Fractured my ankle 3 months ago but ankle keeps swelling and is painful.

Hello Denise

I am almost pain free now.  Mt continuing problem is the swelling and tightness in the foot and ankle.  slight swelling when I get out of bed in the morning, but within two hours it's swollen and only rest, elevation and ice seems to releive it.  Think it's something i'm going to have to cope with for a few more months.  Hopefully by then I will be walking as I did prior to the fracture, now I have a slight sway and uneven gait. Best wishes for a speedy recovery Gail

Hi Gail

I'm told that post fracture swelling can take up to a year, depending on the fracture and the person. Not looking forward to it.  

Did they give you an aircast boot when they took your cast off?  My appointment is tomorrow, fingers crossed that they will give me one...:-)

Denise

Hi Denise

No, once the cast was off I was on my own!  Couldn't walk for 2 weeks, would have loved somthing to ease the pain and help with mobility, so hope they give you a boot.  I'm beleive I'm looking at months more of swelling, as you said it depends on the person and my physio said the same - think I'm just that type of person!  it's summer here so wearing the same sandals or trying to go bear foot not sure what will happen when it gets cooler - socks!.

Hope your appointment goes well... Gail 

Hi Gail

They didn't give me an aircast boot, gutted...LOL

I'm still on crutches though, they sent me straight round to physio and get seen again in two weeks.  

Denise

Hi Denise

You must keep up exercises and try to put weight on the ankle.  Know it is very hard as you have no confidence that the ankle will hold, but small goals every day helps.  You must get flexibility back, except for the swelling all day, everyday I can see I'm improving and if I take care to walk using heel, ball, toe my gait improves too!  You'll get there, I've been where you are now and I thought I'd never walk as I did before the fracture.  Since posting on this site I have improved, it just takes time. Take care and stay positive... Gail

Thanks Gail, I will definitely try, it is a bit sore and stiff at the moment, but doing my exercises as advised, and got my ankle elevated with an ice pack on as we speak, she said twice a day 20 minutes each.  Then I have to take my daughter to the doctors later, it's normally about 10 minutes walk, not sure how long it will take me today....haha

Denise

Hi Denise I've had computer issues so only now been able to log on.  I saw my physio yesterday and he's very pleased with progress.  Walking is OK if I concentrate, otherwise I start the rolling gait and this then puts pressure on hip and knee.  It's a slow process and could be 12 months before I'm back to pre fracture level!  My balance is off, so I must stand on my right foot, lift the good leg whilst holding a weight with both hands and slowly rotating body from side to side, to be done on both hard surface and a pillow. Not to mention the other equally hard tasks. The swelling's still there, but I see a small improvement.  I've been icing it, but the physio said at now 4 months it's not going to do much.   Think I should have put more effort into this at the beginning!  I do try to elevate it a few time during the day, not always possible.  Hope this helps you,  I feel I'm on the mend although very precious about the foot when I'm out, terrified that someone will tread on it or I'll slip.   I can walk up stairs one at a time, but decending is hard, exercise is the only thing that will fix this.  This past 4 months have been very difficult, but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel,stay positive, Denise....Gail 

So glad you've got some good news, and the exercises will help I'm sure, I am doing mine religiously everyday in a hope that it will speed up the healing process.  The past two days have been a bit painful though, I think I may have twisted it day before yesterday.  I'll keep on at it though.  

I hope you are on the mend now, when do you see your physio again?  I see mine every two weeks at the moment.  

Denise

 

Hello Denise,  i don't see my Physio for another 6 weeks as he is pleased with the progress, but was going fortnightly.  We will get through this, it's just  a matter of time to heal and exercise.  Don't push yourself if you are in pain, only go to the point where you start to feel some discomfort then stop, otherwise you could do more damage.  Be kind to yourself, rest when you can.  I am going to ride a bike at the weekend, should be interesting!  Gail 

Denise, just read your comment to Christine about your knee.  I still have pain in my knee, mainly when I am not walking correctly or been walking for too long.  Try to walk using your entire foot - lift off high with your heel.

good luck, Gail

Oh wow, cycling, how fun, hopefully I'll be doing that again soon...:-)

Yeah, I wondered if I was doing it wrong, I am walking very slowly and deliberately to try to get it right, but I think I sometimes put too much weight down when I'm not paying attention.  

I'll mention it to my physio when I see him next week.

Thanks Gail

denise!57 Hi Ive read your posts...how is your ankle doing now after 7 months?Im 8 weeks post a 3 sided fracture with surgery placing metal plates and screws.I have my cast off now but the swelling is terrible..and hurts alot.I can walk sometimes without pain and I love that..do you have a limp at all..your post you still had your cast on?Im wondering if I will ever walk normal again.Im positive and doing what I can...hope ypu are much better by now....

Does for me I spent a total of four weeks in a back slab, hated it with a vengence once researched I found out about a condition called cast phobia, explained to my consultant who prescribed a boot & it's great when I have an itch I can get to it & with a little help from the wife I can have a proper shower

Hi Patti

Sorry, only just saw this message.  My ankle is still uncomfortable, it's 9 months post fracture now.  They gave me an MRI last month and found some arthritis, they've offered to give me a steroid injection, but unsure as to whether it will work or not.  

They said the bone is healing well, but it still hurts.  

Hi patti. I'm in a similar situation to yourself. I too have broken all the structure to my right ankle. I also had an operation consisting of metal plates and screws . I am only at the end of week 3. I had the cast off and have a very lot of swelling and can barely move my foot. Another cast has been applied and cut so I can take it off to exercise my ankle. I am not weight bearing for another 3 weeks. Seeing my ankle as it is has left me feeling down. How are you going on with the swelling and walking now patti ? Can you see improvement?

Hi MsCamboot- I'm wondering how you are doing now, as I have a similar situation to you with the 3 broken bones, surgery, and hardware. I'm 5 weeks post-op and 4 weeks in the cast. Not sure why they are telling me I need a cast did 10 weeks, as I am a healthy non-smoker, but heard at the end it may be a walking hard cast, whatever that will be. Would love to hear your experience and how you did along the way, so I know better what to expect. Thank you!

hi im 13 weeks post op same breaks as you I was in a cast untill 8 weeks then on my own. I'm now walking with a limp but unable to bend correctly I still get a lot of pain and swelling but feels a lot stronger then it did. When the cast came off the pain trying to walk was awful but I expected this. I'm on here trying to find out how long I should expect the pain to carry on. 

I am also 13 weeks and I've found that the more I walk the less pain I have. I kept walking in the beginning, even with the pain. I figured it was muscle pain since the doc said I was healed after 8 weeks so just powered thru it. I can't walk normally yet though - the toes are very weak so I can't roll onto them like you do normally when you take a step. Doing toe raises to help with that.    My pain when walking moves around; from the heel to the arch to the instep - each day it is in a different place. Oddly enough, the pain is NOT in the actual ankle or in the scar area. But I guess that is good.  Best of luck to you!

Thank you all for the info about what to expect when starting to walk on the foot. Really informative. 

Thanks Sharon for the info. I keep hearing things get better at 4 months out, so you may be close, but 12 months seems to be the magic number for things to get back to normal, from everything I am reading. Time will tell!

Gail- That's today normal and you will walk fine soon. Just keep at it. Look up some videos on youtube that show proper walking gait. Those helped me a lot. Take long strides and swing your arms as you walk. Helps to get rid of the small limp that happens at this stage. You are almost there.