Is this normal?
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hi Everyone,
I've just found this forum. I have a lateral malleolus fracture of my right ankle, the break was clean though the bone but in the first week it decided to move and I had surgery straight away, an open reduction and fixation I think it's called??
I've never broken a bone before so I have no idea if everything I'm experiencing is normal. I'm five days post surgery and the incision or at least I think that's where it is as I have a cast on and can't see my ankle, keeps burning and the cast feels like its rubbing on an open wound. I did have bad burning pain across the top of my foot but that has eased a bit it's now on the side of my leg. I did have a nerve block before going into surgery I'm not sure this has any effect or not?
Any help would be so great I'm really worried
Thanks so much
Janelle
1 like, 9 replies
clangdon Jelliebaby
Posted
I had the same reactions after my surgery. It's a long haul to recovery. My ankle and leg felt like a 2-ton weight were added after the nerve block...which lasted for like a week. The heaviness went away over time. As for the wound, it is probably just itchy due to the surgery incision. I would call the Dr. if it seems that it is not going away. Once the stitches are pulled from the wound site and the incision begins it's long journey of recovery it may itch for a long time. The worst part of the recovery is the no driving due to the right ankle. It took a full 7 1/2 to 8 weeks before I was back to normal post surgery. Mine happened in early March. I still have some limping after a very long day, but for the most part my walking is back to normal. Best of luck.
Jelliebaby clangdon
Posted
Thanks so much for the reply it has definately eased my mind. I didn't realise they had to take the stitches out thought they might be dissolvable ones, I have my 2 week post surgery app next Friday. Yes the driving is so frustrating and the not being able to weight bear I'm really struggling with. Best of luck with your recovery 😃
katherine21894 Jelliebaby
Posted
HI. I'm 15 weeks post ORIF for a tri mal fracture to my right ankle. I had similar concerns about what was going on under the cast - soreness and 'pulling' sensations around where I thought the incisions were. I fully expected when the cast eventually came off that that the wounds would be a weepy mess with maybe screws poking through. Well everything was fine. My skin was very flaky though, leg was hairy and my foot felt like a dead fish. But day on day things started to improve. I've found this forum a great source of comfort and reassurance. Take care
Jelliebaby katherine21894
Posted
Hi Katherine, thanks so much for your reply. Yep I'm thinking the same thing it's hard when you know you have a wound but you can't see it so start imagining all sorts of things lol. The burning pain is what's really getting me down at the moment 😦 Best of luck with the rest of your recovery 😃
katherine21894 Jelliebaby
Posted
You may not have stitches. I had clips to both incisions. One of them has healed so well you can barely see the scar already.
Jelliebaby katherine21894
Posted
I'm starting to wonder that myself it definately feels like staples or something like that
Llamalah Jelliebaby
Posted
I had a similar fracture, although because they queried syndesmosis tearing I had ORIF surgery less than 24hrs after injury. I'm now at 9 weeks post surgery and fully weight bearing, no aids.
I had the same burning on my foot. It was so bad when I went for my 6 week check up they sent me for additional xrays to check if I hadn't fractured my foot itself. It was all clear. My physio said it was most likely due to the amount of swelling into the foot and tearing of the tissues, and because the foot/ankle is stuck in one position for such a long time.
At around 1.5 weeks, my toes were a little grey so I went to the ER and they released some of the tightness on the back slab cast. The pressure of the swelling was causing the a lot of the pain, and the greyness. Once that was loosened, it helped. At the two week check up and removal of the backslab, my foot was so swollen, I don't think the skin could have stretched any further. It hurt to even lightly touch it. There was no infection at the surgery site, just a lot of fluid in the whole foot.
I was then given a boot to wear and told to start moving it around (non weight bearing) the movement helped get the swelling down but my foot still hurt a lot. I still have foot pain, the joints and muscles are very jammed up, and I have to massage it every day to open it up BUT it is getting better - so much better.
Jelliebaby Llamalah
Posted
Thanks so much for your reply 😃 I've got my 2 week post op app this Friday but ended up in ER on Friday due to loosing my balance on crutches and banged my foot really hard on the floor, no damage done thank God but I did get a new cast with more padding which seems to of helped a bit. It's mainly the top of my foot where I'm getting the pain, sometimes it's burning other times it feels like an open wound, my foot is still swollen so I'm praying once that goes down it will be ok.
mary102362 Jelliebaby
Posted
I had similar surgical repair of my left ankle on May 9, 2019. I also had burning and pain at the incision sites and the top of my foot. Luckily, that goes away with time. It has been 7 weeks since my surgery and I don't have very much of the burning pain anymore, just a little now and then. But, it was really bad for the first few weeks.