Hard to say if that's just how your foot is going to be or if it's still going to improve. We hear stories all the time here how over time, people saw improvement over a year or two. I just think it's too soon to know.

I know for me, any kind of exercise where there is lot of impact bothers my leg, even now, like 7 years after the fact. I do have PTS so that could be the issue. For instance, I can do Zumba but I can do some of the moves fully. So I've kind of stopped doing that because it was just not very pleasant and my leg got all red and puffy. But again, I have PTS so that just really may the reason. I think I mentioned in another thread where when I first had my clot, I had to wear a certain tennis shoe with a slight wedge heel all the time because it was too painful otherwise, not the tingling like you, but just putting my foot down solidly was painful to my entire leg actually. That did get better for me.

To be honest, I don't know what your alternative is but to wait it out. I guess you can prepare yourself one of two ways: be patient and see how it goes and hope for the best. Or, accept that this may be as good as it gets and how do you move forward. . Do you know what I mean? I just feel like it can all be so unpredictable that you have to expect that anything is possible at this point.

I think you sound like you're doing really well. DVTs freakin' hurt, man and I'm not a baby when it comes to pain at all. Recovery from a DVT hurts even more. I had far more pain and discomfort post diagnosis than I did the 3-4 weeks I had symptoms of a DVT pre diagnosis. I think healing hurts. I think your body forming collateral veins probably adds to that. I think too any kind of exercise, while good for our circulation and in my opinion, super important post DVT diagnosis, can be uncomfortable. I don't think there's any definitive answers on recovery. But I think you are a very good path.

Hi JadesFire

What is the cause for the poor ability to raise your foot? Dorsiflexion is the movement of the foot (toes) upwards, i.e opposite to plantar flexion (toes downwards). The fact that you cannot use your foot on flat ground means that your foot needs to be continuously in plantarflexion ( you are using shoes with heel). Did your Achilles tendon rupture? (this would be a conservative treatment for a rupture). Also, it is not difficult to dance with your left foot always in plantar flexion?

Also, why are you having problems going down stairs? What do the doctors say is the cause for these symptoms?

Hey Stefan, When I was in hospital, the physio said that my foot wouldn't go neutral due to poor dorsiflexion; this was while lying in bed, not standing, and she was pushing on the foot trying to make the toes go back (towards the body) and they would stop before achieving a neutral position.

Whatever the terminology is, the problem's still the same. No pain, but it's stiff, feels like somewhere in the calf, so that I can't fully get the heel down; it's actually not too bad when walking but more problematic when trying to just stand. I also really notice it when trying to do a calk stretch; the heel WILL NOT press down. Pretty much the same for going down stairs; I just can't bend the left leg fully in order to alternate legs; again, not sure why.

No achilles tendon rupture or any other cause that I know of. The only doctor I've seen since the hospital is my GP who won't do anything but refer me to a hematologist (which'll take at least 3 months according to him). No one, in or out of hospital, seems to care about this problem.

Dancing isn't a problem at all as my shoes have at 1" heel which support my foot perfectly. I actually joke that it would be easier to chass down the mall than it is to walk it.

A positive Homans sign, which is calf pain when the foot is flexed upwards, is considered a symptom of a DVT. I had this and for me, that lasted as while after diagnosis, despite being on warfarin, and was the cause for some of my issues I mentioned.

Would like to point out that the Homans sign test is really inaccurate and not or rarely used any more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homans_sign

I have no idea why you cannot put your heel down. Perhaps very stiff muscles or tendons in the lower leg, but then again, these are just speculations. Do you have swelling in the ankle area? So the doctors have provided no real answers for you symptoms?

Stefan, it was used in conjunction with other examinations the doc was doing with my leg while was in the ER when I collapsed with my PE, to determine if I MAY have had a DVT, which would have explained the passing out and not being able to breath. Obviously it's not used to definitely diagnose a DVT.

My point was that I had lingering issues that felt similar to what that test felt like, after diagnosis. I had the puling pain in my calf when i flexed and I couldn't put my foot flat on the ground for a while.

The doctors don't seem to care: since I'm not in pain (knock wood) and can get about reasonably well, they're done with me. Just take the Warfarin and wear the compression stocking

That's why I'd like to go see a PT or chiro. I've had good results with them for my sports/dance injuries. As opposed to medical doctors who just seem to make things worsethe DVT was just the latest, and worst.

Oh well, as I said, I AM doing pretty well. Just hating those shower shoes and not feeling quite back to myself.

Yes, I would say that function and movement certainly can return much, much later. I didn't ski for 9 months after my first DVT and didn't ride a bike for years after both my first and second, though that wasn't because I had problems with a specific movement.

You're probably not gonna get a straight yes or no answer on this. I do know that lots of us have had terrible calf cramps-- like a charlie horse on steroids-- for YEARS after a clot... but then they can go away completely. I mean literally, the cramp would fling me out of bed, and the doctors swore up and down there was no association between charlie horses and blood clots.

Here's what's confusing about medical advice, in my opinion: Just because some of it's bad, dead wrong, or stone-cold crazy doesn't mean all of it is. Some medical advice will save your life, or help preserve a lot of function. But I take your point about PT, if you get somebody good. (I would never see a chiropractor, but that's just me.)

What one guy in sports medicine told me was this: Don't get tight, particularly in the first year or so. He thought it might increase risk of recurrence. Never heard of anything quite like what you're describing, but if something doesn't want to flex, I wouldn't push it too hard.

Try sports medicine. (That's what I'm going to do if I try to get them to sign my scuba certification. I don't think my GP even understand what the document is or what it means.) At my HMO, they were really good. They were gonna let me push the envelope absolutely as far as I possibly could, but no further. They also might have a better handle on whether there's any risk from what you're experiencing now.

Thanks, Catalyzt. Thing is that sports med isn't covered by my insurance (I'm in Canada btw) while physio & chiro are. My chiro does Active Release Technique which is a kind of soft tissue massage/movement therapy. Unfortunately she's out on mat leave right now and I'm wary about seeing someone new.

One of my big concerns is that once my handicap parking permit expires, I'm expected to walk from the employee parking quite a ways away carrying two heavy bags. I couldn't do it right now and am not sure if that'll change by July. And I just recently started there and don't want to be asking for special treatment (plus, I didn't want to tell my director about my physical problems as I'm teaching dance).