Any Peroneal Nerve recovery stories?

[amdre]

i just damaged mine and my doc didnt give me much hope so i was wondering if someone out there can.

thanks
Andre

[finzy]

hey Andre, I was just scanning the boards and found your post by chance. I had peroneal nerve palsy which caused foot drop. I am not sure how yours developed but mine came after knee surgery, on the opposite knee of the surgery(go figure) I was sitting for a long period of time at a banquet. and by the end of the night I could not lift my foot. it was all very strange indeed. after about 3 months of various tests for just about everything under the sun...finally had a knee mri which showed a bakers cyst which was most likely the culprit. dr went in and cleaned up the frayed cartililage which was causing the irritation and cyst. and slowly but surely the nerve came back. and no more foot drop.Have you had an emg test? this is done by a neurologist and it ia the best way to check and see wether the nerve is damaged beyond repair. when I had mine done about a month after the foot drop started he could tell by the testing he did that the nerver did get crunched(his words) somehow but that it was still working just needed time and no more pressure on it. I was told to avoid crossing legs, and sitting with anything right up against the back of my knee for that would irritate the nerve.
not sure if any of this helps in your particular case but I just wanted to let you know that my nerve healed up just fine and I have not had any further problems with foot drop.
good luck!

Peggy

[amdre]

thank you for the reply finzy. i suffered a knee dislocation during a football and tore pretty much ever muslce surrounding the knee, three ligaments plus the nerve. i had surgery to repair the muscle and one of the three ligaments. when the doc went in he said the nerve was still intact but it seemed to be bruised or even crushed and told me i may never walk properly again and may not play football again.i had an EMG done about 5 weeks after and their was no communication from the nerves to the muscles. he said there was about 20cm of difunction going on and about an 1inch of damage to the nerve(not sure how he got those numbers) he also said that recovery, if any, would take up to 200 days estimating a mm aday for regeneration. i was wondering if 200 days past or even a year pasts should i count myself out from being apart of the positive statistics? i havent really heard of anyone recovering fully from this type of injury.

thank you so much for your response

[JG]

Amdre,

Here is a website of a guy who has a similar situation. I actually had peroneal decompression surgery in May. I've had so many surgeries on my left knee and I tend to grow scar tissue. The scar tissues basically strangled the nerve until I started developing drop foot.

Your situation is much more serious with the dislocation. You might want to contact this guy, he seem sto know a lot about damage to the nerve versus just compression type injuries.

see my site www.victoryvinny.com/knee/knee.html

Janice

[globalrecon]

Amdre,

I read your post and had to register for this site and reply.

I had a similar injury as yourself. On Dec 11 1993 (12 years ago) I dislocated my left knee in a wrestling match. The Popliteal Artery along with the peroneal nerve were crushed. I had no pulse in my leg below my knee for nearly an hour, until the ER doc reduced the dislocation. Luckily the pulse returned otherwise amputation could have been a result. Diagnossis was a blown ACL, PCL, LCL a torn MCL and a fractured Fibula as well as the peroneal nerve damage. I was told the same thing you were Post op. All the Doc's said I will be lucky if I were to ever walk remotely normal again. It was predicted that my wrestling career was over and that I probablly would never be able to run as I use to for wrestling practice. The tests showed no to little peroneal nerve regeneration would ever occur and I would have to wear an AFO for the remainder of my life. I was refered to one of the best OS in the pacific Northwest Dr. Peter Mandt who has worked with the U.S. ski team, seahawks and many other teams and such, luckily for me. Dr. Mandt conuslted many renowned Doc's and even flew one in from somewhere (cant remember where). After ~ 8 hr's in the OR the "global reconstruction" was complete and I had 2 alographs done from 2 different donor's for my ACL and PCL. After many months of painfull rehab and many phycological bouts I was able to walk with crutches. I rehabed very rigorusly and was able to return to Wrestling the following year, with the AFO for the remainder of high school (I never returend to football though b/c it was too risky with all the cutting thats done). I was never my self again on the wrestling mat but at least I was back doing what I loved. I had to ride the stationary bike while my temates ran for the remainder of my high school career. I was unable to lift my foot without the AFO until my Freshman year in College, the nerve had taken 3 years to regenerate enough to walk without the AFO. But the Point here is it did regenerate. If you do you physical therapy until you cant stand to do it any more, then do it more you can over come this. I didnt even do my therapy enough, I wish I had b/c I may have even more dorsiflexion if I had. My frshman year in college I was recruited by the track coach while lifiting in the weight room, he wanted me to throw the shot, javilin and discus. The following year he wanted me to run x-country to train for track and I was actually able to run with success, I was awarded 2x's as the most improved male athlete on the team once my College running carreer was over and at nearly 180 lbs (a huge runner) had recorded a 6.13 min/mile average over a 10k race. 12 years down the road I have yet to have another knee surgery and I can walk, run, snowboard and just about anything I want. Ive heard of and have friends that have only torn thier ACLs that have had numerous surgeries. With hard work and dedication you can over come anything. Yes I still have some pain and I still have drop foot but hey I cant even remember what it was like to have a normal knee.

