r/LisfrancClub

I had a liscfranc injury two years ago and it was bad. The er was overloaded so they sent me on my way. I walked on it from then on. I have a large bony lump on the top of my foot. It's like a ledge or step down to my toes. I'm in a lot of pain and the lump is so painful.

What is this?

Hello, I am 6 weeks post orif NWB and my crutch got caught and I prevented myself falling by putting some weight on the injured foot. It felt a bit odd for the 1-2 seconds it was on the ground but no pain, I'm just a bit annoyed as I wasn't wearing the boot at the time and I'd really be kicking myself if this has reset me back to week 1. I've read through a fair amount of similar posts I guess just not quite put my mind at ease as I didn't read any which mentioned bare foot, so just wondering if anyone had a similar experience?

Three months ago I had a surfing accident, twisted my foot real bad, and was diagnosed with mild Lisfranc injury. Was told to stay in boot for two months then start walking, after three months my load bearing x ray showed a 4.5 mm displacement and I was told I need surgery.

I have to choose between tight rope surgery or fusion.. Even though my foot feels ok but several Drs think I have to do surgery otherwise my foot will develop arthritis..

Did anyone have a successful tight rope surgery after months of injury?

Hi guys.

I had surgery approx 36 hours ago and the pain is really bad. The nerve block has worn off and the 30mg dihydrocodeine helps but only slightly and still painful

I'm getting a call from the gp tomorrow. What pain relief did any from the UK get that actually worked?

I want something stronger than the hospital gave me. What is the strongest they can prescribe here?

Thanks

Hi, so it has been a crazy ride and weird situation with my lisfranc injury. I'm looking for advice as my doctor is at a loss and I don't know what to do next. I'll add in the timeline here...

November 2025:
-dropped a full keg (160lbs) on my foot at work
-went to urgent care got an xray that showed no breaks or fractures
-got sent home and told to RICE for 72 hours and then return to normal activities
-was unable to walk or weight bear for about a week and then returned to activities (in quite a bit of pain

January 2026:
-went to a different urgent care for a second opinion because it still hurt and I was still limping
-got another xray, no breaks or fractures
-started physical therapy for about a month, I was doing so well (albeit with pain) that we were doing very advanced exercises (hopping on one foot, walking on tiptoes with weights, ETC)

February 2026:
-after a month of 3/week physical therapy appointments the pain was increasing and changing so my doctor ordered an MRI
-MRI came back with a lisfranc fracture and torn ligament.
-immediately stopped physical therapy and got put in a boot and crutches until I saw the specialist

March 2026:
-saw an orthopedic surgeon
-got a weight bearing xray
-he said the joint looked stable and because I was already walking around on it for 6 months I could lose the boot and crutches
-told me to wear supportive shoes and got an orthotic insert

April 2026:
-pain was still bothering me so got a weight bearing ct scan
-he said joint looked stable and he didn't think I needed surgery
-he said the only next step was surgery even though it wasn't indicated in any scans and that my foot shouldn't hurt at all by now
-got a cortizone shot
-was told to let pain be the guide for shoes, activity level and whether or not to continue with orthotic insert

August 2026 (current)
-pain came back at about the same level as last spring
-I'm assuming the cortisone shot wore off
-wearing the orthotic hurts my foot more and being barefoot feels better than supportive shoes
(I'm of the firm belief that we were meant to be barefoot and spend 90% of my life barefoot so I wonder if that's why)

I'm just at an absolute loss for why this could still be hurting if the joint is as stable as it sounds. The doctor is at a loss and I don't want to just keep getting bandaid cortizone shots for the rest of my life. I'm wondering if the fact that this is workers comp has doctors not believing me about the pain? I definitely don't want surgery if it's not medically necessary because right now the pain is like a persistent headache, doesn't necessarily get in the way of day to day life but bugs the crap out of me.

Also I am extremely active and do an hour of yoga everyday, hike a lot, teach yoga and bartend as my full time job. Basically on my feet more often than not. All of this has been okayed by doctors along the way and is only done to a point in which my foot can handle it. But I just want to be back to my full blown athletic self.

