Experience with Haglunds Deformity Surgery

5 days after surgery. Pain level isn't really too bad at the moment, maybe a 2 or 3 out of 10. I can definitely feel where the stitches are on my heel/achilles area.

I'm a few years out of college but still in decent shape physically as I replaced running with lifting. Granted that I am still in decent physical shape, I don't think it'll be too hard to get back into somewhat decent running form. I'm going to make it my goal to break 5 in the mile by the end of 2024.

Which surgery? None are really standard. They can detach the achilles or slice it or go in on the sides.

I don't think they detached the achilles but from the notes that the surgeon provided, it seems as if they sliced it and went in to removed the bone growth on the heel.

Currently one week post operation and feeling really great. I am still non-weight bearing but I'm going to get the stitches removed and will be in a walking boot next week and should be able to walk around and put weight on my leg. I believe that I will be starting PT later on in the month.

I haven't been in any pain for the last few days and feeling much more comfortable getting around with my crutches. In the initial days after the surgery, it was tough getting around on the crutches and I was afraid of hitting my leg on something or falling over. My right leg (leg that I had the surgery on) would also start to shake after like 5 minutes on the crutches. Now I can get around pretty easily on the crutches and my leg does not shake.

One thing I will mention is that showering has been a total nightmare. I got a cast bag from Walgreens which has been super helpful but the process of getting ready for the shower and actually making it in there has been tough. Luckily, I am at my parents house and they have been able to assist me with shower preparation.

As the pain has gone away, I've also been able to sleep better. In the first few days after the surgery, I was afraid to move my leg at all at night so I slept in the same position on my back when I've always been a side/stomach sleeper so I was sleeping horribly at night. As the pain has decreased, I've been able to sleep on my side which has definitely help with the quality of my sleep.

Good luck. Rupp still did big things after his.

Alright here's a bit of an update:

After the surgery, the surgeon mentioned to me that I should begin to rest my leg on the ground in the days leading up to getting the stitches removed. I started to feel a bit of pain in my right calf on Monday afternoon when I'd rest it on the ground but thought that it was just part of the healing process/ my leg getting used to blood flow back in the area so I was not really too concerned. The pain went away for a bit then came back on Tuesday afternoon and it got pretty painful. It felt almost as if I had strained or had a cramp in my calf. I only experienced the pain when I was resting my leg on the ground and the pain went away when I'd elevate my leg. On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I woke up in the middle of the night from the pain in my calf. At this point, I knew that something wasn't right.

The pain kept me up for a few hours but was able to fall back to sleep. When I woke up in the morning and started to move around, the pain in my calf came back. I worked for a few hours and the pain was still there so I decided to go to urgent care in the afternoon and found out that I had developed DVT in my right calf and was prescribed blood thinners. I ended up getting the stitches removed the next day by the surgeon and I am now in the walking boot. The surgeon recommended that I use my crutches to walk and I used them for most of yesterday but at the moment, it feels completely fine to walk without assistance from the crutches. I also don't have to wear the boot for anything except for walking around so for most of the day yesterday and today, I've had the boot off. My ankle/heel area is stiff and slightly swollen from the surgery but as the hours have progressed, I've gained a little more mobility within my ankle. My calf is super sore from the DVT but I anticipate that the pain will gradually go away as the blood thinners do their work. I was really looking forward to getting back into the gym but spoke with my doctor and they recommended that I wait until I see a hematologist in week or so.

Going back to the surgeon in two weeks to get one of the wedges in my boot removed and I believe that I will start PT shortly after that.

Good luck in your recovery. I have the same condition, but ended up not needing surgery. Highly recommend these shoes, as they are the only ones I have ever found with a convex heel:

(You want v1. They changed v2, and I'm not sure it has the same feature.)

Been running on mine for about 10 years now. I elected to not get surgery because they said they would have to detach achilies and pretty sure I would walk again, but never run. So I have just been pushing through, some days hurt more than others.

I had your exact same surgery on both my tendons 5 years ago. I am running 100 mile weeks and feeling better than ever. I was back to running big mileage after about 2 years total. No pain, which before surgery was unbearable

Hi man,

Literally got this exact same surgery last week on the 9th (with apparently no Achilles detachment or work done to it - will find out on Friday).

Similar to you, ran a lot throughout HS and College and tried to keep it up with a full time job but due to this nagging long-term injury (like 3 years now) I was only running 3 max times a week (although hard stuff mostly). Do a lot of gym, swimming, biking etc. So I'm in good shape.

