Is full recovery possibe from a lisfranc fracture?

What a pain shows how easy it is to get this injury and the weak link in the foot. I am six months out now finally in normal shoes and walking. The thing I wondered was what the pain walking would feel like. No one really explains it on here or on the blogs. Well I didn't have fusion just screw and pins. So my best way of describing the pain is a solid 2 to 3 out of 10 feels really stiff in the midfoot and outside edge feels stiff and tender. The more you walk the worse the pain gets. They say it will get better over time. I feel walking is best therapy as well as stretching the physio gives you. It is a long recovery and I wouldn't try to go full weight for at least 16 weeks. New ligaments need time to grow and strengthen before you can put stress on them. Just my experience good luck to all.

Got d same problem

Ligaments don't grow back, they form thick rigid scar tissue. Thats why massage and stretching are so important!! Especially in the morning

Hi Melissa. I'm almost 11 yrs into recovery for a traumatic Lisfranc injury due to an auto accident( car was t boned on my side) and i'm still not fully recovered. I work on my feet all day with painkillers and compression socks and by the time i get home i'm totally incapacitated. Sometimes i'm believing that i will never be pain free again. My foot was repaired in emergency surgery and doctors afterwards say it wasn't set correctly and i also suffered with all five toes being dislocated and developed arthritis in all toes and mid foot. Ortho dr mentions fusion all the time but seems disinterested in it all( dr to the sports stars). I've heard its a long recovery time but i'm considering it. I'm just tired of hurting. Just wanting you to know you aren't alone and wondering if you're doing better presently.

Hang in there! Had surgery 7/11 - custom plate and 10 screws! Could do mostly nothing! But I’ve returned to work which is pretty physical and am feeling pretty good! Every day is different-some good some not so much. But just keep keepin on! Do the exercises and more! Flex it! Move it! Rotate it! Appreciate the near normal! Do wish I could find some good shoes though! The size differential is still significant! GOOD LUCK!

I had Lisfranc surgery August 14, 2017. My pain after the surgery was well managed and after 3 weeks I was off pain meds. I made it through 9 weeks of NWB and thought I was one of the lucky ones, a major disruption to my life but not a lot of pain. I walked 4 weeks in a boot and now I am walking in an orthotic strap on "shoe". Wearing this shoe and walking has caused a great deal of pain in my arch. I cannot go through the day without icing my foot. The pain relief is only temporary though. I cannot carry on an ordinary day of being up and active. I'm having a hard time accepting that this will probably be my reality for some time.

Hi I've recently (3years) had a Lisfrac, two surgeries. I'm 35 years old. I continued playing hockey and running marathons! So days I do have a sore foot but usually a quick rub and stretch takes care of that!! It was a long road to recovery. But i followed the doctors orders to a T and I also invested in some great support footwear. I was worried like yourself that I wouldn't be able to do the thing I once did. But i'm back to playing all the same sports I once did. Baseball, Volleyball and Hockey and RUNNING!! Good luck on your road to recovery!

Was misdiagnosed for 4 months. Went to see 3 other doctors and they all said I have Lisfranc injury. Will need surgery to fuse my bone back together or another option is to get PRP and let natural healing take place. Since my bones were not fractured. Amazing! PRP is all I needed. Hopefully this is a procedure to be approved with Insurance as it does work! And saves a lot of down time.