Just looking for any advice on next steps or things to ask for from people that have gone through this injury or had an experience similar to mine. tYIA

PS I know I am extremely lucky compared to a lot of the horror stories on here. Sending love and healing to anyone that has dealt with this awful injury!

What shoes would you recommend for walking around the house once cleared from NWB? I’ll be at my 6 week mark next week, and hopefully my doctor clears me for PWB/FWB

I’ll have my aircast for when I’m walking outdoors but i’d like to get another shoe that doesn’t go all the way above my calf..

I’m usually barefoot at home but I don’t think I’ll be able to walk barefoot for a while. Appreciate any recommendations!

My husband was in the bathroom and passed out while he was standing up and cracked his head on the sink and somehow hurt his foot when he fell. He had no clue how it happened and woke up in blood from his head. He said his foot was killing him way more than the huge gash on his head. We went to the emergency room where he got stitches on his head and got an X-ray on his foot which was really swollen. We were really hoping it was just a sprain but the doctor came back telling us it’s a homolateral lisfranc fracture which is the worst that you can get and now he needs surgery which I was hoping he didn’t need, but he wasn’t hopeful and knew he needed it because of how much pain he’s in. His doctor said he will most likely be able to drive within 9 weeks which is good to hear (I had my license for years but barely driven since so time for driving lessons for a refresher 😩). Has anyone had these weird freak accidents happen to them? We both have no idea how he got such a bad fracture from passing out in the bathroom. Of course we’re very thankful it wasn’t anything worst but it’s just really crazy that it happened.

i’m one month postop I have three screws in my foot. The doctor said I suffered a severe Lis Franc injury … pain has calmed down a lot, but stiffness heaviness tightness are still very prominent. Swelling is still there as well. My foot feels crazy all kinds of different aches and pains. I just want to feel normal again. This sucks. i’ve been completely non-weight-bearing since and I continue that until end of October before I can start physical therapy. This has been a damn nightmare.

Hi all, nearly a week ago on 8/12, I heard/felt a CRACK unlike anything I've ever felt before on the top of my foot while walking. To be fair, it happened after a play during co-ed adult softball (I'm 40 for reference and while I'm still good, I'm not in some super competitive league or something). I made a play at first, step on the bag with my LEFT foot, inning ended and proceeded to walk to the bench where a few steps later (aka walking, no play in action), my RIGHT foot made the huge crack noise/sensation. I immediately doubled over in pain. Luckily the game ended shortly after and I made my way home where I iced and elevated. There was (and still has not been) any bruising or swelling anywhere on my foot (top or bottom).

I went to urgent care the next day and they took x-rays to make sure it wasn't broken, which they concluded it was not but I scheduled a follow up with my podiatrist for Monday (yesterday). They gave me a walking shoe and told me to relax and ice, which I did over the weekend. Through that time until my appt, the pain got better, I can still walk but just can't walk 'all the way through' from heel to toe without some pain.

I saw my podiatrist yesterday and they confirmed no breaks, but are concerned it's a Lisfranc injury and ordered an MRI that I was able to schedule for tomorrow (Weds). They fitted me with a walking boot and told me to take it easy. Jokes on me as I already had a walking boot but I gave that to a friend a year ago, and then 3 weeks ago I lent my crutches to a friend who has a severe ankle sprain. I tried my best to avoid looking at what this injury entails, but my lizard brain got the best of me. Now I am freaking out at the prospect of not just being in a walking boot or cast if this is indeed a mild injury, but full on surgery.

I had major knee surgery last year, ACL and meniscus (same leg as this injury), in which I was NWB for 7-8 weeks, couldn't drive or do anything, and then about 6 months into that recovery I found out I developed avascular necrosis in my femur right above where they operated. I had to go back to wearing a brace and using a crutch for another 6 weeks, and it put my full return to normal back another 8 months. In total from that injury and surgery, it took 16 months to be given the ok.

I'm only 2 months out of being graduated from that PT. And now this happens. From walking. I realize the stress of playing softball and the action of the play right before could have contributed to this, but I'm still floored it's on my right foot and not my left which I stepped on the bag with.

To say I was devastated with what happened to me last year was an understatement. I deal with anxiety and panic disorder, but nothing ever felt like the depression I went through after my necrosis diagnosis. I'm trying not to freak out right now about this but I'm failing.

