Posted , 9 users are following.
Yesturday morning i got all The hardware taken out of my ankle i am in a lot of pain nothing i cant bare..I kno for the first two days its goin to be pain.I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS HOW SOON CAN I START WALKIN? What to expect? My doctor said i can start walkin right away but im not sure if thats a great idea
0 likes, 39 replies
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armoni75530 shantell03710
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shantell03710 armoni75530
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armoni75530 shantell03710
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Oh yea absoulutley make sure u don't go too hard on it I guess we all just know our body's so whenever it feels right too bear some type of weight on it I would say too that's just what I was told and researched also you're not in physical therapy like 2wks or a w/o from now? That always helps.
sonya41132 armoni75530
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armoni75530 sonya41132
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Yes I had one long incision on the side of my ankle and yes I had stitches. But they're not bad you'll be numb so it won't hurt getting um took out ..good luck
melissa91009 shantell03710
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I'd advise you to do what your doctor says. If it's safe to weight bare on, maybe slowly build it up. ??
shantell03710 melissa91009
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patti123 shantell03710
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Do you mind posting your progress as much as possible? I'm 8-1/2 months along in healing with a trimalleolar fracture, with all the hardware installed and am starting to feel the inner ankle screws stinging a bit throughout the day. I also feel the plate on the outer ankle throughout the day, although that isn't hurting- just slightly binding at times. I'm leaning toward getting the hardware out and would love to know what to expect. Is your long (plate) scar longer than before? Thx!
shantell03710 patti123
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monika01 patti123
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Hi Patti hang in there! For me it has been five months and six days. Getting another opinion. I'm desperate!
sonya41132 shantell03710
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ihavenonickname shantell03710
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Bet you are relieved to be on the final leg of this long journey.
Keep your foot ankle elevated on three, even four pillows for the first five days. Have someone pop into the pharmacy and pick up four small rectangular flay gel packs. Pop thrm into your freezer. When frozen, place a lightweight towel on your skin and then add a gel pack on each side of your ankle. The more time you spend elevating and icing the more quickly you will be up and about.
This time the healing will go very quickly because the plates were never inside your bones. because they just lay on top of the bone, or next to the bone...and the screws are nothing at this stage.
So soft tissue heals rapidly. Practice standing first, full weight. Next practice standing on just one foot. When this feels reasonable, walk.
Just listen to your body...it will tell you what is too much...by swelling and becoming painful.
My ankle is just ducky...in time your ankle will be ducky too.
hugs
judith
sonya41132 ihavenonickname
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ihavenonickname sonya41132
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When you awake in the morning it should be way down
BEFORE you put your legs over the side of the bed, put on a compression stocking.
It should make quite a difference
kind regards
judith
sue61444 shantell03710
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Sorry I can't help but I will follow your story as I want to have mine out.. How long was yours in and why did you decide to get it out?
How big was the op? I have a plate with 7 screws for Fibula and one screw for the tibia..
shantell03710 sue61444
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sue61444 shantell03710
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Occasionally it feels like I can feel it moving. I also notice the cold more and one screw/ plate pokes a bit above the surface..They are my main problems . I'm also worried about long term issues as I've read about a few problems but then you only hear about the bad news stories don't you?
What sort of issues did you have?
shantell03710 sue61444
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sue61444 shantell03710
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patti123 sue61444
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Sue- How far along are you? I am 8-1/2 months out from a tri-malleolar fracture and feel great. It is just that if I turn my ankle back and forth I can feel a little stinging that tells me where the screws are located on my inner ankle. On the outer part of the ankle, where the plate and most the screws are, I don't feel any screws, except sometimes when I rub my hand across the plate, I just feel like something is inside me when I twist my leg around fast. It doesn't hurt, it is just weird. My doctor said usually it's the inner screws that bug people the most, and that is my case too. I wonder if I should start by having the inner screws taken out, since that's a much easier operation, and then think more about whether the plate should come out later (which means cutting the 4" plus length to get it out). He said the holes aren't like broken bones regarding their healing. They fill quicker and it's much easier on the body. It's just a pain to have this constant reminder, now that I have moved past all this. Also, my plate feels funny when I swim. It's almost like the skin moves back and forth and the plate stays in one place, and I can feel it. Strange feeling...
For those of you who are earlier on out there reading this, this is nothing to worry about compared to the healing stage...it is just an annoyance (at least for me)...you will get through, don't worry. I am so thankful to sleep regularly (without a bunch of pillows), to run, to jump, to play with my grandkids, to climb trees etc. (I am 56 years old). I thought I might never do those things again, and that is not the case!
PS- Try not to gain too much weight while resting and waiting for the ankle to repair itself! It took me several months to work off the 5 pds I gained from lack of exercise.
sue61444 patti123
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I'm 6 months and one week.
"It's almost like the skin moves back and forth and the plate stays in one place, and I can feel it. Strange feeling..."
I think that's the feeeling I have! Im 56 too..I am starting to be able to walk faster with only a slight limp. I still can't run. I'm supposed to be skipping but have been slack as I've got back into windsurf speedsailing and that is giving the ankle a great workout! It also does the job of hydrotherapy walking around in the shallows dragging the gear..
Yep I put on about 4kgs overeating feeling sorry for myself and not exercising as much. Luckily windsurfing can burn 1000 calories an hour so I can feel the fat going even after just a few sails!'
Got a fair way to go to rebuild my fitness , strength etc but great to be back on the water!
patti123 sue61444
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The limp will go away soon, don't worry. I haven't had any limp at all for several months now at 8-1/2 months out, but I remember it was a slow weekly improvement, until the point where my friends and family now say they can't notice anything in my gait that would indicate I ever broke my ankle. It is good you are so active- that will help you a lot! I do still have a little tightness in the mornings (but now just for the first 20 steps sometimes, versus the first 100 steps which I used to have). The more active I am the day before though, the less tight my ankle seems to be the next morning. The strange feeling of sometimes feeling the plate (especially swimming) seems to stay though. And just recently, I started feeling the inner screws stinging slightly, maybe from all my activity, especially when I flex my ankle tight and turn it inward. It's nothing big though. How nice to have life back again, isn't it? I'm really active too and all that down time was quite an inconvenience
Looking back it now doesn't seem nearly as bad as it felt going through it. Funny how the brain works!
sue61444 patti123
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Thanks. Yes I've forgotten the worst bits already although I stayed on anti imflammatories too long got an ulcer and had an internal bleed and a near death experience. As a result I've had a blood transfusion / iron transfusion/ one stomach scope/ several emergency visits/ hospital stay and have a followup scope next monday . All this made the experience not much fun. I'd hardly ever been to hosptial and never had a bad break before so I figure hopefully I've had all the yuck stuff for a while!
The ambos said it was lucky I was so fit as it would make things easier- I broke it in a fall bushwalking..