Any Peroneal Nerve recovery stories?

[moriahj20]

hi,
 i just found this message board and i am SO glad i did!!  i tore one of my peroneal nerves in an accident about 2 1/2 months ago resulting in foot drop. a metal pole went about 5 inches into my leg and hit the nerve. no one - not the ER doc, my neurosurgeon, his nurse practioner - would give me ANY idea if i would ever get rid of the foot drop but my new physical therapist who is wonderful told me that it will heal and i will be able to walk normal again, but that it will take a long time. reading all of your posts confirms that. i went through about 3 weeks of the worst pain i could ever imagine but i am past that now and my walking is improving each day. the physical therapy is working wonders. i haven't gotten a whole lot more range of motion in my ankle since the accident but then again, its only been a couple months. i just moved to a new state and have an appointment with a new neuro on the 13th and will probably have another EMG soon. i am told this will indicate how well the nerve is healing. i wish i knew more about what to expect but this board has helped so so much. thanks to all who posted!

[j_smi001]

Hamish and Moriahj20,

hamish - can I suggest you don't talk to your foot and stroke it in public - otherwise your foot drop will be the least of your worries!  Also have you had an EMG to test your nerve function? 

Moriahj - Best of luck at the second EMG and hope for a positive result for you that some nerve reaction is there.  With range of motion in your ankle I suspect you are referring to being able to dorsiflex - left the foot upwards?  If so after two months this is a very good sign.  Take care both and have a good weekend.

[moriahj20]

j_smi001,
thank you so much for responding! yes by range of motion i did mean dorsiflex - lifting it upwards. i can go about halfway. ive been told the nerve is still functioning (from the doctor that administered the emg and from my neurosurgeon) so i guess thats pretty good. i am optimistic that one day i'll walk without limping. thanks again for the encouragement!

[amberjade]

Hi all Amber here!! Not feeling that good today, its the first time I have really missed and needed to drive and I have had 2 bad falls this week... I dont know why I just WENT!! As dead and numb as my leg is with no movement still I have a weird burning down side of led. Reading the new accidents on this thread  they sound horrible. Used my crutches a bit this week with the leg brace as so unsteady but this in turn has made my previously broken ribs hurt. Sorry for moaning and its hard to ask family for sympathy as it was self inflicted ( I knew horse a nightmare!!) and my bro has cancer... bad and advanced. My 12 yr old fell off her horse after my first fall and then nerve and foot drop, she had cast off last week and was in agony and feeling really rough so I took her back and saw a top consultant and he re x rayed and it stiil broken plus she has developed CRPS/RSD does anyone have experience of this. Sorry to moan going to limp / stagger to stables to feed the things!!
                  ps
                         any tips on how chat room works ?
                                   Hope you all ok  love Amber

[amdre]

HEY HEY ALL

sorry again for the late post.J_smi001 good to hear that you are doing really well with your recovery.its not over yet and there is more progression ahead.its gonna be awesome when you overcome this setback.to all that have joined the thread welcome and glad to hear from yall and its great to have more people share there support and experiences with others with similar or even unrelated injuries.

I am posting my latest and hopefully last operation results.Sept 26/06 i went under for the last piece of the puzzle to be fixed. i had my ACL recon. and things went well.
i am now doing rehab everyday. for the first week(wed,thurs,fri) post -op we pulled 5-to 6 hours aday they consisted of:
IFC treatment not exactly sure what it stands for but it is for swelling... 20mins
Hyvamat treatment is an electrode massage also used for swelling 20mins
stretching and bending excerises for range of motion 20mins
Cryotemp machine -pretty much all of RICE this machine wraps around your whole leg and ice water is pumped through it compressing your leg while elevated.20min
rest for 40mins then we would repeat.
at home i brought with me from the clinic a sequential pump that compresses the swelling 10mins on and then i ice for 15mins for 2 hours.

