Tag: Ankle Surgery

Tiger Woods announces he had ankle surgery to address post-traumatic arthritis

Looks as if we won’t be seeing Tiger Woods play golf any time soon.

Looks as if we won’t be seeing Tiger Woods play golf any time soon.

On Wednesday, Woods announced he had undergone a subtalar fusion procedure to address his post-traumatic arthritis from his previous talus fracture.

A talus fracture is a break in one of the bones that forms the ankle. \The subtalar fusion is used to help relieve pain in the joint beneath the ankle joint and correct deformities in the hindfoot caused by injury, arthritis or genetic defect.

Once a fusion heals together, according to footcaremed.org, “it acts as one unit and can restore function and provide significant pain relief.” Recovery from surgery will likely include the need for a boot or cast for up to three months. Footcaremed.org says:

Although partial weightbearing often is allowed within a few weeks after surgery, full weightbearing in shoes usually takes at least 8-12 weeks.

Twelve weeks from now is the Open Championship, July 20-23. The 2023 PGA Championship is May 18-21; the 2023 U.S. Open is June 15-18.

Woods withdrew before finishing the weather-delayed third round of the Masters after making a record-tying 23rd consecutive cut.

More: List of Tiger’s injuries through the years

Dr. Martin O’Malley at HSS Sports Medicine Institute in New York City performed the surgery, which was determined to be successful.

Woods’ right leg is the one that suffered major damage as a result of a February 2021 car crash in California that nearly took his life.

No timetable was given for his recovery, but the statement said Woods was recovering and looking forward to beginning rehab.

Since the car crash, Woods has competed in four tournaments, making the cut twice at the Masters and the PGA Championship last year at Southern Hills. He missed the cut in the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews and withdrew following the third round at Southern Hills.

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Cowboys RB Tony Pollard undergoes same ankle surgery as Tua, Tannehill

The “tightrope” procedure has helped other players return to play within weeks, but Pollard also has a broken fibula that needs to mend. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Cowboys running back Tony Pollard underwent surgery on Tuesday for the high ankle sprain he suffered during Sunday’s divisional-round playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

The four-year playmaker now faces a recovery and rehab of several months. But it’s thought that he’ll be at full strength “well before training camp,” at least if Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts, and Ryan Tannehill’s experiences can be used as a barometer.

Pollard reportedly had the same “tightrope” procedure performed as all three of those quarterbacks, as per Todd Archer of ESPN.

The procedure uses braided polyethylene cord and is fastened to both the tibia and fibula to reduce the gap between the bones that the injury may have worsened. Small holes through both bones allow the cord to be fastened at either end of the “tightrope” with metallic buttons, and the suture is then tightened like a nylon zip-tie until the bones’ spacing is correct. The cord stabilizes the ankle while the body’s natural ligaments heal.

In a conventional surgery, long screws are used to physically hold the bones to one another during the initial healing. Those screws have to be removed via a second surgery, prolonging the rehab. The tightrope, however, stays in place: one lesser procedure, one usually-quicker recovery.

Hurts and Tagovailoa both underwent the procedure for ankle sprains while at Alabama in 2018. Both returned to play in a matter of weeks.

In 2019, Tagovailoa had the procedure repeated on his other ankle. He was back on the football field, playing in a CFP semifinal game, 28 days after that sprain.

Tannehill had tightrope surgery shortly after the ankle sprain he sustained on Dec. 18. The Titans had hopes of him even returning for the regular-season finale before finally placing him on injured reserve Dec. 29.

For Pollard, the tightrope addresses only the high ankle sprain he suffered Sunday. His fractured fibula will be allowed to heal on its own and will extend Pollard’s recovery time.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, have a decision to make regarding Pollard’s future with the club. He’s set to become a free agent, but Dallas could choose to award him a new contract or even use the franchise tag on him to retain the 1,000-yard-rusher’s services.

“Tony Pollard, he’ll be back from the injury,” Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay said Monday on Cowboys Hour. “But he’s a very vital cog to what we do. Other people see him as a very vital cog to what they could do as well. There’s a lot of running backs in free agency, so depending upon what people want to do… But he’s an explosive, playmaking guy.”

And hopefully Tony Pollard’s tightrope helps him get back to doing just that sooner rather than later.

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‘I got word that I was playing:’ Cowboys WR Amari Cooper could make preseason debut Saturday

The Cowboys veteran is looking to ramp up his preseason work in a hurry, eager to get his confidence back in the exhibition against Houston. | From @ToddBrock24f7

At no point during the 2021 offseason did Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper have August 18th circled on his calendar as a day of any real significance. But all of a sudden, the team’s Wednesday practice session could be the deciding factor in when Cooper’s seventh NFL campaign finally kicks off.

