1 Year After Both Surgeries

It's been a little over 1 year since both my surgeries. My quality of life has changed dramatically. I have almost no back, sciatic, leg, or shoulder pain anymore. I can walk around, exercise, and run with no pain. If I'm on my feet for 5 or 6 hours in a row... my feet start getting fatigued and I get some sensitivity and soarness around the  implant areas of my ankles... but I think it's normal for people with non-flat feet to also get fatigued after being on their feet all day. Every now and then when I step wrong, I feel a minor sharp pain around the implant area of my ankle. The implant area also gets achy sometimes - especially when the weather is changing. However, these are rare and minor pains that I'd trade in any day in place of the unbearable back and leg pain I had before the surgeries. This past summer, I also walked on the beach barefoot for the first time without pain and discomfort! The sand actually felt good on my feet. Those of you with flat feet know how uncomfortable and painful walking on sand can be. I also wore flip flops and even walked around barefoot... not possible before the surgeries. In conclusion, I definitely 100% recommend anyone with flat feet to get this procedure done ASAP!

7 Months After Surgeries

It's been 7 months since I had the Hyprocure implants put into both feet. I have no back, leg, or should pain anymore. It has literally been life changing. Since I don't need to wear orthotics and my feet aren't flat anymore; I can wear any sneaker or shoe I want! No more struggling to find the right sneaker as most weren't comfortable. I suggest getting a sneaker with cushioning and stability. The New Balance I got ended up being too firm; not even cushioning. I also tried motion control sneakers (shoes for people with flatfeet that prevent over/hyperpronation), and they were too restricting and uncomfortable. Now that my arch doesn't collapse; I don't need major arch support in a shoe anymore - just a minor mix of cushioning and stability. I found that old school Nike Air Max sneakers were the most comfortable as they provide some arch support, and have the perfect combination of cushioning and firmness. The newer Nike Lunar series sneakers are too spongy feeling - they felt unstable like I was walking on a water bed. My feet still do ache if I walk around all day or when the weather is cold. However, I think that's normal. Aren't normal feet supposed to hurt if you're on them all day? ...I don't know as I've only had normal feet for 7 months :) I can't wait till the summer so I can wear flip flops for the first time in my life!

3 Months After Surgery

It's been 3 months since my right foot was operated on (2 months for my left). Everything is going great. The soarness & aches in my feet are almost totally gone.  I can be on my feet longer & longer everyday without fatigue. The chronic back, knee, and leg pain I've endured my entire life has almost completely diminished. My quality of life has already dramatically improved, and my healing & body adjusting is only at about 75% complete. There is still minor bruising around the surgery sites of both feet. My foot actually looks normal now as there is an arch present (see the before & after pic below)! Hopefully by this summer, I'll be able to wear flip-flops and walk on the beach without pain for the first time on my life!

9 Weeks After First Surgery - 1 Month After the Second

I got the stitches out of my left foot today. It was the second foot to be operated on, but healed significantly more quickly than my right foot.  I'm officially free of all ankle braces and for the past 2 days have been walking around on my new feet! I'm actually about 1/2 an inch taller now since my sinus tarsi isn't collapsing anymore. I also had to get new sneakers as my old ones were worn out from my prior flat feet and didn't fit well anymore.  After doing research and trying different sneakers, I got a pair of New Balance 993 as my new sneakers. I've always been a Nike guy, but New Balance are supposed to be the best built and designed to eliminate pronation and provide stability. I did get a pair of cushioned Nike Lunarfly sneakers as a back-up as well. Following my surgeries, sneakers with superior cushioning and stability seem to be the most comfortable.  My feet get soar and hurt if I walk too much, but it's not the same lower-back, knee, and arch pain I chronically had before the surgery.  Now it's a soarness around the outside of the foot as my feet are still adjusting to their new corrected position. Now that I'm distributing weight on my feet correctly, I'm getting knots in the shin and foot muscles that I'm using for the first time, but my feet are adjusting and the pain is less everyday. I also get dull aches in my ankles as the weather gets colder or more humid, but Dr. Kass said that will dissipate and is common. The Hypocure website says they've never had a reported case of the stent popping out after 4 weeks post-op.  I'm over 4 weeks post-op on both feet, so it seems I've made it through both surgeries without complications!  Woo hoo!