Jake

[amdre]

Hey Jake

thanks for the post and the inspiration to continue. during the holidays and up to the present time i have been getting alot of motor skills back. with help from my calve muslces i can evert my foot and i can feel the pathways in my foot opening up when i try dorsiflexion. i have to sit out another year from sports due to the nerve damage but i am determined to play again in 2007 for sure. i was wondering if you or anyone knows diferrent kind of therapies that would help[ i n the nerve regeneration .....i have been doing hyperbaric oxygen,and using oxygen carriers to maximize the blood flow and oxygen that the nerve recieves. is there any other therapies i can do to help stimulate the nerve and activate the unused muscles through stimulation of the nerve?

[soccerdoc]

amdre,

Just saw the post and Jake is right. I am 12 years post peroneal crush type injury on my good leg. This was not the result of a serious injury or post opertive complication. Initally, due to the foot drop and other symptoms a couple of neurosurgeon friends were sure this was from a spine problem. It wasn't and the PT I saw was also an cerified athletic trainer. It was very frustrating but eventually I started to improve.I resumed refereeing using an AFO and with aggressive therapy and then more I recovered over a 12- 24 month period. It sounds as if you are doing all the right stuff, nerve regeneration takes time and it can very frustrating as you know. Timeframes are estimates speaking as a hopeless optimist. In head trauma rehab the standard used to be that recovery happens over 2 years and that's it, then gain in certain cognitive functions were being documented 5 years post-injury. The late gains were miodest but gains none the less. In my experience this is true for nerve regeneration in some cases.

Keep your spirits up and as Jake said work hard and then work harder. Best of luck with the rehab..................jim

[amdre]

Hey SoccerDoc

I have taken the adice of Jake and continued to work hard in theapy...honestly i was on the verge of giving up becuase i had no improvement.Until last week ..it was actually a week and four months after the injury ..i got my first motor function back. My peroneal tendon is now acitive and i am able to evert my foot.... still no dorsiflexion though. i was very excited to see some kind of improvementand now my confidence level is through the roof.i keep pics and daily logs to note my progress ...so if i get down again it will remind me on how far i have come.
For others who have had the same injury and need hlp deciding on different theraputic wys of handling this injury..i have done:

-Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers daily for 3 months right after and now 2-3 times a week for hours aday
this is used to speed up and circulate the blood flow in the body and induce natural healing with the high pressured 100% clean intake of oxygen.

-Frequent Specific MicroCurents 3times a week or the first 3 months and off and on there after
used to stimulate the frequency of the nerve and break up scar tissuse formed around the nerve after surgery.

-Neuro electric muscle stimulationdaily( i bought a 150$ unit)
Used to stim the inactive muscles which the peroneal nerve controls and help stim the Quads.because of the injury i suffered i cannot work those muscle mself safely so i need to stimulate them until my other leg muscles become stronger.

-Water Therapy once a week at my school pool
use it for training...since i cannot run on land i run in the deep end of the pool wih floation devices..this helps my cardio and gets my body active again.i also soak in the pool and just use the gravity off the pool to help trick the nerve into movement...thats just something i do not sure if it works but i am willing to try anything.

