Broken Ankle Sleeping in boot

Same here I broke my ankle 1/7- had surgery 1/10 WHICH INCLUDED SCREWS & metal plates splint & sutures removed 2/2 my sutures are painful rather the would I was put in a book and told to bare down when Iam ready to WASNT recommended I sleep in the boot but I do because it's easier to sleep my toes are numb my leg feels like it doesn't even belong to my body I want to know WHEN WILL MY ANKLE START to heal???? Somebody help me please!!!!!!

Hi, I broke my ankle back on April 10th. I had just gotten hired that day and clearly am not working there as of then. The healing process is incredibly frustrating, but I should be starting therapy in June. My main passive problem is with how gross the boot feels, I try to keep my room incredibly cold to minimize sweating, but the dead skin from being wrapped up in soft casts for so long contributed. Once able, I scrubbed my foot as best as I could. Sorry for the gross details.

I'm having to rely on my parents and siblings, who I'm thankful to have, since I still live at home. The problem is is that my mother keeps pressuring me to head across the house (which is incredibly difficult to traverse with crutches) to fix my own plates of food and to only use one crutch. No matter what I say, she keeps pressuring me to do so. I broke my ankle from how clumsy and unsteady I am with two working legs, I can't dream of only using one crutch to go through the entire house while my foot is nonweight bearing, let alone try to cook like that. I'd only make a mess and injure myself more.

Sorry for the long message, I guess I just needed to vent.

Hi everyone,

I hope by this time most of you reading this are in the final stages of recovery. I broke my talus and tibia from falling on May 16th. I had external fixation done on May 19th then internal fixation performed two weeks later on June 2nd.

Overall I did not experience too much pain after either surgeries. The doctors gave me a nerve block for the internal procedure and when that wore off the next day the pain was about a 9-10 but only for a few hours. I took OXY and HYDRO for three days then called the doctor to complain about the numbing and nerve pain and he advised to lay off the pain killers and just take Tylenol.

I will be getting my splint cast removed next week to replace with a real cast. The most difficult part right now as many of you have been writing is sleep. I don't feel too much pain but the numbness, tingling, and aching of my entire lower body makes it super uncomfortable to find the right sleeping position. I have two plates and thirteen screws in my right ankle. The other night I tried sleeping sideways with my ankle still propped up and the next day it felt super swollen. The doctor said it's not good to sleep sideways cause you will put pressure on the screws and advised to sleep on my back at all times. I've been getting less than five hours of sleep at night and if I'm lucky I'll score an hour here and there during the day. In terms of getting around I've been using a wheelchair in the house and peeing in a bucket near my bed so I don't have to get up too often. Another tip of advice is to keep your foot elevated above hip level whenever you're sitting such as dinner when you're in a chair.

I hope this helps anyone who feels alone as I have found this page very supportitve to read everyone else's experiences. Best of luck with recovery!

My doctor made me a light splint with ace bandages for night time. I find the boot hits right on my scars which hurts and causes swelling.

Broke BOTH ankles tripping in a sidewalk pothole at my daughter's college orientation 12 days ago. Left is avulsion fracture with torn ligaments and bone chips. Still swollen at ankle and not reliable for standing much. That's the good foot. Right driving foot needed surgery with plate and 7 screws and got a bad wound on inside ankle with stitches and lost a chunk of skin. Did this all out of town, and had a heck of a time deciding and later convincing my husband that I couldn't just toss on a ankle brace and ride home to see doc there. Course accident happened around 7pm so had nice in hospital to ponder it all. Opted out of pain meds that night so I could be lucid enough to make decisions on my own and ask questions. Since had potential surgery next morning my only choice was IV with morphine which I knew would make me loopy.

Like others here, I had impossible tjme with pain as sleeping with boot, more so after nerve blocks were gone. I turned down the dial on how fast the nerve block was delivering juice, and I was able to extend its help for almost 5 days. Love the nerve block! It saved me from taking any Oxy (which scares me) and been able wean off of hydrocodone pretty well since- EXCEPT when I've bumped or near fallen and put weight accidently in the right foot. Pain comes screaming back, and my family thinks I'm a big baby.

I ordered a gel lined ankle brace off Amazon that I wear for a little extra ankle support at night or wrap an ace bandage for support since I'm not booted in bed. I feel like the weight of the metal side bars is hurting my foot more than helping. I'm keeping both elevated, and swelling is much improved.

I'm sure it depends on the injury, but since I keep my feet tucked into pillows that swish all around my ankles, I'm able to keep them pretty still at night.

As for sleep advice. I'm taking tylenol PM now that I'm off the hydrocodone. But mostly I'm just not expecting to get good sleep and cat napping all the boring dang day so I'm not stressing out about he lack of sleep. I listen to meditation ap to distract and calm me if pain starts throbbing in the middle of the night, and giving myself excuse to stay up late and worry about getting a regular sleep pattern later.

Dealing with and asking family members for favors when I'm limited with mobility is hardest part. I got seated scooter that is small enough for tight quarters in bathroom, can't manage crutches with unstable "good" foot, and transport chair for family to push me around until we decide if I need to get wheelchair.

I'm grasping how I'm going to need to patient with the healing process, and wondering HOW to help my family understand too.

My doctor made me a splint, so I could take the boot off at night. I would wear the boot until you get the ok or ask your doc for an alternative.

Wait I'm confused? First thing you're in a boot after 2days of ORIF (open reduction internal fixation)? Maybe I read that wrong I had ORIF in jan 10th to be exact and I was placed in a soft cast (splint) for 6WEEKS when the spooky and sutures were removed THEN PLACED in a CAM WALKER (boot) I have never heard of anyone that had hard ware installed to fix a broken ankle be placed in a boot 2days after SURGERY I was as in the hospital for 5 days total and 2days after surgery..