I don't know what I'm looking for by posting this. Has anyone else had a mild sprain and didn't have to do surgery? What did that recovery look like for you? My pain when sitting/laying/standing and not moving is 0/10. When I walk it's maybe a 0-5 depending on if I step oddly or too fast. I have a dog and it's hard to NOT walk (though I have friends who helped walk her last year, I'm sure they'd be willing to help again). I also live alone so facing another severe injury with just me by myself is daunting. I have a RLT panel and already started using it on the area on the top of the foot where this happened. I know research is hit or miss with red light therapy and who knows if the wavelengths can even penetrate that far into the bone/tissue/ligament but I figured it wouldn't hurt.

I AM SO EXCITED. I can’t wait to have all this metal out of my foot. Surgery scheduled for September 2nd. 9mo post op and ~10mo post initial injury. Surgeon said he will try his best to remove all hardware unless something is broken or too deeply seeded. Bye bye 3 plates and 12 screws (hopefully). My pain level hasn’t improved since I graduated from PT in June and still nerve pain but controlled okay with gabapentin. It’s been so hard, everyday hoping I can return to semi-normal function with the hardware intact but it is just too symptomatic to be worth keeping in.

Anyone have any pro tips to plan ahead? I feel so much better equipped to handle it this time around, and know most things I can plan ahead for. Only downside is that I have limited PTO so I will take 5 working days off (will return to work Thursday-Friday) but considering using my last remaining sick day and my Flex Time to take those last two days off. So it’s not the best. I’ll be cinched for time until next year when I get more PTO.

But I know I’ll be cleared to bear weight after two weeks post HWR. So I could walk by the time I’m back the following week. I will definitely miss being able to walk and drive (even though it’s a lot less time being NWB like initial surgery).

Tips? Anything you wish you could do better if you had to go through HWR again? I feel seasoned at this already but just feeling some anxiety about it all. I would so appreciate it!

It’s been such a long road. I hope this gives me some kind of closure since it’s just a daily reminder of what happened to me.

Cheers, and hope you’re all doing well!

Hi there,

I (38F) had my ORIF with six screws and a plate in May after falling down the stairs badly. The healing went well, but since I could neither actively nor passively bend my big toe my surgeon recommended removing the hatdware after three months. Now one week after the second surgery the healing goes well, but I still cannot bend my big toe.

Has anyone made this experience and if so, how long did this stiffness last?

My surgeon is a foot specialist and did not see any mechanic reason in the second operation that would explain this. And I have been doing physiotherapy as well all the time since the fall.

Happy about any insights!

OK, I’m 6 days post Lisfranc button surgery, I honestly have a really good pain tolerance, so I stopped my medication for pain on day three.
That’s the day. I also accidentally fell on my heel because I was trying to crutch down the stairs and I hit my heel. But ever since Thursday, I’ve had unbelievable pain in the back of my heel and the bottom of my heel. Like to the point where I’m waking up in pain.

I haven’t been walking on it or anything like I’ve been super good about that, but I can’t even elevate my foot without severe radiating burning pain. And if the splint even touches my heel, it honestly unbearable.

It’s honestly to the point where it hurts more than my actual injury for my Lisfranc, which is really weird to me. And my Lisfranc injury was to the point where it was completely ruptured and my foot had fallen in. But now the actual surgical site doesn’t even hurt and it’s just the back and the bottom of my heel.

I know bruising of the heel is completely normal because of the pulling of blood, but I wanted to know if anybody else has had this type of pain and if I need to do something about it.

And pain meds aren’t working

Hello!
I had a tightrope surgery July 14th, just started partial weight bearing in my boot with crutches. Injury was June 13, I’ve been NWB since then.

Looking ahead, planning to book travel for November, and ideally I’d like to do a bit of light hiking (3-4 miles)

At 4 months after surgery (no fractures, no displacement, tightrope) — has anyone returned to longer walks/ hikes?? Is this feasible?? Or am I being unrealistic

Hi everyone, the other day I stubbed my toe really badly (the type where you do a tom and Jerry yelp and have to roll on the bed for 5 minutes).

it bruised badly and swelled a little so I called 111 and asked for their opinion as its one of the toes I broke when I did my lisfranc injury and I was worried it may move things or harm it.

a few days on I don’t believe the toe is broken, or if it is it’s a very small fracture. As it’s my middle toe 111 gave me advice on how to help it recover if it was a broken toe and what to look out for if I needed to go to A&E. So far it’s all ok but the top of the foot around where the metal work is and the lisfranc injury was feels more sensitive or sore and it feels harder to walk/stand? I’ve been walking for maybe 14 months now post op and am still in physio for muscle strenghtening (so this doesn’t help as I need to be gyming!)