-i have also used Oxygen carriers to maximize the amount of oxygen my blood cells can hold and carry throughout the body.
This with the HBO Therapy i think have helped the most with my recovery so farI

I am not recommending any of these treatments to anyone just listing the types of things i go through incase people are wondering what kind of treatment is out there for such an injury as nerve damage.since i live in canada the price tag is next to nothing but the time is the most important. it is hard to find the time for all of the therapy but i just keep telling myself if i give the injry all the ingredients to heal then it will heal. I am not fully healed yet but i know i will be. And Thank You Jake for sparking my confidence and giving me the stregth to get back into therapy and really work at it. and thank you for the esponse soccerdoc...good luck to everyone in your battles with recovery.
_

[soccerdoc]

Hi Amdre,

Geez just saw this, my apologies for missing it. You have done a great job on the rehab and looking at ways to maximize your recovery. In the states it is different story getting insurance to cover some of the things you listed. But what you have by looking for other things you can do to facilitate a maximum recovery is the ideal. Goo d show. So how are you doing now? I am a big fan of "neuro-electric stimulators" btw. Hope things are progressing for you. Take care..........jim

[amdre]

Hey Jim,

how r ya?....im not too bad these days still in recovery mode and was making alot of progress. this past month i seemed to have hit a staggered point in my recovery. this month i havent noticed any real siignifcant changes in feeling and sensation nor strength in the dorsi flexion..Eversion is getting strong doctor thinks other muscls are compensating too much so i need to try and retrin myself to not use them as much...(calf muscles).. i believe (but could be wrong) that the nerve has regenerated enough for a small signal but it is not enough to initiate any sort of contraction. the reason for these wishful thoughts is because of the consistent shocks and jolts i get constantly some to the point of pain.(hopefully its a good thing..so the doctors say). you said you had a n.e.m.s unit...what type of frequency does yours run off of and does it initiate a contraction for you? when i used it when i firrst got injured on the highest frequency i couldnt feel a thing. now i can but it takes a machine with alot of juice.
Hows your recovery doing and have you heard of any recovery stories......i want to try and find as many as possble to help keep peoples spirits alive. for me its hard always gotta look and see my old self to remeber where i was. thanks alot for the reply keep me posted.

[soccerdoc]

Hey Amdre,

Glad to hear you are still in recovery mode. The over-compensation and advice from your doc to try and retrain your muscle recruitment is good. As to the NEMS unit, mine was a rental from the physio and I don't recall the brand or model but he is a friend and I can ask him. When my peroneal nerve was recovering and regenerating I had periods of very intense pain, the sensations were a deep aching, burning and what I called zingers..shock like. A neurosurgeon friend said it was not unusual. You might want to look into using surface EMG monitoring (aka emg biofeedback) to see if you can enhance neuromotor signaling. This has been used in stroke rehab and there is no reason it could not be done with a series of surface electrodes.

My peroneal nerve is fully recovered. My left medial compartment is trashed but I am still able to do virtually all activities. My good knee the right one is showing some arthritic changes, has a posterior syst that is a buggar at times but I want to defer an arthroscopy until Late November if possible. All in all I think things are going well.

Hang in there, look into the emg stuff and I'll find out what nems unit I had. Take care

[j_smi001]

Hello All,

I don't know whether you are all still monitoring this thread but can I join you. I have recently been diagnosed with foot drop ollowing knee surgery on the 7th April so I am very much in the early stages. No therepy has been discussed with me yet other than rest and close monitoring. I am at the stage of, I prefer the foot to work with no pain but will have pain for a functioning foot. Hope you are all recovering well. Jacky

[soccerdoc]

Jacky.

Sorry to hear about the foot drop. Do you have any other nerve symptoms, sensory changes, etc. Nerve injuries take a long time. Has your OS given you a time frame of any sort?
jim

[j_smi001]

Jim,

Thank you for replying. I have occasional 'twitches'. When the skin is touched on the outside of my leg it shudders like it would when you have a temperature, the top of my foot is numb, I still get very purple toes when my foot is down. It is very painful to put the foot to the ground. I have feeling - too much feeling but I suspect that is good.

Both times the plaster cast has been removed my foot has dramatically fallen and I have had to have entenox for them to lift the foot back into postion for the plaster cast to be replaced.

The OS has not given any time frame. I don't know what questions to ask.

The fact that I have feeling suggests that everything will return in due course. I am expecting the plaster to be removed next week as the op site has healed well but they won't leave the foot hanging there like a soggy end will they?

Thank you Jacky

[j_smi001]

GOOD NEWS - my mum was speaking to a physio today who said that nerves that are stretched heal with a little time and physio and should be back to walking normally in no time. ( a provisio was given that no notes had been seen and just general advice) Worrying unnecessarily!!! Jak