Is Walking Possible Post Surgery For Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease?

Posted on Wed, 1 Jun 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 1 Jun 2016 Answered on

Mon, 4 Jul 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Have CMT and walk with a walker - recently had a bad tib/fib break. Had surgery approx. 6 weeks ago - pin inserted from knee to ankle and small pin on exterior ankle. In rehab and doing upper body strengthening as well as lower body to the extent possible because I've been total non weight bearing. Have seen Surgeon twice since surgery and he X-rays every time and says it all looks good and nothing has moved but says I need to develop callouses (sic) at the site before putting weight on the foot - Anything I can do to aid the process and next appmt. with surgeon is in two weeks which will be 9 weeksfrom surgery - am I fairly confident of being able to start weight bearing at that point. Extremely anxious about being able to walk again due to regression from the CMT so am most anxious to start moving - not to mention the mental aspect ( fall occurred on 3/30 - it's been a long time in hospital and rehab. Thanks for any input.

Answered by Dr. Prof. Kunal Saha (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
You should be able to walk fine again.

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.

I have gone through your query very carefully and understand your concerns. Let me assure you that you should definitely be able to walk again after the healing has adequately progresses. Had I been able to glance at the X rays, I would have been able to comment on the situation clearly but the screws would help in the bones reuniting and after your doctor feels that the time is right, you would be able to start bearing weight again. Of course these things take time. But the wait is probably worth the return.

Feel free to write back.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Sonia Raina