Accidently put pressure on broken ankle.

I accidentally stood up in the middle of the night on my broken ankle because I thought I heard someone breaking in. It HURT, but no damage was done. If pain gets worse or swelling increases you might check with your physician.  Honestly, I think almost everyone recovering from an ankle injury accidentally puts weight on it at some point during the healing process. Unless the weight bearing is sustained, there is probably no problem.

Hi Shelley, 

Yes, I've put weight on my ankle... after surgery. It hurt but guess what? I did it again! Mostly when I was going to the bathroom! I mean, how hard is it to get in there on one leg and try to sit and pull panties up.. lol just keeping it real! 

Sorry  I am making light of it but it happens. My doc wasn't concerned at all. Your pretty protected in that cast.

Good luck!

 

I had the same surgery as you on Jan 2nd. I did the same thing week 3 and week 4. One of the times I put it down pretty hard because I was falling. No harm was done and my bones were healing beautifully on X-ray at my 6 week  postop. I’m sure it’s pretty common and the boot really gives you a lot of protection.

Hi Shelley,

I understand your worries. Probably many of us recovering ankle patients have had our little accidents where we inadvertently put weight or stress on the bad ankle.

If you were wearing a CAM boot properly at the time you likely did no harm. If not, something may have happened to the bone setting-- however at 4 weeks post-surgery your fractures were likely healed enough to take the blow without harm. That assumes your bone fractures are healing on schedule.

When your physician takes another set of x-rays in your recovery it would reveal if anything actually did happen. But I doubt it.

It's common. I did the same 4 weeks after ORIF for trimal facture. I finally was not feeling any pain, and completely forgot I had a broken ankle/cast on. Was kneeling on knee scooter at kitchen sink, and stepped down on foot with cast, quite a bit of my weight. It hurt...so much that I went to the doc 5 days later because I was still having pain. Xrays confirmed everything was OK! It was a step backward in my pain experience though.

I believe we’ve all been there. I’m about 4 weeks post op as well and I’ve accidentally put weight on my ankle a few times. Mostly because my crutches slide on my hard wood floor but one time because I was in a public restroom and panicked trying to turn around. I panicked too, and I do believe it increased the swelling but no damage was actually done. Believe me, I understand the concern. But you’re fine!

hi Shelley four weeks ago I had a triamullar ankle fracture surgery with a dislocation of my ankle put back into place and have one plate and multiple screws in my ankle

two days ago I fell and I didn’t have my boot on

my bad foot hit the floor the pads of my feet by my toes and send instant shooting pain on the sides of my ankle

today I woke up and it’s swollen and looks kind of bruised on the sides of my ankle and I have some pain in my heel when I rest it on the pillow

what ended up happening with you did you have a boot on or a cast or nothing like me?

thank you hun

put all my weight on my bad ankle, dont know if it will do any damage. but it certainly hurt less than when i stood on it when it was simply broken in a temp cast. 2 weeks almost, post op. no more pain in my ankle as such, but the stitching is irritating 24/7. any tips would be great

I had a fall August 4th and surgery Friday 13th (yes) for Trimalloelar fracture. I have nightmares about accidentally weight bearing so the responses to your past are so reassuring, thank you 😊

Hi Shelley, i had a bimalleolar fracture and orif 2 and a half weeks ago and am in a boot, non weight bearing for 6 weeks from op. Last night i tripped in the bathroom and put some weight on my bad foot, it hurt but this morning seems to have calmed down. The previous replies to this thread seem to indicate that this does happen sometimes with no ill effects. i guess pain and swelling are indications that you need to seek medical advice. i was comforted by the information in the thread and since i dont have further discomfort this morning i am going to try and stop worrying.

I broke my ankle in 3 places the breaks all went back in place so had no surgery and was put into a cast. Week 4 I stood on cast for 1 second as i tripped, bones moved and had surgery - pins and a plate put in. I'm 5 weeks post surgery now and yesterday accidentally stood on my boot while attempting to go up a small step! There is no swelling.. but I can feel its a bit sore.. reading your comments I feel better.. still a bit concerned though.. I have looked at bone healing charts and it seems its well on the way to healing at 5 weeks? Any thoughts welcome 😃