Shattered Calcaneus (heel bone)

Well managed to shatter my calcaneus from about a 13 foot fall. Just the left foot.  Anyway, the story is not that interesting...main take away is rope can/does break so will be doubling up from here on out.  

I am posting not to discuss the fall, but the recovery.  The surgeon seems to have done a great job with a plate and nine screws. The foot as a whole especially the heel feels like a foot. However I am yet to get any lateral movements back in the ankle. It is still swollen (slight sore) around the ankle and heel so hoping that is the main issue. I am about 3 weeks post surgery.  Anyone else have to deal with this type of injury? I am a bit worried about my future mobility.  

I recall seeing broken calcaneus threads before. Have you tried a search?

Hi Frank,

     Yes, read them all and got some decent info. I am mostly curious about when others had ankle swelling go down enough to regain lateral movement.  Can't help but be anxious to see the ankle move again! I know, I just likely need to be more patient. 

Side note- 3 post a day to same post rule is understandable, somewhat.  However, seems silly for the OP to be limited. I was unable to respond to Frank until today. 

Next time add your pics or updates as edits to your original post instead of more separate posts.  Then only one counts, not three.  

Good luck with the calcaneous recovery.  Mine was so long ago don’t remember many of the swelling/ recovery details but no issues/complications after initial recovery (decked from nearly 40 ft- rope drag saved me)

Thanks Mark. 40ft, oh man! Glad to hear you have recovered and never looked back. With a fall that bad did you also have many other more severe injuries? Must have been a long, trying recovery. Thanks for sharing, does help me stay optimistic! 

It was my error, did not know about the limit when made initial post. 

I broke my calcaneus in a fall earlier this year, not as bad as you and I didn’t need surgery, but mine took over 12 weeks to get to a point where I could walk around most of the day without pain.  Then probably at least another 4 weeks to when I could climb a full day without any pain.  I had full mobility back by probably week 12-14.

basically I’m just saying, be patient, don’t overdo it, and do your PT.  It may seem like it’s taking forever to heal, but it eventually does.

edit:  Also, my ortho provider told me that tendonitis is almost a given during recovery for these kinds of injuries, and I definitely developed it.  It felt like the tendonitis took longer to resolve than the actual break in my case.

I've had a calcaneous fracture and like everyone else it takes a long time to recover. A boot helped me keep from reinjuring it but it was time off of it that really helped. Foot pain lingered for up to a year and what helped get it back to 100% was cold therapy. I was living on a lake about a year post injury and read Wim Hofs book, figure there was nothing to lose. I started just walking out into the lake (which still had ice on it) for a few minutes up to my ankles then knees then waist. It was very painful on the feet for the first week then it got easier and to the point where I could stand in it seemingly indefinitely. With in 2 weeks all the residual aches, pains and tendonitis were gone. Wish I had started earlier, still do it on a regular basis.

Vic -  12-14 week for full mobility is great and already back to climbing! Was your pain more in the joint or in the calcaneus? Have you landed hard on the heal since recovery?  If so how did that feel? I will have to be cautious of tendonitis,and seek out a few stretches that I can do to help lesson/prevent.  Yeah the sitting still part is rough, definitely an opportunity for me to learn more patience! 

Tom-  The cold therapy is something I can definitely give a shot down the line. Do I need to read the book, or is what you outlined above enough info?   Similar question, what was the main source of the pain as you regained mobility, then when you could first stand on it?  

Thank you both for sharing and advice. So glad you have both fully recovered and are back to enjoying the great outdoors! 

Cluster One wrote:

Vic -  12-14 week for full mobility is great and already back to climbing! Was your pain more in the joint or in the calcaneus? Have you landed hard on the heal since recovery?  If so how did that feel? I will have to be cautious of tendonitis,and seek out a few stretches that I can do to help lesson/prevent.  Yeah the sitting still part is rough, definitely an opportunity for me to learn more patience!

Hey,

I suppose I was pretty lucky even though it didn’t seem like it at the time.  Again, my injury wasn’t as severe as yours so consider my experience with a grain of salt.  I was back to climbing in that timeframe, but it wasn’t at 100%.  I climbed easy grades and basically tried to avoid any footwork that involved plantar flexion because this definitely irritated my Achilles— so I did a lot of edging, avoided routes with foot chips and smears, and tried to just step on bigger holds with my mid foot.

While I was still healing I only TR-ed.  I was pretty nervous about striking my heel, so I took it slow.  I didn’t end up really having any hard impacts while still recovering (thank goodness), because a set back would’ve been devastating.

My pain was basically in the meat of my heel, not really the joint.  Later in the healing process I would be okay for a few hours doing light household/office walking around in comfy hiking boots, but the heel would ache after a while— and this slowly got better after week 12.  Ortho sorta confirmed this with me at my week 12 x-rays, where they said I had made a full recovery, but that the nerves in my heel would be a little hyperactive for a bit longer before returning to baseline.

Calf stretches and exercises helped a lot.  Things like stretching against a wall or going up into my tiptoes and slowly lowering back to the ground— of course when the time is right.

Wishing you a seamless recovery

-Vic

I fractured my calcaneus on May 28 this year. Wasn’t shattered or terribly separated, no surgery. Climbed again outside starting August 12. I never used the boot and would let discomfort and swelling be my guide to back off after the X-rays showed the bone was consolidated enough. I’ve had other leg injuries from another sport (meniscus, LCL, MCL, calf muscle) and I always just stayed conservative and did hot 26 yoga a lot to rid the scar tissue/inflammation and gain mobility before moving back into the primary activity. I’d have crutches and a chair in the hot room with this past fracture.

