In a splint for 8 more days, then cast for 2 weeks and now walking boot non-weight bearing for another 3 weeks. After that start PT and weight-bearing. Ortho feels as I was athletic, recovery should be faster. Who knows. Biggest pain I have is cast and now boot pressing against the top of my foot.
I have numbness on the top of foot as well and some by the incisions. Good luck all, stay strong! Wow — your story is very similar to mine. Clip-in pedals on my mountain bike, hit some mud and rear wheel slid out and my left foot did not clip out. I had problems with my boot being too tight over the top of my foot at the beginning of it and loosened it at night which helped.
My biggest issue is the inside incisions were painful from the metal part of the boot pushing on them. I found that actually compressing the foam inside down MORE helped for that. But Snowboarding? Hi Rider, interested to hear how your recovery is going!?
I did my ankle fracture 3 bones a few days after yours, on Nov Had surgery a week later. It is now 9 weeks post surgery. I am only just starting to weight bare in the boot. Having a difficult time. I just want to be able to walk around the house in the boot by then :! NWB so far in a heavy clunky moon boot.
All the best to you all. So thankful that I found this post. I fell on stairs yesterday and x-ray shows mildly displaced distal fibular fracture. Nurse was emphatic no weight bearing. I am leary of using crutches and have a walker for now until I see doc hopefully this week upcoming. I am fortunate as I already have a PT who is knowledgeable so hopefully he can figure a way to continue progress on my shoulder along with ankle rehab. Grateful for all of the posts and especially the comments about fatigue which I experienced with my shoulder.
Thank you for sharing! Just wanted to say that I appreciated everything you write, and am happy to see that you fully recovered! Thank you so much for the post and all the comments too. I recently fractured my ankle in 3 places, had surgery just over a week ago.
Did you sleep with your leg up every night? I bought a special pillow to keep it raised. I guess this is normal? As others have said there is a very wide range of experiences. There seem to be many who did not get very much information from their surgeons. I fit this category too, even receiving contradictory information from different surgeons. There has been a lot of frustration and more than a couple of meltdowns. Was referred to physio so at least have that assistance.
Like so many others this is a horrible experience. Not having fun at all. But have to remain hopeful. I fractured 3 ankle bones on Nov 24, requiring surgery which was performed a week later — 3 plates, 16 screws and 40 staples. Was completely non wb for 6 weeks. Have horrible nerve pain around base of inside incision. Non-narcotic meds do not touch it. Have only really started physio and wt bearing 8 weeks post surgery.
Not going great. Wearing the boot itself is painful even without doing anything in it. My physio has mentioned complex regional pain syndrome. My question to all is has anyone had or got this, and what has been your experience. Reading about it is quite terrifying. There are other symptoms too — very individual. Not sure how to wb under these circumstances.
Thank you for info re. I find this too. Nice to share how to make these activities a little easier. I am still struggling with how to cook rather than just prepare food. Do very limited tidy up and cleaning. Everything is a struggle. Many thanks to all input here. Fibula made it ok but also crushed my left wrist. Happened mid Oct. After swelling and removal of fixator they added 2 rods. Basically 4 surgeries between the two breaks with the first day after being unbearable. But overall pain has been manageable until therapy.
As gruesome as the foot was, i still have very little pain and started walking recently with the same progression as most. Cast, walker, boot, then lace shoe. Im in first week of full weight bearing Feb wk 2 and much more prefer a lace up boot with gel or cushion insole.
Still no normalcy to walking from limited range of motion but hopeful. And ready to see if running will ever be an option again. Time leading up to this point was similar to most too. Get everything downstairs and near. Pills, remote, computer, phone, chargers etc. And if you can score a bed that tilts, even better. Did the shower bench too and used my office chair to wheel around the house.
Ice, compression socks and elevation kept swelling in check and I still use the compression sock while walking. Just about lost my mind over how avoidable the accident was but try to remind myself that its called an accident because its an accident and Im still alive.
If you havent read about Michael J Fox doing the same thing, it may help give you some perspective. You will start sleeping better and you will start walking again, which has been quite amazing so far. I am very impatient, but I followed everything the doctor recommended and believe it made a huge difference. Using Tylenol vs Motrin. Limit coffee and alcohol. I finally had a drink and paid the price during the night.
Curious if others experienced the same. Be prepared that therapy will leave you wondering if you will ever have the same movement as before. Wrist is by far the most painful to rehabilitate. Slow progress and pain at night.
My OT and PT are remarkable. If you dont make progress with yours, might not hurt to have someone recommend another. But be sure to keep your stretches going at home too.
Yikes John, one fractured limb and one surgery is quite enough. Yes, I tried alcohol — half can of cider — and paid the price. Now 12 weeks post op and had 5 weeks physio. Agree, physio and doing the exercises pay off — well worth doing.
Gets better each day. Good luck all. Thank you so much for this incredibly clear article about the trouble of a broken ankle, and the happy ending that you are ok now.