second week pretty much the same with a shortened time frame...but i felt i could start riding a bike on the a high setting. didnt work out to well ..lol knee blew up with more swelling.bike was then introduced two days later and i was able to start riding backwards with trouble going forward without cheating.
on the friday which would be oct 6 we switched from IFC to contrast bath(hot and cold tubs) to warm up and pump the swelling out.
still doing the other stuff at home.

next week ...swelling has gone down alot except in the joint and i now have about 75-80% flexion and full extension. we have now added strengthening into the mix
my day now consists of
Contrast bath 20mins 3mins hot 1 mins cold 3 times ending in hot.
bike i strated on level 13 and this week i have gotten own to 3 ....7 is a comfortable ride 3 is pushing through fo better range of motion.
stretching hamstrings ...abducters and aducters,calves glutes, it band, hip flexor and anything else i can stretch without stress on the ACL recon.
then its off to the gym everything is 3x10 we start with abducter then aducters machines then leg curls.
back in the clinic for ball squats and glute bridging (core slash/glute and hamstring workout)
VMO Muscle stimulation of the quads standing.(its done standing so we dont sheer the fibula and the head of the tib.
then IFC/HYVMAT once completed then its off to the cyro temp.
and now today we have reintroduced the all of the foot exercises.

[amdre]

Hey there moriahj20

just read your post and i can relate to what you have gone through and what you are going through. my docs where the exact same never straight with answers and if they did have an answer it was usualy negative.so its good to hear that you have found a postive reinforcement for yourself. you sound like you are doing great in terms of recovery of a severed nerve you should get full regeneration. its slow and painful at the begining but it will keep progressing.keep us posted on your recovery.

good luck with the recovery

[amdre]

hey hey amberjade

First id like to say nice to hear from you and sorry to hear about your rough times at the moment .i hope you and your daughter are doing and feeling better. did they re cast her? since she is 12 she is lucky in a sense that she has age on her side for recovery and the hard part would be helping her through the rough and maybe painful times. i have chidren and i can only imagine and sympathizes for you. in regards to her nerve damage did the doctors say wheter it was severed or stretched or crushed? i hope to hear from yall soon and stay positive even though things may not be on the bright side ...eventually things will be better.

Amdre

[amdre]

hey there Hamish

Our injuries are some what very similar. even the approach the doctors took in repairing my damaged knee. although mine doc didnt want to do the ACL until there was sign of Nerve muscle response. mainly for the reason that if my nerve didnt come back i would have now need for an ACL. docotors logic and less work for him i guess. it was very painful at the begining stages of the injury.....from reading up on pherphrial nerve damage the shocks and tingling are supposed to be a part of the degeneration process. you be very hyper sensetive to the point that another person can shock you by just laying there hands over your injured nerve. hows your recovery coming ? i just started to get my functions back i jan-feb....i started to get eversion back(5months after injury)
then in july august  i started to regain my dorsi flexion and now have 85 degrees of flexion compared to 103 on my good foot. my last input was wrong for my good foot.
the main thing is to keep your Tibialas Anterior muscle awake by stimulating it with a neuro muscle stim. and just practice using your your bodies natural retractiong phase as a tool for pulling your foot and toes up. what i mean by this is ....if you already know then exuse the rest of this. when you pull your toes down past its original or natrual position it automatically retracts when you release.once you release try and pull up like you normally would using your bodies natural retraction.

Keep your head up and stay focused Good luck in the Recovery
Amdre

[amdre]

OK I had physio today and took a copy of your last message with me.  Now perhaps that was not such a good idea as today i felt as though I was being trained for the next olympics.  The pull down and srping back one is great and I now do this is the hydro pool as well and with the water boyancy you can really trick yourself (never mind the foot) that it is starting to wwork normally.  I PASSED my driving, just restricted to driving whilst wearing an AFO.  I drive better than I walk!  The exercises are coming on great and I have 10 degrees dorsiflexion and can abduct my toes, no less!  I have been told to expect a nettle sting type pain as the nerve regrows - did you experience this?  Let me know how you are progressing - you are a real help to my rehab and thank you for that.

