Fractured ankle

hey julie x firstly sorry to hear about the break but velieve me you are amongst friends here who have all been through it in some form or another. I found that my calf amd foot swelled crazily for the first 4 to 5 weeks. Even if i put the cast down for one minute then the swelling would start. the longer i left it unelevated the worse it got. quite normal i believe. i didnt have pain so much but it was uncomfortable very much so. one elevated it would ease with painkillers. Mine lasted whilst in the cast for most of the 7 weeks it was held hostage in there. if you are worries though then seek advice from the plaster room or your surgeon. Best pf luck to you x it does get better i promise xx

Have you tried lying down and elevating the inured ankle? Depending on your situation, it can take hours to get relief. Elevating for five minutes really won't help. There are also special leg pillows one can buy to sleep with a limb elevated.

yes elevation does help but it takes ages then i pay for it when l put it back down. the blood rush i suppose it is with the crippling pins and needles sensation.

l feel things would be so much more comfortable if l could take the cast off whenever this crushing pain comes and then put it back on again. some one should invent a detachable plaster lol

although i didnt have plaster after my Orif your symptons are normal it will take time for the swelling to go down just raise your leg whenever you can to reduce the swelling

I believe that it is normal. I broke my ankle. I am about 12 weeks now so I'm doing much better actually I think I'm more than that but anyway I know of for at least like a month when I was in the cast it would hurt so bad when my foot would swell up and I would just want to rip the cast I was very happy when they put me in the walking air boot, even though I couldn't do when they put me in the walking air boot, even though I couldn't do weight-bearing but I could take that off or loosen it when it would start to hurt.

If it's happening whenever you put your leg down, then yes it's normal. For the first week or two after breaking and dislocating my ankle and having surgery, I kept my leg elevated all the time. I did this by lying in bed and keeping my leg up on pillows. I actually elevated both legs. The unbroken one didn't need it, but it was more comfortable having them at the same height. Anyway, the only time I wasn't elevated in those first two weeks was to use the toilet or shower. Each time I put my leg down, I had that blood rush and it would swell. Completely normal. After a couple of weeks, I began keeping my leg down for periods of time to help it adjust some before I returned to work. Basically, whenever it's down though it's going to swell, which is going to be uncomfortable. Keep in elevated high most of the time. It may be annoying to do so, but it's better for healing and less painful for you.

Hi Julie,

If your toes are going blue, your cast could be too tight. It says,right there in the cast room, to see them If that happens. Also it could be the cause of your pain,as,a tight cast would do. You may want to get it checked, they do put them on too tight sometimes. In the meantime. elevate, Ice the cast and rest. Hope this helps.

thank you. i think its more greyish in colour. i have just put a ice cold face cloth over my toes and its heavenly. hopefully this will reduce the swelling and burning sensation

my foot looked greyish to me too.I was beginning to think I was going to lose my foot and they weren't telling me lol I never thought it would look normal. I had physical therapy and wound care coming to my house so I was able discuss my concerns with them and they assured me my foot was okay. I can't say it enough though...when it doubt call the doctor..you don't want to regress, recovery is long enough!

My foot at the beginning turned all shades of the blooming rainbow!!! purple, blue, sickly looking grey, then bright red all in a matter of weeks. After a few weeks I pretty much wasn't too concerned as I had watched the foot change to all manner of colours. Again I believe it was fairly normal considering the nature of the injury and the evasive procedure to fix it again. Again I was told all part of the healing process. Nearly 19 weeks post ORIF my foot actually is the same colour now as the other foot and has been for quite a while.