Broken ankle after surgery

Wendy,

I don't think it's normal.  I had a similar break surgery hardware and cast and did not experience that.  I think you should have it checked out.  There may be an issue with the cast.

Hi Wendy, go back and have it checked. Doesn't sound normal. You will have some pain at this point , but it should not be worse than when you had the break. It could be a problem with the cast. Don't leave it.

Wendy- I had a similar injury and have had the cast on for 4 weeks now- and I did experience a similar thing. The removed the stitches at 2 weeks - they and told me that the burning was probably from the stitches being pulled.  Now I have a lot of burning pain @ my inner ankle incision (the smaller incision).  I went in last Friday a week ago as I was worried about infection ( a also had a fx blister in the same area)

They took the cast off and replaced it and put padding around my ankles, shin and heel to allow more room for swelling.  Unfortunately- it did not help much- my pain is from nerves and i just cannot seem to get comforable.  I will be getting the cast off in 10 days and I can hardly wait.  I have been taking a sleeping pill as the pain wakes me up if I don't and not getting sleep makes everything worse.  I am hoping the boot (for 6 more weeks) will be a little better simply because I will be able to get it off even if just for a short time.  I would love to be able to ice this foot- the thought of it sounds heavenly.  I have had a lot of swelling in my foot- my toes are huge and I can feel when the cast gets tighter....

But- things are getting better- slowly but surely.  The numbness and tingling in the toes has slowly faded the past few days so this has given me hope.

I also agree that calling to at least get the cast changed out so you can see all is ok.  The knowledge that there was no infection really helped my frame of mind. 

It is a crummy injury- that is for sure.  I certainly hope you get some relief soon.

Hi Wendy. While mine was a nasty pilon fracture, you may want ask your Ortho about any nerve damage or residual nerve pain. I'm 5 months post injury and about halfway through, I too couldn't get beyond the pain. They mentioned that when they do surgery to repair the bone, they move the nerves out of the way. After that, sometimes the nerves can't fire normally so they go off all the time, causing pain. I had to see a nerve guy and he prescribed something for the nerve pain (Gabupenton) and that seemed to calm things down. The only problem is that you have to be weened off those meds. Anyway I hope that gives you something else to ask your doctors. Good Luck!

Thanks every one for your kind replies didn't realise what I thought would be a quick visit to A&E would disrupt my life so much (week in hospital, unable to wait bare on leg for 8 weeks, boot on and not drive after that)loss of job and above all such pain . The dream of putting ice on leg is all I can think of also but that's a long way of 10/10/2016 but at least I know these pains are common and will plod on with this pot as long as it doesn't get worse.🤕

I broke my ankle on the 16th July very badly .I have a triamellor (spelling !) three brakes.I have 11 pins and 2 metal plates. I am hoping to get my cast off today and go into an air boot.I had terrible pins and needles for a while but they have more or less gone.I will tell the surgeon today that my ankle bone on both sides has been rubbing and I do feel some gripe.The last few months have been horrendous but today I feel so much more positive. Just rest your ankle as much as you can .

PPS.nights too ,I couldnt get comfy and pain worse,but now much better.