I was so surprised to be wrapped in just bandages (possibly a splint as well, although I'm not sure as I can't feel it), straight after surgery.

Even more surprised to tell me that I can immediately FWB with crutches after surgery, which I thought was crazy. But hey that's what they said.

I had minimal pain for the first few days but as I've started to do more activities and walking, I can definitely feel the pain which progresses more if I don't rest and elevate obviously.

Hopefully this checkup on Friday confirms everything is ok, but for me it seemed almost too good to be true! Just worried I'm doing too much already. They said let pain be your guide, but you know what us runners are like....

Sucks about the DVT - I'm lucky to have avoided that! I'll continue to update my progress on this thread as well.

All the best man!

Thanks for sharing - would be good to know your recovery too? Like how pain progressed, weight bearing etc.

Are these correct? (V1)

I've typically always ran in Nike Pegasus but maybe these aren't the best shoes for me.

Thanks for the heads up

Was the bone spur on the outside of your heel only? If the bone spur is isolated and the achilles is intact I do a small incision approach without detaching the achilles and remove the spur

i put all patients on full dose aspirin for dvt prevention after achilles surgery

Yes, sounds like the operation I had.

However I didn't get any meds except Codeine post-operation which I haven't taken at all yet.

I've definitely got a moderate/throbbing pain where the incision was now, but doesn't really hurt anywhere else - how do I know if it's DVT or not?

I've seen multiple athletes such as Dathan Ritzenhein develop bad infections from the surgery and so haven't contemplated it despite a major bump on my heel that can be very painful to the touch, such as if I hit a chair leg with my heel. This seems to get much worse when my muscles are tight and I have managed it and eliminated the pain by walking around on the balls of my feet, especially backwards. For instance, I might run to work, stiffen up from too much sitting during the afternoon and then really have a lot of pain my first half mile to mile on the way home. I walk on my toes backwards while I'm stopped at a light and the pain goes away shortly after.

Day 10 post surgery

- Can now walk without crutches very gently, but encouraged to use
- Big scar on lateral side, but it's healed very well already (no infection, no DVT)
- Walking is painful on the push-off/stretch off heal
- Begin PT with a great physio next week
- All clear for non-weight-bearing cardio, like stationary bike

I think the achilles wasn't touched at all. To anyone else, don't be put off by the horror stories, especially if you have a good surgeon.

Day 14 post-surgery (week 2)

As I thought, I've been doing too much recently after Friday, where my surgeon said I can now start walking without crutches and stationary cycling.

As a result, the bottom of the incision has opened slightly but luckily isn't infected, so this simply means more rest, less time on the feet and more elevation.

Any surgeon or someone who's had this before - I've been feeling sharp twinge pains at the back of the heel, I don't know if this is from the incision breaking open, deeper within. or the nerves coming back. Almost shooting-type pains.

I'm assuming that nothing was done to the achilles as this was the plan and therefore there should be nothing that has been detached and reattached, but I can't help but think that I've put so much stress on it I've damaged the tendon somehow. Is this possible or more likely to be something else?

Long story short, I've done too much too soon after Friday's go-ahead and worried I've damaged tendons or stuff inside. So don't do what I've done!

Hoping it's not bad internal damage.

How’s it going for you?

Hope all is well! So it's been a little over 4 weeks since the surgery and I'm feeling great right now. I saw the surgeon earlier this week and the wound has healed up perfectly and I also had one of the lifts in my boot removed so I have a bit more flexion in my ankle. It was a bit sore getting used to having more flexion in my ankle area but I got used to it after a day or so.

When I first got the walking boot, I got diagnosed with DVT in my calf the day before I got my walking boot 2+ weeks ago so walking around was really painful at first but I feel fine right now and I don't have any pain from that so I think the blood clot has gone away. I got cleared to workout by a hematologist so been getting back into it at the gym.

Only real compliant at the moment is that the lift in my boot is so hard on the bottom of my foot so walking/standing around for a long time causes a bit of pain in the bottom of my foot.

I'm going to start PT some time this week and will post some progress updates on how that is going in the coming weeks.

Great progress and sounds like you're doing really well! They've definitely taken a less conservative approach with me which I'm a bit annoyed with as I effectively reopened my incision, which could've been avoided.

Are you allowed to do any cardio exercise yet? I wondered if it's better to stationary bike in a boot to avoid damage.

I get a checkup of the incision today so hopefully all good.