The 27-year-old has been sidelined as he recovered from two ankle surgeries earlier in the year and painful inflammation that kept him off to the side for most of training camp. But now with a clean bill of health, Cooper is making up for lost time in practice and wants badly to get into this Saturday’s preseason game versus Houston.

“Yeah, I want to play, for sure. I got word that I was playing,” Cooper said Tuesday via the team website.

But the midweek practice session will likely decide.

“I would really have to run the full route tree,” he said, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. “There’s just a lot that I haven’t done. When I was 100%, I did everything. I ran every route. Some things on the football field are harder to do than others. I haven’t really done the more challenging aspects of my position yet.”

Cooper has increased his strength over the past few months, which he believes will make him even faster on the field. But he’s also dropped weight; USA Today’s Jori Epstein details many of the changes he’s made, including cutting out late-night wing orders and eating at all after 8 p.m. Gehlken notes that Cooper’s recovery was hindered by a Vitamin D deficiency, something else his new dietary regimen looks to address.

The inflammation is a “whole lot better now,” Cooper says.

Monday was Cooper’s first practice back, though he had done some light pitch-and-catch work with Dak Prescott last week. While he doesn’t want to push it too far and risk a setback, Cooper knows the chance to get in a preseason game would be an important step to being ready for opening night.

“With me, I just want to do enough to feel confident going into Week 1,” he said. “I just started practicing, so it’s just about getting my legs back underneath me and getting my confidence back.”

A handful of snaps against the Texans could be a big boost to that confidence.

But Cooper’s work on Saturday night likely comes down to the work he puts in on Wednesday.

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Cowboys Amari Cooper posts ‘Surgery was a success’ after ankle work

Amari Cooper had his fifth 1,000-yard season in 2020, and he did so with an ankle injury that required surgery on Thursday.

If there’s one thing the 2020 Dallas Cowboys dealt with in abundance it was injuries, especially to key offensive personnel. Dak Prescott, Tyron Smith, and Blake Jarwin all suffered season-ending injuries by October. Zack Martin didn’t take a snap after Thanksgiving, Ezekiel Elliott had a calf issue, and La’el Collins was out for the entire season.

As the Cowboys turn the page to next season, it appears another key starter on offense was dealing with an injury in 2020. Wide receiver Amari Cooper posted via his Instagram account that he had successful surgery on Thursday.

According to Brianna Dix of D210Sports, Cooper had an ankle clean up procedure done. Although he did appear to injure his right ankle in the season finale against the New York Giants, no details had been reported as to what specifically caused the injury. He is expected to be ready to go by time offseason workouts begin.

Cooper had a career-high in yards (1,189), touchdowns (8), and yards per catch (15.1) in 2019 which led to his five-year, $100 million dollar extension in the offseason. He followed it up with another productive year in 2020 as he hit the 1,000-yard mark for the fifth time in six seasons (1,114) and set a new career-high in receptions with 92.

The four-time Pro Bowl selection was on a near 1,400-yard pace in the first five games before Prescott went down. The fact that he played with three additional quarterbacks (Andy Dalton, Garrett Gilbert, Ben DiNucci) and still was as productive as he was is quite impressive. He also did so alongside a solid alternate options in Michael Gallup, and a near 1,000-yard rookie in CeeDee Lamb.

There weren’t many bright spots for the Cowboys in 2020 but Cooper was one of them. Not many receivers could lose a quarterback of Prescott’s caliber and almost catch 100 passes.

Cooper certainly validated his contract in the first year.

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Zack Martin passes on Pro Bowl, undergoes ankle surgery

The 6-time Pro Bowler will watch someone else take his spot as he recovers from minor ankle surgery, according to the Cowboys.

Guard Zack Martin earned his sixth Pro Bowl trip for the 2020 all-star game, one for each year he’s been in the league. This time around, though, he’ll have to watch from the couch as someone else takes his place.

Martin underwent “minor clean-up surgery” on his ankle this week, the team says. The 29-year-old Notre Dame product was bothered at times this season by ankle and back ailments; the back issue kept him out of the majority of training camp.

But 2014’s 16th overall draft selection started every game in 2019 en route to another All-Pro nod, and has missed just two games in his stellar career. The club expects Martin to be back at full strength for the team’s offseason program.

Larry Worford of the New Orleans Saints will take Martin’s place along the NFC’s offensive line in Orlando, alongside Cowboys Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick.