Numbness of toes after ankle fracture surgery

Im goning to jump in here in the middle.Just found tis forum- it is EXACTLY what I've been looking for. Basically, I was on my motorcycle (april 3rd) and slipped on a patch of gravel. Felt fine until I stood up. Leg felt like jelly, laid back down,,,,ambulance...ER...broke tib and fib, got a plate and a bunch of screws. Now I'm 3 weeks post op. Kicked the heavy pain meds after less than a week, sticking basically to nsaids. Now, got my plaster cast off a week ago, along with staples out (20), and was put in a lightweight fiberglass cast. Been WBing since the beginning, but didn't really do more than balance because it just wasn't practical.

Now, here's the question- My big toe is numb. Not the whole thing though, only the top, meaning the opposite of the part that is supposed to be on the ground, and even there, only behind the nail. Also, if I squish my toe i have heavy pins and needles. From everything I've read, sounds like minor nerve damage that will hopefully repair itself with time. But, here's the kicker. My nail bed is white, meaing bad oxygen/circulation. So what in the world is actaully happeneing!?!?

Thanks

I found wheel chair was best for first few weeks. Then most people love the knee walker. Was a game changer for me for me. Order one ASAP would be my recommendation.

Crutches are a pain but you'll need them when you get the okay to start the walking process again.

My name is April. I am 50 years old and live in Ohio. I'm relieved to know I am not alone with the numbness. I am in my 5th day post op for a broken fibula in my right leg. My break is about 1 to 2 inches up from the end of my fibula near the ankle. I slipped on my basement stairs while carrying laundry down to wash. My right leg ended up under me and out to the side and I actually heard it crack - it's an awful sound. It happened on a Saturday, so we went to an urgent care center as it is less expensive than the ER and the wait is ususally shorter. The only crutches we had at home were my husband's and he is 8 inches taller than I am. We shortened them as much as we could but they were still a couple of inches too tall. I lost my balance and fell while signing in at the urgent care and then they put me in a wheelchair. They did X-rays and my break was still aligned. The doctor put me in an air splint and told me to stay off of it and follow up with my orthopedic doctor as soon as possible. I also got a set of crutches that were the proper size for me. They also gave me a CD with my X-rays to take to my orthopedist so I got to see the X-rays too and save them on my phone. I called the ortho office on Monday morning and they got me in at noon on the same day. He put me in a fiberglass cast and would see me about a week later for more X-rays to see if the break had stayed aligned. The new X-rays the following Tuesday showed that the break had shifted and surgery was then scheduled for Thursday morning. 

I had a lot of pain in the top of my foot for the first few days after surgery. The doctor put in a plate and I don't know how many screws. I can wiggle my toes just fine and the color in them is good but most of my foot has some numbness - not completely numb but definitely not near the level of feeling as my non-injured foot. I currently have a splint with gauze and padding wrapped up with an ace bandage. I go back in a couple of days to have the dressing changed and they will either re-splint, cast, or put me in a boot. I think I get the stitches/staples (not sure which I have) out sometime next week. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can start some massage therapy on my foot as it seems to be helpful from what I have read here. 

I also love the knee scooter. My mother owns one and was just finishing using it a couple of days after my accident so she sent it over to me. It allowed me to return to work for a week while in the cast. I am now on a leave of absence until next Monday at least. I don't want to be off too long as my short term disability only pays 40%. But that is better than none at all. One of the hardest parts of this has been not being able to drive. 

Olga, I hope your recovery has gone well and that your numbness has subsided. For all of the others on this thread, I wish you all the best in your recoveries as well. 

Don't worry man I know this post was about a year ago but I just broke my right ankle long boarding and I had to have surgery so they could plate the fibula and and drill two holes through my tibia and put pins in.. in is about a month later and the hole foot and ankle is still numb and my right side of my leg up till the knee is numb so I think it's normal lol.. hope you recovered well????????

I also broke my ankle while hiking in a remote mountain area--stepped over a fallen log with my left foot, ground collapsed beneath my foot, my leg went down to the right and my foot was popped up to the left, snapping the end of my fibula. Mountain rescue team had to come in with a gurney and take me out. Ambulance took me from the trail head to the hospital.

My ORIF surgery was about a week and a half later. I was in agony immediately after coming out of anesthesia because the nerve block didn't "take." The shot to redo it was painful but the pain relief in my lower leg, ankle, and foot was immediate.