7 Weeks After 1st Surgery - 12 Days After 2nd Surgery

It's been almost 7 weeks since my first surgery and 12 days after my second surgery. The 1st surgery was on my right foot.  It was the more severely hyper pronated (flat) foot.  That foot is at about 80% now.  My left foot was just operated on 12 days ago. I was in a half-cast for 8 days and did not put any weight on it. The cast was removed in the morning, and amazingly by the evening I was able to walk on it barefoot with almost no pain.  It's healing very quickly.  I don't know if it's mental since I already went through it and was not nervous, or if this foot is just less flat and therefore will adjust to it's new corrected position more quickly (that was my doctor's opinion).  After the half-cast was removed, I was in a walking-boot for the entire day.  It was pretty painful walking in the boot for the first few of hours.  However, by the evening it didn't hurt at all.  So I went home and removed the boot and was able to walk barefoot with almost no pain.  I didn't walk around much, and was very careful not to roll-over my ankle as that could cause the implant to pop out or displace.  Dr. Kass told me if there is no pain, I can transition to the air stirrup ankle brace (by aircast) immediately.  So now I'm walking around with the ankle brace in my own sneakers.  In 2 weeks I can loose the ankle brace altogether as that's when the scar tissue will have successfully bonded to the stent preventing it from ever displacing.  So far the surgery is working perfectly.  For the first time on  my life, I've been walking a decent amount with no orthotics and I have almost no back, knee, or leg pain!

Day 35 - three days after 2nd surgery

I had the second Hyprocure stent put into my other (left) foot 3 days ago (five weeks after my first surgery).  I had the 2nd surgery so quickly because now my body was off balance and walking with only one flat foot was causing me pain and delaying healing of my corrected foot.  Dr. Kass recommended I get the other surgery soon as my first foot is healed enough where I can put minimal weight on it. I'm currently in a half-cast and know what to expect as I just went through the first surgery.  The pronation in my left foot was less severe so I'm expecting to heal more quickly from this surgery.  It's already less stiff and less painful than the first surgery.  Knock on wood... if all continues well in 2 weeks I'll be walking without orthotics for the first time in 18 years.

DAY 18

I wore the Aircast for 1 week, and my ankle hurt less every day.  The Aircast reduces weight & pressure on the ankle, but it also inhibits normal walking motion, so it causes a lot of fatigue. It also caused some pain and soreness in my legs, thigs, and gluteus maximus (yes, my butt).  I took the Aircast off when I was at home.  I wasn't allowed to put full weight on my foot without the Aircast yet, but I began to put a bit of weight on my bear foot to tested it out.  To my surprise, it didn't hurt much.  My doctor transitioned me from the Aircast to the Air-Stirrup ankle brace (seen below) 3 days ago.  With the ankle brace, I finally get to wear my own sneakers!  My first few steps didn't hurt at all.  After walking for about 1 block, it started hurting a bit and aching.  Everyday I can walk longer without pain.  I push myself to walk until I can't bear it anymore.  This is good as it builds up scar tissue and gets your foot used to it's new corrected position.  Once it begins hurting a lot... I rest about 5 minutes and can walk again without pain. It's important to step normally and not favor the operated foot. Walking down stairs (not up) and on uneven not-level surfaces hurt the most. I'm in NYC, so there's plenty of uneven sidewalks and stairs :(  I'm walking normally on the outside of my foot for the first time in my life, so my foot is a little swollen at the end of the day.  I don't get many shooting sharp pains anymore.  My foot just feels very achey.  I take anti-inflamatories and ice it, and by the next morning it's back to normal. When I think about it... Just 2 weeks after my surgery, and I'm walking around in my own sneakers... amazing I think :)