Full recovery is possible, but you have to take it the cliched "one day at a time". When I got the confirmation from Otho that my foot was indeed broken-1st, 2nd and 3rd metatarsals w/ com-minuted fracture; I knew that this was going to be a long road ( FRIDAY ).
MRI , Tech says I'm not supposed to do this (show and tell my MRI ) but all that doesn't look good, usually when there's all that white cloudy stuff it means something's up.-( SATURDAY). Tmt Arthrodesis Surgery ( WED )- I had full confidence in my doctor and they operated within a week of my injury. Glad that I sought 3rd opinion bc the day before Ortho visit a podiatrist misdiagnosed my injury as a sprain ( common, so I've read), charged me $150 for the boot and RXd me anti-inflammatory. I am now 5 months post op to this day and it's remarkable how much different my foot feels compared to before...then after the injury and now post surgery.
The stiffness goes away gradually, but will most always be there every morning or after long periods of rest. Fifteen minutes of stretches I learned online and in PT set me off on a good foot for a coffee run.
Physical therapy helped a lot, I had 18 sessions RXd before I was cleared to return to work w/o restrictions. There were a few setbacks that I could feel in my affected leg from being weakened from months of NWB. My foot & ankle wobbled right up to my hips when balancing for more than 10 seconds, in a matter of weeks the wobble was gone. I increased my reps and moved on to more dexterous exercises.
Nothing happens overnight, being realistic about expectations coming out of surgery-2 weeks in cast on pain meds and barely being able to shower, the stinging of a million fire ants on surgery site and just waking up at ungodly hours to take pain meds to stay ahead of the pain. Then comes no stitcthes, fire ant relief! ugh sleeping with the boot, oh then partial weight bearin- yayyyy but no, it hurts, like heck. your scared of reinjure but do it they say, itll help you heal they say- and all your brain and foot's telling you no way lol nope, you must be crazy, not happening- Nah. You're still being careful not to fall and mess up the Doc's good work, hobbling to the shower, maybe/maybe not making it to the restroom in time lol.
Doc clears your for full weight beaing: all good :-0) then shoes; shoes- that might not fit due to swelling ( my Doc said that's the last side-effect to go ) then FINALLY finding that one good pair is a milestone, then after that you'll find another and another.
Over time it gets better as your affected foot and leg gets stronger; your limitations become a thing of the past, I reflect upon them as a measure of my progress so far.
"Pain is temporary but growth is permanent" - My mantra through it all ;-)
Wishing you abundant success in fulfilling your highest potential recovery!

Yes you can make a complete recovery. I had a bad lisfranc fracture 4 years ago, 4 seperate breaks. I chose not to have surgery but took the conservative route. Non weight bearing for 8 weeks followed by a further 8 weeks in a cam boot. Complete healing took about a year but after 6 months I was back to normal with a little pain. Now apart from the odd ache when ive been on my feet all day, I do everything I ever did before. Don't listen to the scare stories, I too was worried that my life would change. I am now 57.

I had my injury on 7/11/17, was also not properly diagnosed until weeks later. Had surgery on 8/22/17. I had both the ORIF and Fusion as I spoke with the orthopedic surgeon and he could not guarantee that I would not need the fusion down the line. We agreed to do it all. I am an RN and have a job that requires I be on my feet and literally run to deliveries to resuscitate newborn babies that have difficulty at birth. This has been a life altering event for me. I have PT twice a week and I do exercises and toning, stretching and everything else my PT asks me to do religiously 3x a day. I really want my life back. I am making steady progress and see a little improvement each week except for this week as I injured the muscle in the foot by over exercising. My employer is now putting pressure on my doctor to return me to work to answer phones four hours a day. They say they do it to help you get back to work and not lose your skills but answering phones is not a skill that requires practice. I just don't want it to interfere with my exercises. My family and friends are very supportive but I am very aware that people don't really understand this injury. I have heard people say "I had a screw put in so I know exactly how you feel. I was up and about in no time" Others say that they don't know why I still can't do a lot of walking" My doctor tells me that this is the most serious foot injury and that it will take time to get back but it can happen. I told him that I have to be able to do my job by one year since the injury or I can lose my position. He told me he wasn't sure I would be able to do that. So I am working hard to try and get there but I am frustrated at how long this is taking. During the most difficult time which was the NWB period, I spent my time searching for long lost classmates for a class reunion. It was challenging and I enjoyed it enough to pass the time without the "lows" Hope your journey is better this time.

This is by far the worst injury I have ever dealt with. Its been 5 years now and I still have sharp shooting pain my foot still swells and it changes colour when in pain.

I had the screws removed after waiting 2 years to find a surgeon who listened to me. I blame that wait on the forever lasting pain I have now.

Always hoping it will get better :(

Physio is on going

What was the extent of your injury?

Your post is over a year old but I'll still respond... Sadly I had a severe lisfranc coming up on 11 years playing college volleyball.. I had 3 surgeries have never been pain free and today I'm pretty sure I reinjured it

I have good news. I had a serious lisfranc injury (all but one metatarsal broken and/or dislocated) in 2005. For five years no step I took was pain free. But then it was! It decreased gradually, and finally wasn’t there