My surgery was a little less than 5 weeks ago. I was in a nonremovable splint for 1 week, then a boot I was allowed to remove only a few minutes at a time for another week before getting my stitches out, and since then I've been allowed to take the boot off whenever I'm resting.

Even while my lower leg and foot were still partially numb from the nerve block after surgery, something didn't feel right with the sensations in my left anke, foot, and toes. At 5 weeks after surgery, my foot and toes still feel partially numb, plus the circulation feels cut off and the left foot is much darker than the right. I often have weird sensations, such as feeling like the bottom of my foot is on fire or feeling like a cool liquid is running down the outside of my ankle when in fact nothing is there. I cannot sleep at night because I can't get comfortable. It's not possible for me to sleep on my back back I have spondylolisthesis in my lower spine with bilateral pars defects, which has allowed a vertebra to slip out of place by about 50% and makes it very painful to move if I lie on my back.

Meanwhile although the swelling has gone down, my left foot is noticeably swollen all the time. Keeping it elevated all day helps but I go nuts sitting on my butt all day on the sofa with my legs up on pillows. Even the bottom of my foot is swollen to the extent that when I rest it on the floor, my toes don't touch the floor. And the skin on the outside of my ankle and the outside half of my left foot is grotesquely peeling off in sheets, while my calf muscle appears to me to be pitifully atrophied compared with the right leg.

I've pestered my doctor about all this stuff constantly. I'd maybe feel a little sorry for him if not for the fact that I have my doubts that I really had to have surgery but he talked me into it after wrenching my ankle twice with all his might the first time I saw him, which was on the fourth day after the accident, and then telling me it was mildly displaced and showed signs of being an unstable fracture and therefore I needed surgery.

He says everything I've described above is "normal" at this point post surgery. I want to tell him I sort of hate him at this point. No amount of "this is normal" or "it'll get better" is going to stop me being angry. However, I'm going to let my anger serve as a motivator to get me back to walking and living as normally as possible, as soon as possible.

In regard to feeling unsafe on crutches, it's not just your imagination: they ARE unsafe. I fell backwards about 1/3 of the way down my basement steps while trying to come up the steps on crutches the night before my surgery. I bought a knee roller with a basket, and I love it, but since I no longer will attempt to go up or down stairs and crutches and I can't navigate stairs with the knee roller, the only way I can get upstairs to take a bath or downstairs in the basement to do laundry is to go down the stairs on my butt and up the stairs on my butt or on my hands and knees. Even my doctor told me butt scooting or crawling is the only safe way up or down stairs.

Well, I just found this forum.  I fell partway down my stairs about 8 weeks ago, landing on top of my left foot. Terrazzo stairs. Anyway, had a bimalleolar fracture along with a subluxation. My outer ankle was shattered into 4 pieces. My inner ankle just two. 

I am an American living in southern Morocco. somewhat different medical protocols here, apparently. Took me almost a week to be able to get an "ambulance" to be able to take me to the big citrusy of Marrakech to an actual hospital. Thankfully, the hospital is great. And I had a fantastic surgeon. He told me I would be in bed for 12 weeks!!! 

Anyway. I live in a 3-story house. Kitchen and spare rooms on the ground floor, bathroom, bedroom, living room on the second floor. No wheelchair, scooter, or crutches available. I have been using a freaking walker for all this time. Grrrr. Very exhausting. Should mention I am nearly 62 years old. 

Saw the surgeon week before last and after I practically begged him, he said I could start physiotherapy. Oh yay!!!  And that day, he removed my half-cast that I had since surgery. No boot, nothing. So started physiotherapy last week and already I am now able to shuffle along with weight  on my left heel. Still using the walker of course. 

I asked about the pain and numbness in my big toe and the PT told me it's because of the screw through my bones. She is doing infrared massage as well as regular massage which is helping a lot. My ankles don't hurt at all, just my foot, where my muscles were ruptured.  This week I am working on rolling my foot with a ball. And trying to pick up a small towel with my toes. Not working at all.  Very frustrated. Especially since I can't get to the kitchen! We have a lady coming in to help, but I am somewhat of a gourmet cook and this is just not doing it for me. And she doesnt speak English, and I don't speak Tamazight.  Been pretty much stuck up here in my own private prison for two months now, but I have high hopes for leaving soon. 

So, I feel a bit better (?) that I'm not the only one dealing with this! 

 Here's everybody! ??