9 weeks fibula not healed

Hi.  I think the general rule is that you need to keep your foot elevated if you need to reduce swelling.  I spent the first 10 weeks with my foot in the air most of the time.  It seems to have worked as my foot does not swell now

I'm in week 12 and it still hurts if I try to sleep without a few pillows under it.- so it must still swell in my sleep, even though the foot doesn't look too swollen now, only the bad ankle still looks bigger and less defined that the other still. Not sure when they will look similar again, but I am curious how long it all takes for that too. Boy, it will it be great to sleep permanently on my side again some day. We have been though a lot. Sometimes, I think we just have to give ourselves a hand for making it this far already

Hi Patti, it is now 12 weeks since I broke my ankle and 10 weeks since orif, and I also sleep with my foot elevated, I still have some swelling around my ankle and foot during the day, so sleeping with the foot slightly elevated definitely helps. I don't have much pain anymore, but my scars from the surgery are still slightly tender. I sometimes look at my ankles and wonder if they will ever look the same again. But as you say we have come a long way already.

Hello Pattie and Daphne.  I was concerned about the appearance of my inside and lateral ankle as i broke the bottom of tibia and fibula and am full of pins and screws.  My Consultant told me that once the swelling had gone between 6months to a year, my ankles would always look different and larger than my other foot

Hello Pattie and Daphne.  I was concerned about the appearance of my inside and lateral ankle as i broke the bottom of tibia and fibula and am full of pins and screws.  My Consultant told me that once the swelling had gone between 6months to a year, my ankles would always look different and larger than my other foot

Hi Daphne- Please remind me. Have you started PT exercises? I had no real pain last month until I started the exercises. I think they are the necessary culprit of my current pain or maybe it's the trying to put weight on my injured foot without the boot on. I'm trying to slowly strrenghen it. That's fantastic if you can do them and don't have pain later in the day! Yay!! I feel good when I'm doing the exercises and then later in the day I seem to have to pay my dues. I probably overdo the exercises though, because I'm trying to speed things ahead a bit too much at times I think.   I haven't had any tenderness on my incision (4" long) for several months now, but I massaged it a lot through the healing process and put fresh aloe vera on it for a whole month. I thnik it helped. Maybe that would help you.

Hi Patti, I never had a boot, went from a cast ( back slab ) to ok walk 6 weeks after surgery and nwb. I have been to physio twice, first time more an evaluation and given a page with exercises to do twice a day. I start my morning by massaging from my toes all the way around up to my knee with bio oil concentrating on the scars, and massage with more pressure under my foot and heel. This seems to help with the circulation. The I do my exercises. I start with moving my toes up and down as fast as possible about 50 times then I stretch them open and hold for 20 counts, do 20 of these . Sitting on a chair take a clot put it on the floor, keeping your foot flat scrunch the cloth up towards you, do as many as you can, I found this difficult but it gets easier and now I put the cloth on a carpet to make it more difficult. Take your foot point you toes down and stretch them doing towards the floor, hold for 20 counts, do 20 of them. Sit on a chair take a rubber exercise band around the foot. Push against the rubber band pointing the toes towards the floor. Slowly return to starting position. Do 20. Sit on a chair put the rubber band around the side of your foot. Turn your foot upwards and outwards against the band. Do 20. Do the same by turning the foot upwards and onwards against the band. Do 20. Then sit with the injured leg straight out in front of you. Put the band around your foot. Gently pull the band and feel the stretch in your calf muscle, hold for 20 counts. Do 20 of these. Stand in a walking position with the leg to be stretched behind you. The other leg in front of you with the knee bent. Lean your body forward and down until you feel a stretching in the calf of the back leg. Do this holding onto something stable and do as many as you can. Stand, holding onto a table or chain for support. Push up onto your toes then slowly relax. Do as many as you can. The last two exercises I do in my running shoes as it hurts a little if I don't have them on, but I will do it without shoes as I feel more comfortable. If you can't do the repeat times I gave you do as many as you can and work up from there. I am doing a bit more each day. Hope this helps. X

I haven't heard that before about the injured ankle being larger when we are done, I guess they won't look perfect which is a bummer, but still I hope they won't be so different that anyone (besides ourselves) will be able to notice. We are always the ones who are most critical of ourselves. And at least it is our feet instead of something more noticeable I guess. At this point I just hope to walk fast, weight lift (to keep strong bones), bike and swim etc., without pain some day, and be able to do most things I could do before. My ankle is still swollen and I tried on a tennis shoe, just to see the fit yesterday, and I could get it on, but it was very tight (kind of like I was wearing a really thick sock on one foot and not on the other). I am really hoping my doctor may move me out of the boot at the end of the month and into tennis shoes, so I just wanted to try one on to see about the fit. It was weird to try a shoe on the injured foot, after 3 months had gone by, and nice to know I could get it on (even if it was pretty tight). I know things won't be exactly perfect by the 12 month mark in recovery, but I hope we will be much better than we are now and swelling should be all gone by then pretty much. 

My gosh. You have one amazing exercise programme.  How do you have time to do so many exercises when, for each one, you hold for a count of 20!  

How many weeks post-surgery are you?

Hi Daphne- I do exactly the same exercises as you do (found the bent leg stretches are really important because the Achilles seems pretty tight). I also do the writing the alphabet in the air exercises too which are super helpful. I do my first set of exercises in the morning in a warm bath of Epsom salt (which is such a nice way to start the day) and then I ice right after. Then I do one or two more sets in the afternoon and evening. It really doesn't take that long to do them and they feel really good when I do them. I seem to get pain and need two Motrins a day from all these (plus a bunch of walking in the boot each day and barefoot walking in the house).

O have not tried the Epson salts, but will. I also do a lot of walking but I don't have a boot so I walk with a good pair of running shoes and also barefoot. Today I went shopping with my husband and did the a lot of walking, leg is a bit sore and swollen now, but not to the extent that I need meds. will take some when I go to bed tonight.

Daphne- That is great you did all that! That will help a ton with your recovery! Way to go!