I fell about 15-20 ft off a roof onto slab, had to crawl out on my hand and knees/ scoot on my butt about a mile to get to the car. Wasn’t the funnest experience. Still have some plantar discomfort but it’s good to go, I hiked 14 miles last week.

Good luck! Hope you have a quick recovery

Cluster One wrote:

Tom-  The cold therapy is something I can definitely give a shot down the line. Do I need to read the book, or is what you outlined above enough info?   Similar question, what was the main source of the pain as you regained mobility, then when you could first stand on it?  

Thank you both for sharing and advice. So glad you have both fully recovered and are back to enjoying the great outdoors! 

No need to buy the book, if your feet hurt like hell when you first dip them in it's cold enough ;-) Do it everyday and it will get easier, usually in a few days to a week. I was 6 weeks on crutches and a boot before I could walk on it, pain was very specific to the calcaneous, where the achilles attaches around to the bottom. I would suggest not walking barefoot or w any zero drop shoes. I bought some Hokas (Cliftons I think) and have stuck with them since.

I've had a pretty minor one (bouldering). Hurt, took a while to recover. You said something about rope breaking?

Cluster One wrote:

Well managed to shatter my calcaneus from about a 13 foot fall. Just the left foot.  Anyway, the story is not that interesting...main take away is rope can/does break so will be doubling up from here on out.  

I am posting not to discuss the fall, but the recovery.  The surgeon seems to have done a great job with a plate and nine screws. The foot as a whole especially the heel feels like a foot. However I am yet to get any lateral movements back in the ankle. It is still swollen (slight sore) around the ankle and heel so hoping that is the main issue. I am about 3 weeks post surgery.  Anyone else have to deal with this type of injury? I am a bit worried about my future mobility.  

Cluster One I had a left calcaneus fracture 11/2021 (Sanders 3, 5+ large pieces), ORIF surgery with a plate and 9 screws (2 long 7 short) 12/2021. Based on what I understand, my recovery was as fast as it gets and I was out of the cast 2 months after surgery and worked my way up to full weight bearing. With aggressive PT (I had weekly appointments), my ankle mobility was pretty minimally affected when i got back to indoor bouldering 4 months post surgery, and i don't have any mobility issues today almost 2 years later. My guess is with similarly aggressive PT, you'll be fine. some ppl report improved mobility after hardware removal as well

Yikes!  I broke both of my calcanei (calcaneus's?) a few years ago, although not as bad as yours.  But, because the parts that broke off were were essentially relay points for tendons I was in a wheelchair for two months and couldn't do much activity for quite a while.  It seems like you've heard all of the good advice from other posts, but here were my major takeaways anyway:

-It's been said but bears repeating, focus on PT and if you have any say in it try to find someone who trains athletes.  I've had physical therapists before that mostly worked with super old people and their goals didn't align with people that want to be very active, it can make a difference.

-It was almost two years before I could climb a pitch of crack without my ankles hurting and/or giving out.  Strength AND flexibility are important.  I ended up going on long walks in a dry cobblestone riverbed near my house to retrain all of the little stabilization muscles and connective tissue and it helped a lot.  The main muscle groups and movements were ok by then, but I hadn't paid enough attention to stabilization.  

-It's a slow process because there's a poor blood supply down there, be patient with the swelling and movement, it'll come back.  Not much movement after 3 weeks isn't out of the ordinary.

In the end I'm completely fine and it doesn't slow me down, although I still suck at climbing just as much as I did before the injury.  Keep the long game in mind, you'd rather put off your return an extra month than jump back in too early and cause permanent damage. 

But also, can you please elaborate on the rope breaking?  Did it cut on an edge?  Was it an 80 year old goldline? 

Hi All,

   Thanks again for all the feedback, it is all most helpful! Also so happy to hear everyone has recovered and is back in action!  I did not get into the rope break story as it is lame. Here it is...Was on a homemade wall I built for my kids that goes up to a tree house. Was playing with them and climbed up the wall using the lugs. But got lazy and just grabbed the rope to get over the ledge. Well, bad move as it snapped. I fell straight down, landing in the left foot. Rope was some very thick marine rope.  Best I can tell the rope broke at the top near the tie point. This likely happened as leaves piled up around it(maybe mice chewed on it?)  In the long run, just counting my blessing I went up first, not my youngest who was there.  Also blessed that this was in my backyard; did not have to call in a SAR team...  

Adding to the story... I broke my talus (the bone above heel-bone) a year and half ago in a boulder fall. Had 2 screws in. Foot cannot carry weight for 8 weeks and then can walk(limp) with increasing flexibility (with a bit PT). 

The swelling took 8 weeks to go, and it came back as soon as I started climbing in month-3/4. Half a year after surgery my ankle still got swollen after a few pitches (esp. multi-pitch). I also limped for 6 months after taking the crutches off. Nerve pain came and went, (at least I didn't limp on the wall as much as on the ground). 

Now, 16 month post-surgery, ankle gets 90% flexibility back, but it still hurts/limps after strenuous hike/run (10km+). Doctor often reminded me that blood flow won't fully recover and ankle will always be a bit "stiff" and asked to X ray/CT periodically. I wonder if hot bath will help bloodflow grow? 

Hope that helps, heel-bone and talus are not good bones to break. take care !