Foot & Ankle Surgery Recovery

Everyone's pain tolerance is different. Most will have moderate pain in the first 48 hours after surgery. After that, the pain diminishes dramatically. In most cases, you will be off narcotic medication by the end of the first week, but may continue to take anti-inflammatories and tylenol for pain management.

You should also take medication before you go to sleep, whether you are having pain or not. This allows for more comfortable sleep. After that, take the medication as prescribed and as needed.  

If the pain medication does not seem to be working, this is usually the result of a tight dressing. Please call our nurse during regular office hours. If after hours, please call the on-call surgeon.

Ice helps reduce swelling. It also helps numb the area, which reduces postoperative pain. You should apply ice for 20 minutes out of every hour while you are awake.

Keeping your foot elevated will help keep swelling down and reduce pain. The more you keep your foot elevated, the less pain and swelling you will experience. This is critical in the first week. After that, you should keep your foot elevated whenever you are not moving around on your crutches. The less swelling you have after surgery, the earlier you will be able to return to conventional shoes.

You should discuss medications with your doctor and your anesthesiologist. Unless you are taking blood thinners — for example aspirin, Coumadin or Motrin — you should be able to continue most of your medications. If you are taking blood thinners, ask your doctor whether you should stop these or not. You should also inform your doctor if you are taking any herbal medications as many of these have blood thinning effects.

Your foot can tolerate occasional and light weight in most cases. However, repeated weight-bearing may cause harm to the surgical site and disrupt healing. Be sure to discuss when and how much weight you can apply to the foot with your surgeon.

Your return-to-work date after foot surgery recovery depends on your work situation. If you spend most of your time on your feet, you may need to take more time off for recovery. Please share your job requirements with your surgeon.

If you have any disability forms, out-of-work forms, family leave forms or handicap placard forms that need to be filled out, please give them to the surgical coordinator before surgery. This ensures timely and accurate completion of the forms.

The date when you can drive again after foot and ankle surgery depends on several factors: which foot has been operated on, how far you must drive and what type of car you have. If you have your right foot operated on, please remember it is not safe to operate a motor vehicle with a cast, brace or surgical shoe. Therefore, you may have to wait until you have clearance from your surgeon to return to shoe wear. If you have your left foot operated on, you may be able to drive sooner, unless you have a clutch.

You will leave the operating room with a sterile dressing in place. You may also have a brace or a cast applied. This dressing should remain in place and kept dry until your first visit with the surgeon. 

Taking the dressing off or getting it wet can increase the risk of infection. In general, the incision will heal after two weeks. If you have no exposed pins, you may be able to get your foot wet after two weeks. The final determination will depend on the healing of your incision.