Thank you again, Wish you the best,. Very very pleased to read how other injured people have coped with being immobilized. Was hoping to get back to normal sooner rather than later so it seems like I need to adjust my thinking to longer than I thought. Crutches are cumbersome but very grateful to have them. Also taking natural things like magnesium, calcium etc. In the grand scheme of life, this is only temporary. I rolled my ankle and have a fibular fracture. Missed a bottom step, something so simple, ugh.
I am one week into this and it feels like forever. I am in a boot and have been told to wear it all the time, sleeping as well,except when icing my ankle. I go back on the 14th of May, 3 weeks after the injury for xrays to check. I sure hate being dependent on my husband. All your stories give me encouragement, this is my first time and I hope only injury like this. I guess not bad for being Thank you everyone! Oh Susie, I know how you feel.
I squashed a spider I had just hosed down with bug spray on bamboo flooring, so my thing is even more simple. I hope you have healed well since this post! Thank you all for so much helpful information and all the encouraging words. Please keep posting — very much appreciated! Thanks for this blog. Today is May 9, 4 months later.
I am FWB but still have daily swelling and pain. I look all the time online for information included here to see how others are coping and recovering. I had PT for 6 weeks after the cast was off and continue to do the exercises at home about 3x a week. I think the exercises are mainly keeping me at an even level of mobility, but not yet advancing to pre-injury status. And I bought a balance board to encourage and increase stability. My gait is still not normal. I usually have to have a cane for part of the day and always by evening when the swelling and pain is worse.
I have a shower seat and we installed handrails in the shower, which is a large walk-in shower, so much easier to use than having to navigate over a tub rim. Sometimes I have a lot of pain on the tibula side where there are screws.
I might have to call the PA about this if it becomes more of a problem. This is the first broken bone I ever had and have been stumbling along in the dark about what to expect.
Thanks for this blog and for continuing to monitor it. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to tell their stories. This site is what I needed to find to help me recover from a walking accident on 23rd January I dislocated my left ankle and had to have a plate and screws fitted.
It is a painful journey with lots and lots of tears and frustration when I think of the life I had before and asking myself will I ever be normal again! Good luck to everyone and I am sure we shall get there in the end!
Hi all, I broke both ankles bimalleolar 6 weeks ago, so far have had cast on both feet and non weight bearing. Does anyone have any information about rehab once the casts come off. I have not found anything on the web so far. Thanks for any input you have.
Hope everyone has progress to a more normal lifestyle since last post showing is from Feb I slipped and fell while walking my dog on a rainy day and ended up with a tri-malleolar fracture on my right ankle. After the surgery, I was released to go back home next day but my first night at home was terrible and the pain was excruciating. Over the next days pain got less each day and by day 5 I was able to ditch the pain meds altogether.
Three weeks later I got my staples off and was put in another cast for three more weeks. On May 27, the cast came off and was transitioned into a walking boot. When the cast came off, my skin under the cast looked terrible. Also, the feeling of having my ankle so weak and blocked with numbness on the top of my foot was quite distressing.
To get rid of all the dead skin in the gentlest way possible, I started epsom salt baths on a daily basis. The amount of skin that came off my foot was ridiculous.
It took me almost 10 days to clear all the dead skin. Having three orthopedist friends giving me advice besides my doctor, I was recommended to take Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B on a daily basis. However, as I got rid of one crutch there is definitely a bit of pain and soreness around my outer ankle which I am hopeful that will resolve in the coming days as my foot gets stronger.
Applying ice to my foot every night before I sleep definitely helps with the swelling. As for the PT, my exercises so far have been to strengthen my foot and to work on dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, inversion and eversion with weights and elastic bands. I also work on a stationary bike which also helps to increase ankle ROM.
It is definitely a long process and takes a lot of patience, hard work, positivity and self-encouragement. I still have a few more weeks until I can walk properly without the boot or crutches and can go back to driving. However, I am taking each day as it comes and I know that eventually I will get there.
Thanks for sharing! I am 28 and on June 4 I broke my ankle skateboarding. It was a stable spiral fracture that was low enough on the leg to not need surgery. I am at just about 6 weeks post break and I went in today for an X-ray. The bone is growing back so he told me I can switch from my walking boot to a brace with my shoe.
For reference I was NWB for the first 2. He pretty much said to wear a brace and come back in like 6 weeks to see bone growth progress? I broke my 3rd metatarsal and cuboid bone on my right foot 6 weeks ago and just got cleared to start driving again.
Not as serious as an ankle fracture but still really difficult to cope with especially as a single parent. I did maybe 5 minutes today and will aim for 10 minutes tomorrow. Would rather not overdo it in case it sets back my recovery. For everyone still feeling stiff or sore or having challenges months after return to weight bearing, keep hanging in there!
It gets better as you go. Congratulations Dana! I too experienced a full break of my Tibia years ago and have lived a full life even some four decades later. Your email address will not be published.
