1. Community
  2. Bones, joints and muscles
  3. Ankle Problems

Ankle fracture treated with soft brace and no cast/boot - anyone else have this?

Posted , 4 users are following.

seth52110
seth52110

I had a snowboarding fall at the end of February. My ankle hurt but I could walk on it with a limp. It barely swelled and didn’t bruise. I went in to urgent care the next day and X-ray was negative so it was treated as a sprain. A few weeks later I learned about a common fracture in snowboarders, the lateral process of talus, which is often misdiagnosed as a sprain. So I went to a foot and ankle ortho doc at 4 weeks who repeated an X-ray and found the fracture. He gave me a soft brace to wear and said it should heal up fine. Got a CT that showed it was minimally displaced so didn’t need surgery. Now I am at 3 months and still having some pain. MRI showed it hadn’t completely healed. Am scheduled for ORIF later this month. Supposedly this surgeon is excellent but I’m not sure I got the best care when I first saw him, though it had already been a month. I was out of the brace but now am wearing a boot, trying to NWB, and trying to hang on for a few more weeks until surgery when I have to start over with the recovery. Anyone else have anything similar to this? He tells me it will turn out well in the end, I sure hope so. 

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • whizjoe
    whizjoe seth52110

    Posted

    I broke my talus 6 weeks ago. I went to emergency doctor and they put me cast. The I went to ortho after one weeks he renewed my cast and said I should stay 4 weeks in a cast. after 4 weeks he removed my cast and try to mobilise and bear weight. there was a pain when I bear weight but no pain when mobilize it. Then after one weeks I went to another ortho he did CT and it showed talus body fracture. He said be in a cast 8 weeks. If I add all more than 12 weeks in a cast. I hope it will heal. Doctor said talus fracture heals slowly it may take up to 6 month to heal. 
    • seth52110
      seth52110 whizjoe

      Posted

      Did they diagnose you based on X-ray or did you have a CT right away? I had an X-ray that was negative and diagnosed as sprain (lateral process talus - not uncommon misdiagnosis unfortunately). Then I went to see an ortho at 4 weeks and had the CT that showed it. I was just using an ace wrap and not a cast since it was diagnosed as sprain. 
    • whizjoe
      whizjoe seth52110

      Posted

      you walked and beared weight for 4 weeks after injury?
    • seth52110
      seth52110 whizjoe

      Posted

      Yes. Was treating it as sprain with “active rehab” After seeing ortho, he also didn’t recommend NWB at that time. 
  • whizjoe
    whizjoe seth52110

    Posted

    what are the risks of avascular necrosis and arthritis after non displaced talus body fracture? I was a speedy runner. Can patients run after healing this type of injuries?
  • kpower
    kpower seth52110

    Posted

    Seth,

    Sorry to hear that your physicians bungled your initial diagnosis of your foot injury.

    It's funny they told you it was minimally displaced and will heal fine, and now they are telling you to get ready for surgery. What a surprise.

    Are they getting you to do surgery because fracture is now seriously displaced, or because bones haven't knitted after 3 months?

    If bones are reluctant to heal (non-union) there are non-surgical modalities to speed process, especially PEMF devices. Also if you smoke that retards bone healing.

    I hope you get better treatment and advice from here on out.

    • seth52110
      seth52110 kpower

      Posted

      Hi kpower,

      The bone is not more displaced, but hasn’t healed yet (delayed or non-union). I am going to start the exogen bone stimulator (ultrasound), hoping to get it any day now. Have surgery scheduled for 6/29, unless the bone seems to be healing better by then with the stimulator then will cancel. I’m a non-smoker, not obese or diabetic. Thanks for the support. 

  • whizjoe
    whizjoe seth52110

    Posted

    Seth, do you have a telegram messenger app? if you have it just write to me we can share and compare our ct images and will know about fracture in details. write to me +998905503555
    • seth52110
      seth52110 whizjoe

      Posted

      I just downloaded it. I’m not sure how to find you by the number. I set my username to the same as here. So if you can message me I’ll share my images and details with you. 
  • oscar80077
    oscar80077 seth52110

    Posted

    hi

    i have bad experience with the stupid talus bone. i suggest to search other discussions about it.

    the lateral process is a small piece of bone on outside area. the break is a "good" one, less serious than other talus breaks. so should give less complications

    anyway the bone is quite defective by design, even a 100% aligned fracture can take ages to heal.

    i fractured other bones as well and ended up in a long plaster up to my groin. i think this cast did the job really well. with the below knee cast and the walker boot my ankle never healed. so if i were in you i would like to have a below knee plaster cast, nwb 100%

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.