I’m unsure if this is just me being subconsciously over protective of the foot or maybe it’s just knock on effects of how badly I stubbed it. I can still bend it and bear weight fine, it just feels slightly off or strange if you get me? Has anyone else stubbed their toe badly and found it made the injury more sensitive or even caused a new injury? Just wondering if it’s something that will feel funny for a week or so but get better soon or something I should be more concerned about!

I wanted to share my Lisfranc “journey” because I’m at a point where I’m facing significant revision surgery and struggling with how much trust I’ve lost in the process.

My injury was originally diagnosed as a sprain, and I walked on it for three months before the Lisfranc injury was finally identified. I was in an incredible amount of pain during that time, but instead of anyone questioning whether something had been missed, I was made to feel at times like the amount of pain I was reporting was suspicious or drug-seeking. I even saw an additional GP who also missed the injury. No one suggested I see a foot/ankle specialist.

Eventually I was referred to a podiatrist/surgeon and had surgery with a plate and eight screws involving my second and third metatarsals. I was told the hardware was permanent.

After a long recovery, I continued having pain and other symptoms that never really resolved. I raised those concerns over the next 3½ years, but they weren’t adequately addressed, so I finally transferred my care to a specialist.

And that’s where this has taken another turn.

The new specialist believes my hardware needs to come out. The problem is that they have never seen hardware like mine and don’t know how to safely remove it, so I’ve now been referred to a limb-salvage specialist to see if they can figure out how to get it out.

I’m also being told I need significant additional reconstruction involving my first metatarsal—another plate and screws, along with a bone-graft fusion involving essentially the entire first metatarsal. My understanding is that this area should have been addressed during my original surgery.

That part has been really difficult to process.

I trusted the surgeon who finally diagnosed and treated me. After three months of being told it was a sprain and feeling like no one believed how much pain I was in, I genuinely thought I had finally found the person who saw what everyone else had missed and was going to fix it.

Now, 3½ years later, I’m finding out that there may have been significant parts of the original injury that weren’t addressed, the “permanent” hardware needs to come out, and the specialist I transferred to doesn’t even know how to remove it.

I know medicine isn’t perfect and Lisfranc injuries can be complicated. But after the original missed diagnosis, having my pain questioned, years of continued symptoms, and now learning all of this, I’ve lost a lot of faith in the medical system.

The hardest part now is figuring out who I trust enough to operate on my foot again.

Has anyone here gone through major revision surgery years after their original Lisfranc repair? Especially involving hardware removal, additional fusion/reconstruction, or a referral to a limb-salvage specialist?

How did you find the surgeon you ultimately trusted?

Background: (45F) Injury 3/20/26 after colliding with my son. Cast for 4 weeks, then into a boot NWB for 8 more. First ortho refers to specialist who immediately finds that first guy just totally missed a bad LF which was clear on the MRI.

Fusion 7/2/26, 2 plates & 7 screws. The ortho said when he put a spreader in just to get the full extent of the damage in person that my foot pretty much "fell apart". 3 weeks in post-surgical splint, 3 weeks in a cast. Stitches out yesterday and into a boot again. Begin very minimal PWB now. Come back in 1 month, hopefully release for PT at that time. Surgeon expects 3 months in the boot.

I have lupus and poor circulation in my hands and feet. And with the delayed diagnosis and treatment the surgeon has said this will be an ultra marathon, not even just a marathon, recovery. The swelling even now, 6 weeks post-op, is nuts.

I feel like I'm never going to get better. I feel like I'm never going to stop being in pain. I don't know if I'll ever walk normally or wear high heels again.

I'm just really struggling mentally right now.

I don't like that we're all in this club, but I'm glad there are people to talk to who understand.