Skip to content As I wrote in a previous post with much more detail see here , I fell off a mountain and broke my ankle in three places, then managed to break a bone in my 5th toe on the other foot. Tips to deal with so much fatigue as you return to weight bearing: Some of the tips and things I figured out for being non-weight bearing and sitting around with a hard cast came in handy for the weight-bearing progression fatigue, too.
Speaking of showers, I put a toothbrush and toothpaste in the shower so I can also brush my teeth there while seated. I still keep most of my toiletries in the bedside table or you could have a caddy by the bedside so I can brush my hair, take my contacts out or put them in, wipe my face facewipes instead of having to stand at the sink to wash my face , etc.
I am taking ibuprofen 4x a day, and I get tired of opening the bottle. So I dumped a pile of ibuprofen on my bedside table to make it easy to reach and remember to take first thing in the morning or at night. There are no kids or pets in my household; keep safety in mind if you have kids etc in your household — this solution may not work for you.
I had Scott do this several days in advance when he went on a trip, and we kept doing it in advance even after he got home. I kept using my portable desk for working, taking video calls propped up in the bed with pillows behind me, and also laying the surface flat to eat meals from when I was too tired to get out of the bed. Other equipment that has come in handy:. The practice will make it easier for re-learning your posture and gaining confidence in walking without crutches. Did anyone have heel pain when returning to weight bearing.
Hope you are all better by now! Thank you Sylvie. Good luck with your recovery! Glad the post was helpful. PS — I forgot to thank you Dana, for starting a v informative blog! Have any of you tried the IWalk 2. Thank you!!! Best wishes to all in your recovery.
Pingback: How to get around in a foot cast - Benjamin E. Stein M. With 2 weeks left I need to find ways of being more self sufficient. Again thank you, gave me some good tips to help. The listing of different items e. Thank you, everyone, for the tips and information. As everyone has said, its a long process so hang in there. Thanks again for all those who wrote in and to Dana for starting it! Everyone heal fast.
Thank you again, Wish you the best, Warm regards, Birgit. Your doctor may use pins, screws, or other implements to stabilize the area.
Following surgery, your doctor will prescribe physical therapy to help you regain strength and stability. Recovery time for a broken ankle is different for every injury. It also may depend on other factors, such as:. Most stable ankle fractures require you to avoid putting weight on your foot by using crutches and a boot or a cast. This typically lasts for four to six weeks before physical therapy begins. Physical therapy often lasts about two months. At that point, most patients are able to walk around, but are still not able to resume athletic activity.
With a stable ankle fracture, it typically takes three to four months before a patient is able to return to low-impact athletic activities. For unstable ankle fractures that require surgery, it may take nine to 12 months before patients can return to significant athletic activity.
The most obvious symptom is pain. There are other symptoms that are more typical of broken ankles. If your ankle looks twisted or abnormal, it may be broken. Do not worry if you do not know if your ankle is broken, dislocated or sprained. Get it checked by a doctor. Find an urgent treatment centre. You'll usually have an X-ray to check if your ankle is broken and see how bad the break is. You'll usually have follow-up appointments to check your ankle is healing properly.
A broken ankle usually takes 6 to 8 weeks to heal, but it can take longer. The cast or boot is worn until the fracture is fully healed. If surgery is required, the ankle is stabilized internally with either screws, pins, plates or a combination of these to stabilize the fracture and allow for best possible healing. The day of the procedure, you will need to arrange for a ride to and from the procedure and arrange for help at home. Do not eat or drink anything after midnight for arrivals before noon.
Otherwise, do not eat or drink anything seven hours prior to your arrival at the surgery center. You will be contacted by Lawrence Surgery Center to set up your patient account. They will inform you of your pre-operative instructions as well as tell you when to arrive for surgery. You will likely be placed in a cast and be unable to put weight through your involved lower extremity for six weeks or more.
Your physician will likely schedule follow up appointments that include x-rays to check for proper healing and to ensure that the bones have not shifted in any way. Physical therapy is often prescribed following the immobilization period due to loss of range of motion and strength about the ankle. Exercises will include range of motion activities, band exercises to restore stability about the ankle, balance activities to improve proprioception and progression back to normal activity.
Request an appointment. LMH Health is changing the patient experience with convenience, innovation and technology. Learn more. Ankle Fracture What is it? What are the treatment options? Elevation and Ice Swelling is often seen after an ankle fracture. Splint A splint may need to be placed to support the broken ankle.
Surgery Whether or not a patient requires surgery will largely depend on the appearance of the ankle joint on the X-ray and the specific type of fracture. Procedure Goals If surgery is required, the ankle is stabilized internally with either screws, pins, plates or a combination of these to stabilize the fracture and allow for best possible healing. Future Risks Fractures that extend into the joint do put you at a slight risk for arthritis in the future.
What to Expect Before Procedure The day of the procedure, you will need to arrange for a ride to and from the procedure and arrange for help at home. Wear shorts or loose pants and a t-shirt for surgery.
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