Pre-op visit with Dr. Reach this afternoon. Went over two procedures to repair split tear in spring ligament. The tear is to the center of the ligament. If the tear is small, the edges can be cleaned up and sown together. If the tear is large, he'd have to use a piece of a tendon from a cadaver...collagen? I'm not clear on this. There is a 15-20% chance that these procedures would not heal and then he'd have to go back in and fuse two bones. He offered that I could try an orthosis and physical therapy, but these things only treat the symptoms, they do not fix what's broken. The tear will not heal on its own.
Until recently, it was agreed that spring ligaments have no function, but when Dr. Reach was at Duke, they discovered that when the PTT, the tendon that primarily holds up the arch, gets tired, the spring ligament is stressed and can tear. My PTT is intact, and this is why I am able to stand on my toes and walk and run a bit pain free.
2 comments:
If it's not going to heal on its own then it seems the surgery is the way to go. Might the therapy make enough difference that you can run on it? What is the bone fusing all about?
I've decided to get the surgery. Next Wednesday, I hope. If the ligament doesn't heal after surgery, then it's no good, and to prevent my arch from collapsing any more, the surgeon would have to fuse bones. I'd lose 30% range of motion, but supposedly, there's an athlete at Duke that has had this procedure and is fine. I'm not worried about that, though. I'm young, healthy and the ligament will heal after surgery.
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