Broken ankle pain at night!

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broke my ankle playing netball 3 weeks ago , nwb in cast and until now not alot of pain. last few nights the pain is unbearAble!!! can feel ankle swelling in cast and pain at the back of ankle.! cast has been removed and checked and all well but the pain at night is driving me mad! i elevate all night hoping it will ease but it doesnt! its fine in the day! anyone else experiencing this sort of pain at night??

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2 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi sam, Ill be 5 weeks post surgery tomorrow- trimalleolar fracture.

    Absolutely this pain is normal, if anything this site has told me this! theres a great thread in here pages long with people saying the same thing.

    for me it was worse 1-3 weeks post surgery, and mainly at evening night- when it got to around 8pm I'd brace myself for it to start. Its nerve pain,. apparently worse at night as your body starts to relax etc.

    When i went for my cast and stitches removing 2 weeks post surgery I spoke about it with the consultant who agreed, but couldn't / wouldn't prescribe the required meds as its a different type to codeine and oxycodone (which doesnt help with this type of pain- but will help you sleep) which needs monitoring when prescribed. I was then moved to a boot. She told me it needs either Gabapentin or amitriptyline.

    I spoke with my GP next day who prescribed amitriptyline but i did only take for a few days as i was scared of the withdrawal. (again after reading up online) It can also need a few days / weeks to get into your system to work.

    Luckily for me it subsided a few days after and its much better now. My whole heel was completely numb at first when i came out of the cast and i think that was contributing to these pangs- but Im slowly getting feeling back in it and thus the pain is subsiding. my whole foot is still coming out in bruises but its like its feeling better for the bruises coming out!

    I also found that removing my leg from the boot and touching the areas with this pain helped but i can see you're still in a cast! I used to put some headphones in and listen to some hypno stuff, ocean sounds or whatever works to take my mind off it and set myself up in the middle of the bed to flop around side to side if needed (husband was relegated to spare room)

    Its so hard but stick with it, it will get better and if you feel you need meds contact your GP asap. Its such an awful thing to be going through isnt it? keep in touch on here, there's others going the same and can support / help. Good luck and stay strong!

  • Posted

    If you ice behind the knee it will help chill the ankle with blood flow. That my help. I still take a pain pill some nights. The other night I woke up dreaming I was getting shots in my feet. I think nights are the last to go away.

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