Sorry for the late reply to your question J_smi001,

Just catching up on the conversations i have missed.at the begining when i first injured myself i had stinging and shocking sensations which would run from the top of my knee down. about four months after injury it went away and now and then i get them again..not as sharp or as consistent but i still get zapped now and then. my leg was also numb from mid-shin down. glad to hear about you passing your test ...there is no stopping you ..man your just progressing in every aspect. hows your toe movement?
we are experimenting with something...i dont recomenned this at all ...and ill tell you how it goes...but we have tried to stimulate and send signals to my left big toe from its start point i believe its the L5 S1 locations on your spinal cord. i can move my toes but i cannot pull my big toe up only down and the other four i can slightly do it.the other four will come...but it seems like the extension hallucis longus is to deep to stim from a point over lower leg and the dep peroneal nerve may have trouble regenerating...with out signals being sent to and from this muscle. so far i have started feeling new tingling in the toe but nothing convincing.we have been also sending signals back to the brain from the toe with hot and cold sensations and just touch...with a variety of pressure. no new improvements but its still early so ill keep you in touch. take care man and i hope to hear from you soon.

[j_smi001]

Hello Amdre,

Great to hear from you.  You give me so much support and inspiration and I remain gratetful for that.  This stimulation sounds interesting and you must keep me up to date with your progress.  I am being 'promoted' to a toe off splint, which is for when you get some movement back in your foot.  Currently my splint is around the back of my leg and under the foot, the new one will be at the front of my leg, running by the outside of the ankle and under the foot.  The toe odd splint allows you to use what movement you have and encourages you to use the calf muscles, so i am quite excited by this developemt.  I now have about 25 degrees dorsi flexion so really made a hugh leap but I seemed to have plateaued now.  I can do 3km's in 10 minutes on the stationary bike - not terrific but definately coming good.  You take good care and good to have you back.  Glad you have your new acl and all went well with the op.

[amdre]

Hello Amdre,

Great to hear from you.  You give me so much support and inspiration and I remain gratetful for that.  This stimulation sounds interesting and you must keep me up to date with your progress.  I am being 'promoted' to a toe off splint, which is for when you get some movement back in your foot.  Currently my splint is around the back of my leg and under the foot, the new one will be at the front of my leg, running by the outside of the ankle and under the foot.  The toe odd splint allows you to use what movement you have and encourages you to use the calf muscles, so i am quite excited by this developemt.  I now have about 25 degrees dorsi flexion so really made a hugh leap but I seemed to have plateaued now.  I can do 3km's in 10 minutes on the stationary bike - not terrific but definately coming good.  You take good care and good to have you back.  Glad you have your new acl and all went well with the op.

Hey J_smi001,

good to hear things are going well....and i must say that you and everyone ho have joined this post keep me going as well. from the first response of hope till now...i havent stopped and i dont think i will until i have reached my goal. and i see that you are on the same path and i commend you for that.we can help eachother defy odds and baffle these doubtful doctors with our hard work and consistency. This new brace you speak of sounds awesome.....my afo limits me and i dont get to use the dorsiflexion that i now have...so i stopped using it....but now i fatigue vey quick ...and sometimes i trip when i walk ...a brace like yours would be very useful...do you know who makes them?..i want to check around in canada for one that way i can still have support when i walk and utilizes my new found wealth..lol(dorsi flexion).
good to here the dorsi flexion is coming along well..dont be discouraged about the plateau....youve gained back so much so fast. give it some more time and you will begin to see huger(i think i made up that word) improvements. Just to tell you about today at therapy ...we tried more lumbar and deep peroneal motor point stimulation for the Extensor Hallucis Longus(EHL) and today nothing.....my therapist thinks the dmagae my still be inrepair mode so not alot of signals are getting through. so we have put it on hold until we get more signs of nerve regeneration. And they now added Walking on my heels.This has to be done accompanied by someone just incase i lose ballance and so i dont stress out the newly repaired ACL.after two and a half weeks post op i now have 114 degrees flexion compared to 135 on the good side. and full extension and still minimal swelling in the knee. I have also added a web site on my profile if you click on the globe under my user name "amdre" it will take you there.......its still under construction but should be up soon..i have videos of me playing ball and i am gathering the rest of my surgery pics to post when my doc gets back from vacation.

