me posted on how everything goes.

You will be ready to ride again by next summer, just do what the doc says.

Well, surgery went well.

Doc says that everything went to where he wanted it and in the process I got to become the proud new owner of three pins that will stay in 10-11 weeks and a permanent screw.

After two nights in the hospital I'm back and laying around at home. Looks like I'll have to stay off my foot for 3 months. Then I'll get a walking cast and gradually work up from there.

So everything is going well, doc says he couldn't have asked for better. So I'm happy and now it's just on me to recover ASAP.

New X-Ray almost resembles more of a toolbox than an actual foot. heh.

How have you been doin KJ?

Blake,
I am doing better than expected. My appt. went well with the doc. He said that I did not need surgery and I am weight bearing now with the walking boot on. I am supposed to walk with that on for about 4-5 more weeks. He then wants new x-rays and another visit. It feels pretty good, I am not running around but walking with a little limp.

My diagnosis was lisfranc sprain.

It was weird that he said no surgery. It pretty much suprised me. I just hope he was right and it will heal correctly. I will be very angry if I can't get back to being as active as I was because of pain or weakness in my foot.

I wish you all the best in recovery and I'm sure you will ride next summer. Keep me updated on your progress.

KJ-
I'm glad to hear the good news for ya. I'm sure it's a huge relief to not need surgery. Sounds like you'll be up runnin around in no time.

Two and half weeks or so after surgery things are still goin' good. Gettin' a little anxious hearing of all my friends goin back to college and everything associated with that, but what can ya do.

Riding again could be interesting. Always having another injury in the back of my mind. I can imagine when I get moving around I bet I'll feel more of an urge to ride again though.

Let me know how things are healin' up.

blake

Blake,
I have been wakesurfing the last few days and had my first wakeboarding run today. Felt pretty good, worst part was getting in and out of the bindings. I still walk with a limp and can't really stand up on my toes with that foot. It still hurts a little, I hope it will get stronger and the limp will go away.

Hope you keep recoving well and don't try to do things too fast. Take care of yourself.

Kirk

KJ

Sounds like you're well on your way recovering. Is your pain gradually going away in your foot? We have different cases, but the doc told me that my foot would be 'sore' for a while after I was walking and everything. So I imagine that will go away with a little more time.

I actually went the doc today, and things are lookin good, no swelling. Just waiting... In a month though I get the X-Rays to see if the pins will come out and then couple weeks of a regular cast after that a walking boot. Looks like I'll be walkin w/o any major support in January assuming all stays on course.

I hope things are still goin well for you.

blake