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calcaneal (heel) fracture from climbing fall 23-Sep-2012 At 11:05:37 AM crm114

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I reckon you need to unpack what "your foot will never be the same again" actually means.

I pretty seriously injured an ankle about 4 years ago indoor climbing (super bad, roll with popping which permanently damaged the inside of the joint and I now have a lump above the top part of joint). I know people who have broken their ankles and had a better result than me. I had similar stuff said to me about my prognosis.

So, I ankle is definitely not the same and never will be. It gets stiff in the mornings and sore in the joint sometimes. Having said that, I have done a bunch of marathons since and am climbing at least as good or better than when it happened (grades have slowed down for genetic reasons...). Like most of these injuries - further use may harm the joint, may actually help it or may make no difference, either way. Same deal for sitting on the couch and doing nothing.

So, if I were you, I WOULD expect that it MIGHT not feel the same again but HOPE it does feel the same. Joints/bones are pretty hard to repair completely though (got a close friend who is an orthopedic surgeon who has also had a knee reco...).

If it is not the same then that may not mean all the much - you just need to manage the effects of the injury and they may be totally minor. I know plenty of people who have had injuries that should not hold them back but they do because they won't do this (and some have gone back for more and more surgery). They keep waiting for the joint to feel "the same". I reckon it is like when you have not driven your car for a while and hear all the squeaks you never used to hear - as long as it does the same stuff, who cares..?

Hopefully that does not put me in naysayer camp .