Take Care and i will hear from you soon

[j_smi001]

Hi,

http://www.benefitsnowshop.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?bid=&item=2645&sectionid=502

Been to your 'myspace' - very impressive.  One day you will have to explain the game to me!  You looked good and soon be back I have no doubt about that.  Sorry about the EHL test, disappointing but a mere set back on the long road to recovery. 

I have attached a web site address above to show what a toe-off splint looks like.  I don't know whether it will be of any use to you or not.  I have not got mine yet as it has to be fitted by the orthotics department but I will let you know how I get on with it once I have it.  This is a UK site but there must be Canadian ones as well.

What is your secret to regaining ROM so quickly? I reckon you could sell the secret on this site for a healthy profit (LOL). 

Just a quick post to give you the web address - take care Jak

[amdre]

Hi,

http://www.benefitsnowshop.co.uk/shop/detail.asp?bid=&item=2645&sectionid=502

Been to your 'myspace' - very impressive.  One day you will have to explain the game to me!  You looked good and soon be back I have no doubt about that.  Sorry about the EHL test, disappointing but a mere set back on the long road to recovery. 

I have attached a web site address above to show what a toe-off splint looks like.  I don't know whether it will be of any use to you or not.  I have not got mine yet as it has to be fitted by the orthotics department but I will let you know how I get on with it once I have it.  This is a UK site but there must be Canadian ones as well.

What is your secret to regaining ROM so quickly? I reckon you could sell the secret on this site for a healthy profit (LOL). 

Just a quick post to give you the web address - take care Jak

Hey Jak,

Much easier then writting your username ..haha , thanks for te site im gonna check it out and see if we have anything available down here.....you think i should discuss it with my Docs first to see if it could be use for me? BY ROM i am guessing you mean range of motion.....my first surgery of the posterolateral compartment i had alot of difficulties getting my ROM back due to scar tissue build up which needed to be cleared out with a scope surgery.few days after the scope i got my ROM back once the swelling subsided.they said it built up due to the lack of massaging and breaking up of the tissue. and not enough massaging in the patella. so this surgery i knew exactly what i needed to do and what my pain threshold is. Riding the stationary bike helps me out the most with range by far i can control exactly how much i want to push and i get a very good stretch when i do low settings..also riding feels good once i make a rotation because after that first time i get a rotation it just gets easier and easier. So mainly my therapy staff just told me to keep my patella mobile ...massage around the area of the surgery to break up scar tissue and keep using RICE methods at home and constant stretching and flexing of the knee. I think alot of it has to do with the lack of muscle though...i dont really have much muscle tone left....my leg has experienced alot of atrophy...so the challenge is gonna be strengthing by far.


Good to hear from you man...keep me posted as usual with everything...i will do the same
Take Care and talk to ya again soon
Andre

[amberjade]

Hi Amber here does anyone use crutches when they have foot drop, I have air cast but they said to use crutches sometimes so I did fri nite and ankle went so I now covered in bruises!!

[amdre]

Hi Amber here does anyone use crutches when they have foot drop, I have air cast but they said to use crutches sometimes so I did fri nite and ankle went so I now covered in bruises!!

Hey Ambejade,

I guess it really depends on how stable you are on your injured leg..... im guessing if the docs said to use cutches sometimes then its still probably alittle precaution to keep your injury safe. you should look into getting an AFO brace to keep your foot on a 90 degree angle so you can walk without having the stepage gait(foot dangling). Usually they can be pretty cheap depending on the type you want but it will definately prevent tripping and twisting or even breaking of your ankle. sometimes when i got out of bed i would step down and twist...almost breaking my ankle...so an AFO brace is a good thing to help prevent that.